The Broken Halo

Chapter 820 - 819: Over Thirty Humans

The rift had opened ahead of schedule and what was strange was the fact that no demon emerged from it even after a minute had gone by.

The black wound floated inside the enormous cavern beneath the mountain, its uneven edges releasing silver sparks and thin streams of crimson demonic energy. Pale-blue Aether pressed against the foreign power from every direction, causing the air around the opening to twist.

Human soldiers waited behind layered barriers.

Rifles, artifact cannons, and formation-guided weapons remained aimed at the rift. Demon Slayers occupied the positions closest to it, while Runemasters watched hundreds of readings move across suspended screens.

No one fired because there was nothing to fire at.

Another thirty seconds passed.

Then a minute.

Suddenly, the silence became more unsettling than the invasion itself.

Three powerful humans stood on a hill overlooking the first defensive line.

They were not commanders.

They had no divisions under their names and held no positions within the leadership of the Carpathian Front. Their only duty was to remain close to the rift and kill anything too powerful for the ordinary soldiers to stop.

Nadia Varga stood nearest to the edge.

She was a Level 145 B-rank Demon Slayer with copper-brown skin, short black hair, and pale-green eyes. A fitted white combat coat rested over dark armour, while two crescent-shaped blades hung beside her waist.

To her right stood Stefan Orlov.

The Level 148 B-rank Demon Slayer was lean and slightly bent with age, but the Aether gathered inside his body was denser than Nadia’s. Long grey hair rested against the back of his black armour, and his right eye emitted a blue light.

A silver spear stood upright in his hand.

The final human was Petru Dima.

He was a Level 139 B-rank Demon Slayer with a shaved head, a thick dark beard, and a body wide enough to make the rectangular shield beside him look almost ordinary. A short-barrelled Aether cannon rested against his other shoulder.

All three had fought Demon Lords before, and none had been able to kill the Demon Lords they faced.

However, they had survived against these Demon Lords to be recommended and placed directly before the rift.

Nadia’s fingers rested against the handle of one crescent blade.

”Why is nothing coming through?”

Stefan’s blue eyes flunctuated for a moment .

”The rift opened early. That means the demons controlled the timing.”

”Or something went wrong on their side,” Petru said.

Stefan glanced at him.

”Surely, you don’t believe that.”

Petru gave an awkward smile.

The black surface of the rift continued moving like water beneath a storm.

Nadia looked toward the soldiers waiting below.

”They know we prepared artillery. Perhaps they intend to wait until the opening destabilises our formations.”

”Waiting harms them too,” Stefan replied. ”The longer they remain behind the rift, the more time our reinforcements have to arrive.”

Petru adjusted the cannon on his shoulder.

”Then they are preparing something worth the delay.”

Nadia’s expression darkened.

”We should strike through the opening.”

”With what target?” Stefan asked. ”Fire blindly into another world and reveal the exact strength of our weapons?”

”We already aimed them at the rift. They know we have weapons.”

”They do not know which formations guide them, how quickly they fire, or what type of elemental attacks they use.”

Nadia looked ready to respond.

Then the rift changed.

Its dark surface expanded outward for a moment.

Every soldier nearby raised their weapon.

A woman burst through.

Not a demoness.

But a woman.

She struck the stone floor with one bare foot, almost fell, then continued running toward the human defensive line.

She was completely naked.

Bruises covered her pale body, and dried blood ran from several cuts along her arms and legs. Her dark hair had been cut unevenly, while terror twisted her face.

”Help!”

Another human emerged behind her.

Then another.

Within seconds, more than thirty humans poured out of the rift.

Men.

Women.

Middle-aged captives with thin bodies and old scars.

And even several children ran among them.

None wore armour or carried weapons. Most were naked, while a few possessed only torn pieces of cloth around their waists.

Some screamed for help.

Others cried as they ran.

A man stumbled after crossing and dragged himself forward on wounded knees before forcing his body upright again.

The humans stationed around the rift became dark, ugly, and baffled.

Nadia’s face changed.

”Those filthy bastards.”

She moved toward the edge of the platform.

”They stripped them naked. Even the children.”

Stefan’s spear shifted horizontally, blocking her path.

”Wait.”

Nadia turned toward him with a sharp expression.

”They are humans.”

”They came out of the Demon Realm.”

”So?”

”They could be demonic humans.”

Nadia looked at the captives approaching the first marked boundary of the kill zone.

”They don’t look demonic. I cannot sense any demonic energy from them.”

”Not every corruption changes the body visibly and we know how treacherous these demons can be.”

Nadia scowled and gestured at the running humans.

”They are terrified.”

”A trained infiltrator can pretend to be terrified.”

Petru watched the naked humans through the targeting lens attached to his cannon.

”No horns. No extra body part. No deformation. No visible demonic veins or aura. No obvious Chaos runes on their bodies.”

”That only means we cannot see the trap,” Stefan said.

One of the children fell.

A woman beside him turned back, lifted him into her arms, and continued running.

Nadia’s jaw tightened.

”We cannot leave them there.”

”And we cannot open the barriers for thirty-one unknown humans who crossed directly from enemy territory,” Stefan replied.

Petru looked toward the nearest front-line officer below.

”They’ll reach the first barrier in less than twenty seconds.”

Nadia stepped around Stefan’s spear.

”Order a rescue team forward. We can subdue them, examine them, and decide afterward.”

Stefan’s expression remained cold.

”And if their bodies contain an array meant to destroy the barrier?”

”Then we kill them if the array activates.”

”That may be too late.”

Petru lowered his cannon slightly.

”We need a decision. Rescue, subdue, or eliminate?”

Nadia glared at both men.

”They are regular humans.”

”They are also the first things the demons sent through,” Stefan said. ”That alone makes them weapons until proven otherwise.”

Before any of them could give an order, a roar came from the rift.

It was followed by another.

Then dozens more.

The sound struck the cavern walls and multiplied until it seemed that the entire mountain was filled with hungry beasts.

The running humans looked behind them.

Their panic became madness.

”Run!”

”They’re coming!”

”Please!”

The rift’s black surface erupted.

Hundreds of demonic beasts surged through.

Black wolves with burning crimson eyes landed first. Six-legged reptiles followed, their hooked claws tearing grooves through the stone. Horned creatures resembling hairless bulls lowered their heads and charged, while winged insects flooded the air above them.

The beasts did not spread out.

They chased the fleeing humans directly toward the defensive line.

A wounded man near the rear tried to move faster, however, a black wolf struck him from behind.

He vanished beneath its body, and his scream ended beneath the snap of its jaws.

Another beast caught a woman by the shoulder and dragged her backward. Her fingers scraped across the stone as the humans around her continued running, too terrified to stop.

One of the horned creatures trampled two captives without slowing.

The woman carrying the child stumbled when blood splashed across her back.

Nadia’s pale-green eyes widened.

The child slipped from the woman’s arms and landed several metres in front of her.

The child looked up, and he saw a wave of demonic beasts running toward him.

And every human weapon surrounding the rift remained aimed directly at the child’s back.