The Broken Halo

Chapter 1080 - 1079: A Proper Introduction?

Silence filled the practice hall.

Rasken’s eyebrows climbed toward his shaved scalp. Veyra’s lips parted slightly. Across the room, Torvek stopped rubbing his stomach.

The three of them looked at one another.

Then Veyra folded her arms.

”Well?” she said, without taking her eyes off Simon. ”What do you two think of our potential sixth disciple?”

Rasken shrugged.

”Not bad.”

Torvek grunted.

”Not bad.”

Simon stared at them.

They had broken his arms, torn his robe, and ambushed him the moment he walked through the door.

And what they had to say in response to that was not bad?

”He’s weaker than us, though,” Torvek added, rolling his shoulder. ”In raw strength. Every time he met us head-on, he lost ground.”

Veyra raised a brow.

”And how would you feel if he were stronger than you?”

Torvek opened his mouth.

”While he’s still a Greater Demon at that,” she finished.

His mouth closed.

Rasken scratched the scar through his eyebrow. Slowly, his grin returned, though it looked rather different now.

”...I’d feel like retiring.”

None of them had fought with their full strength. Simon knew that, and so did they. But even holding back, they had fought as Demon Kings, their bodies tempered by heart ranks far above his own.

And a Greater Demon had stood before them and traded blows.

Torvek looked down at his coat. The faint imprint of a fist remained over his stomach.

”His reactions are fast. Faster than ours.”

”His instincts are better than his reactions,” Veyra said. ”He was moving before Rasken even performed half of his punches.”

”I noticed,” Rasken muttered.

”But his energy control...” Veyra’s gaze settled on the Chaos Wraps around Simon’s forearms. ”That’s the frightening part. He reinforced only where we struck and shifted it between blows without wasting a drop. Most Demon Lords can’t do that cleanly.”

”Even most Demon Kings cant,” Torvek corrected.

Rasken laughed.

”A monster, then.”

”Even by our standards,” Veyra agreed.

Simon’s expression didn’t soften.

”Are you done discussing about me as if I’m not here?”

Veyra paused. For a moment, she looked slightly embarrassed.

She stepped forward and inclined her head.

”We owe you an apology. Attacking you without warning was... excessive.”

”It was fun though,” Rasken said with a slight smile.

She elbowed him without looking.

”It was excessive,” she repeated. ”But when Zarven’s message said the Sovereign might take a sixth disciple, and that the candidate had been sent here alone, we wanted to see for ourselves what kind of person he was.”

Torvek pushed away from the pillar and came over. His heavy steps left faint glowing prints across the floor markings.

”Words in a message don’t tell you how someone fights.”

Simon frowned.

”I understand that. But the Sovereign sent me.” He looked at each of them in turn. ”Since when do his protectors doubt his judgement?”

The three exchanged a glance.

”We don’t doubt his judgement,” Veyra said carefully. ”We doubt messages. And faces we’ve never seen.”

She held out her hand.

”He doesn’t send anyone without a letter. May I see it?”

Simon reached into his spatial ring and brought out a folded sheet of black paper sealed with dark wax.

Her eyes moved down the brief message, then returned to the beginning.

”Blackmoon. Assist four Daemons in the capital city of the Daegrins. The Abyss Sovereign.”

She turned the paper over.

There was nothing on the back.

”That’s all?”

”That’s all.”

Rasken leaned closer.

Veyra showed him the signature. He nodded immediately.

”It’s his.”

Torvek glanced at it too.

”No doubt.”

She returned the letter.

”Did he give you any other instructions?”

”No.”

Simon put it away.

”Zarven has told me considerably more about this mission than the person who gave it to me.”

”That sounds familiar,” Rasken muttered.

Veyra ignored him.

”Then there’s no question.” She pressed a hand briefly to her chest. ”I’m Veyra by the way.”

Simon nodded as he perceived her aura.

She was a Prime Demon King, and as a Daemon, she was definitely stronger than a demon who was a Prime Demon King.

She tilted her head toward the grinning Daemon beside her.

”That one is Rasken.”

Rasken was the first among the three to attack him, and he was also a Prime Demon King.

’I wonder what their races are and what grade of bloodlines they have. Feels like a Noble Bloodline. Definitely not a Royal bloodline.’

Simon nodded at the bald daemon.

”And Torvek,” Veyra said while gesturing at the third protector that came out of nowhere and attacked him.

The larger bronze skin Daemon gave a short nod.

’This one is a Superior Demon King unlike those two... He’s strong.’

Simon looked at him and he was a litte bit surprised that he had sent him skidding into a pillar.

The man had been distracted, and he certainly hadn’t been using his full strength. Still, Simon couldn’t deny a small measure of satisfaction.

”Our fourth is holding the northern side of The Wall,” Veyra continued. ”You’ll meet her when Rasken and I take over the watch.”

Rasken grinned.

”Welcome to Vhal-Sar, Blackmoon.”

Simon let out a slow breath, and some of the tension left his shoulders. He decided to ask a question that was on his mind.

”Did any of you ask the Sovereign for help?”

The question changed the air in the room.

”No,” Torvek said.

”None of us,” Veyra added. ”We send reports but we’ve never asked for reinforcements.”

Simon looked toward the windows.

Beyond the glass, ships drifted through the harbor beneath the golden curve of The Wall.

Zarven had told him that he too had never asked the Abyss Sovereign for help, but the First Merchant had said that ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the Abyss Sovereign was always right.

”Then maybe he sees something you don’t.”

Nobody argued.

”Tell me about The Dominion,” Simon said. ”Zarven said you’ve fought them.”

Rasken’s grin had disappeared entirely.

”They don’t show themselves much. During the first attack, we saw four of them. They wore masks and concealed their auras. We could tell they were strong, but not how strong.”

”And since then?”

”Since then, they send the sea.” Torvek’s voice was rough. ”The kraken, the serpent, the siren. And whoever controls them stays out of sight.”

”You’ve never seen the controller?”

”Once,” Veyra said. ”A shape in the mist behind the siren. By the time I reached the spot, it was gone.”

”Zarven said the kraken and serpent are dangerous even to Superior Demon Kings.”

”They are,” Torvek said.

He didn’t elaborate.

Simon noticed the way his fingers flexed at his side like he was tense.

”The tides have slowed recently,” Rasken said, folding his arms. ”Four days without anything bigger than a stray pack. Longest stretch since this started.”

”Isn’t that good?”

”It would be,” Torvek said, ”if they’d stopped.”

Simon thought of the feeding frenzy that had greeted his arrival. Of the Mauler rising from the deep, far closer to the island than it should have been.

”You think they’re gathering.”

”I think,” Torvek said slowly, ”that the sea has been far too-”

He stopped.

So did Veyra. Rasken’s head snapped around.

And Simon felt it too.

A pressure rose from somewhere far beyond the harbor, and it was heavy and cold, as though the deep ocean had decided to stand.

The pressure made Simon’s hair on the back of his neck to rise.

All four of them turned toward the eastern windows at the same moment.

On the horizon, the mist split apart.

Something struck The Wall.

BOOOOOOM!

The southeastern curve of The Wall bent inward.

Golden light flooded the harbor as layers of runes flared across its surface. For an instant, Simon could see one formation burning behind another, each taking part of the impact.

The Watch Hall shook.

A cup toppled from the table. Metal counters scattered across the map.

Beyond the barrier, seawater erupted into a towering white curtain, swallowing the view of the horizon.

Simon frowned deeply with his attention fixed on the blazing section of The Wall.

Then the first warning bell rang.

Another answered from farther inland.

Within moments, the alarms were sounding across all of Vhal-Sar.