The Broken Halo

Simon was extremely shocked at the appearance of the video camera in Caesar’s hands.

Out of all the simulations and possibilities he thought of, an artifact of earth was not part of it in the slightest.

’Where did he get it from?’

’No.’

’That’s not important. If one goes to the right places or if one encounters a human in the demon realm, one can easily obtain artifacts and items from earth, but some of these artifacts might not work because they require aether to work.’

’The demonic energy in the atmosphere prevents that from happening. Unless a human infuses their aether into the artifact themselves.’

Simon’s eyes suddenly flashed.

’The only way a demon can use an artifact from earth is if that artifact has a battery.’

Simon looked at the camera, and his expression became ugly.

’Shit... This is bad. He’s going to show them an edited footage, and none of these demons would know because it’s a technology from earth, not the demon realm.’

’But how did he edit the footage?’

Less than three seconds passed as Simon had all these thoughts.

In those three seconds, the judges and those who could see the camera in Caesar’s hand all had frowns behind their masks.

They all knew that this was a technology from earth, but some of them didn’t know what this was or why Caesar was using a technology of earth.

The object in Caesar’s hand was a black metallic cube roughly the size of a fist.

Every corner of the cube was rounded, and its surface was covered in countless glowing silver lines.

At the center of each face of the cube was a crystal lens.

Six lenses.

Six directions.

As though the artifact was capable of recording everything around it at once.

The lenses slowly rotated within their sockets, releasing faint blue particles into the air.

The artifact looked less like a camera and more like a surveillance device from an advanced civilization.

”What is this Caesar?”

The judge with the weeping demon mask asked so that those among the witnesses would know what the object was.

Caesar smiled faintly behind his mask.

”This is a technology of earth. They call it a video camera. It has other names, but that’s the general name.”

Some of the witnesses whispered amongst themselves, and so did the observers who were watching from afar.

”What does it do?” The same judge asked once again, causing Simon to look at the judge with a suspicious look.

’Shouldn’t you be asking him why he’s bringing a technology of earth in this case? Where he got it from?’

As Simon had this thought, Caesar responded to the judge’s question by activating the camera.

He pressed one of the edges of the camera, and in the next second, all six lenses lit up simultaneously.

A beam of light erupted from the cube.

Then a gigantic holographic projection appeared above the Central Plaza.

Simon looked up, and the moment he saw the image on the projection, his expression could not help but become ugly.

’As expected. It has been edited.’

Above the Central Plaza was an image of Simon, the Grey Pact, Lucien, First Blade, and a closing portal.

Simon could tell that the image was showing when he and the Grey Pact stepped out of the portal while trying to escape Lucien’s mother.

However, there was a serious problem with the image.

Instead of Simon standing alone with an unconscious Lucien in his grasp and the Grey Pact standing close to First Blade, Simon and First Blade’s position had switched.

Simon was now standing in First Blade’s position with Lucien in his grasp, and First Blade was standing in his position.

It looked like him and the Grey Pact were facing off against First Blade, and Simon could guess what was going to happen next in the video.

”This technology from earth is a recording artifact, and I have used it to record the scene where Simon killed his teammates.”

Many demons frowned, then the judge with the weeping demon mask spoke.

”Play it then, and let’s see what you have for us.”

Once again, Simon looked at the judge with narrowed eyes.

’So he’s on Caesar’s side.’

’A normal judge would have asked why he was using a technology from earth when the demon realm also has recording devices that can be bought in the clan.’

Just as Simon had this thought, Caesar played the video.

And just as Simon expected, he and First Blade’s roles were swapped.

Instead of First Blade piercing a hole through Vexa’s heart with his claws gauntlets, the video showed him piercing a hole through Vexa’s heart.

Everything that First Blade did, he did.

While every demon was watching the video, Simon was taking note of other things entirely.

First of all, he noticed that there was no sound in the video.

The video clearly showed their lips moving, but no sound could be heard.

Another thing that he was trying to look out for was where the Caesar had taken this video from.

Simon had not sensed a single presence throughout the time he stayed in the desolate frozen expanse.

He knew that his perceptive abilities were not top tier, but it was concerning that Caesar or another demon was watching him throughout, and he did not perceive a single thing.

’Maybe the camera was hidden somewhere before we arrived in that place. I’m very sure Caesar was the one that chose the frozen expanse.’

’But where did he hide the camera?’

Simon narrowed his eyes as he watched the video intently in order to have an idea of where he hid the camera.

’Maybe on the peak of a glacier?’

Aside from where the camera was hidden, Simon was also thinking about something else.

’If he was recording me throughout, it means that he saw me using the Chaos Wraps.’

’But why was he asking for my spatial ring? Shouldn’t he have known that I swapped my spatial ring? Shouldn’t he have known that I’ve used the Fleshwood’s heart resin for myself?’

’What’s going on?’