The Broken Halo

After Sonya and Akaza agreed to Simon’s request of resting for one hour, Akaza frowned while looking at their surroundings.

”Who’s watching the surroundings?”

Sonya glanced at him.

”You of course.”

Akaza pointed at himself.

”Why me?”

”Because this Honourable says so, and because you were unconscious for part of the last fight. You rested already.”

Akaza’s expression instantly darkened.

”That is not how rest works.”

Sonya ignored him and sat beside Simon.

Akaza clicked his tongue in annoyance and mock anger, but he still walked toward the edge of the clearing. His expression became serious as he looked at the surrounding trees.

The clearing they had landed in was not large.

The grass was dark green, almost black in some places, and small pale flowers grew near the river. Their petals were shaped like tiny bells, and whenever the wind touched them, they released a faint chime that was barely audible.

The trees around the clearing were tall and thin, with smooth grey bark and leaves that were dark blue underneath. Some of the roots rose from the ground like sleeping snakes before dipping back into the soil.

The river flowed quietly a few dozen meters away.

Its water was clear, but not completely normal. Sometimes, faint silver lights moved beneath the surface like small fish made of moonlight. At other times, the water became dark for a second, reflecting nothing at all before returning to normal.

This was the demon realm.

Even a peaceful forest could not be trusted completely.

Akaza moved between the trees for a while. He checked the ground, the bushes, and even the shadows for anything off.

Living in the Shadowgrave Clan made him to be more wary and aware of shadows compared to other demons.

After checking all of these places, he decided to check the direction Merath had left. He did not go too far, but he moved enough to make sure there was no immediate danger.

A few weak demonic beasts were nearby.

One was a rabbit-like beast with two tiny horns and six eyes. It stared at Akaza from behind a root for a few seconds, then ran away when Akaza looked at it.

It was a mere Lesser Beast and its instincts warned him that Akaza was extremely dangerous.

Another was a small black lizard with a red throat. It crawled across a tree trunk, hissed at Akaza, then pretended to be dead when he took one step toward it.

Akaza stared at the lizard for a few seconds.

”Can it be eaten?”

The lizard remained still, and if it could sweat, it would be sweating buckets after hearing Akaza’s words.

”You’re lucky you’re too small or you’d have become food.”

Akaza walked away and continued observing their surroundings.

Meanwhile, Simon tried to consciously heal himself.

He focused on Devour first.

The demonic energy in the air was not dense like that of the Shadowgrave Clan or Gondor City of House Mercer, but it was not too weak either. It flowed toward him slowly, entering his body through his skin, his breath, and the faint pull of his bloodline.

Devour absorbed it.

UnholyRegeneration used it.

His torn muscles began to knit together.

Small cracks in his bones began to close.

The damaged flesh beneath his skin slowly repaired itself.

But it was slow.

Painfully slow.

And the deeper damage remained.

His demonic pathways were still ruined. They looked like roads that had been shattered by an earthquake. Some parts were blocked, some parts were torn, and some were so fragile that Simon did not dare to circulate demonic energy through them.

His soul was also tired.

Not broken.

But tired.

The Chaos Wraps had consumed his soul energy and mental energy when Lilith used them to tear open space. The sensation was still lingering in him, like invisible threads had been pulled out of his soul and had not fully returned.

At some point, Simon realized that he was struggling to remain awake.

Adrenaline and sheer willpower was what kept him awake all this while, but his mind was beginning to shut down.

He tried to observe every change in his body.

He tried to guide UnholyRegeneration more efficiently.

He tried to make sure his demonic pathways did not heal wrongly.

However, his mind was too exhausted.

His Sea of Consciousness was not calm. The black sea moved with slow heavy waves, and above it, the seven black stars hovered silently.

The space where the Eternal Mind Maze had been was empty now, and that emptiness made his mind feel strange.

His eyelids slowly became heavy.

’No. Not yet.’

’It’s too dangerous for me to sleep in this place. Akaza and Sonya don’t seem bad, but falling asleep completely is a different matter entirely. They can become curious and search my body without me knowing.’

’And Lilith would most likely not help me for something as trivial as this.’

Simon forced himself to remain conscious.

A few seconds passed.

Then a minute.

Then another.

Sonya looked at him and saw his eyes slowly closing.

”You know that you can sleep, right?”

Simon opened his eyes slightly, then he struggled to reply but only one word came out of his mouth.

”No.”

Sonya frowned.

”You look like a corpse that is pretending to be alive.”

Simon looked at her with slightly raised brows.

”You have a way with words.”

”I am being honest.”

Simon wanted to respond, but the words did not leave his mouth.

Sonya stared at him for a few seconds, then she spoke in a softer voice.

”You’ve done enough for now, little kitty.”

Simon did not respond.

His eyes were still open, but the coldness in them had dimmed slightly.

Sonya continued.

”Don’t worry. You can sleep. Akaza and I will watch the surroundings.”

Simon stared at her.

Then his gaze shifted toward Akaza who was standing near a tree with his arms crossed, pretending like he was not listening.

He arrived not too long ago.

Akaza glanced at him.

”What? Do you think I’ll run away and leave you?”

Simon said nothing.

Akaza snorted.

”If I wanted to leave, I would have left when Merath did.”

Simon continued staring at him.

Akaza clicked his tongue.

”Fine. I won’t leave. Sleep.”

Simon slowly shook his head and forced himself to speak.

”I was not looking at you because of that. I wanted to know if we’re safe or if you found something odd.”

”Ohh.” Akaza became slightly embarrassed and he could not help but scratch the back of his head.

”There was nothing odd. We’re safe.”

Simon nodded, then slowly, he closed his eyes.

Even then, he unconsciously tried to remain aware of his surroundings through Shadow Sense.

But a few moments later, even that became difficult.

His thoughts became slow.

His breathing became softer.

The pain did not disappear, but it became distant.

Then, without realizing it, Simon fell asleep.