The Broken Halo

[This bonus Chapter is thanks to Alexander_Chapman_2705.]

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By the time Simon reached the final page of the Fury Tempest Art, the night outside Pipeline Inn had deepened.

He had gone through every diagram, circulation route, warning, and explanation Vhaurak left behind. The inheritance contained the complete methods for creating the Six Storm Crowns, from the Gale Crown to the final Crown that would unite the entire formation.

The more Simon read, the more serious his expression became. But even though he had a serious expression, his eyes contained immense curiousity.

Vhaurak was arrogant.

Extremely arrogant.

However, his arrogance was not without reason.

The Fury Tempest Art was not a collection of unrelated wind techniques. Every Crown supported the ones that came after it, and every movement within the art followed the same principle.

A normal wind technique gathered power, struck once, and disappeared.

The Six Storm Crowns preserved part of that movement.

The Gale Crown kept momentum from scattering. The Rending Crown turned the accumulated movement into opposing currents that tore things apart. The Crushing Crown gathered those currents and compressed them into force.

The Fourth Crown could leave the formation and move independently, while the Fifth controlled the surrounding atmosphere and made it easier for every other Crown to gather power.

The Sixth brought everything together.

If Vhaurak’s calculations were correct, the completed formation would become stronger the longer the user fought and moved.

Simon slowly closed the book.

’Not bad.’

He remained silent for a moment before correcting himself.

’No. This art is excellent.’

Understanding the Fury Tempest Art and successfully practicing it were two different matters, especially since Vhaurak never tested it himself.

There were places where his calculations were clearly based on assumptions. The general foundation was complete, but several parts of the circulation method were too rigid. They might work exactly as Vhaurak expected, or they might cause the first practitioner to explode before forming the Second Crown.

Simon had no intention of blindly following everything written in the book.

He closed his eyes and reconstructed the Gale Crown inside his mind.

Three currents.

One gathered.

One compressed.

One commanded.

They would meet at the Storm Throne behind the user’s body before forming a circular current around it.

Simon mentally formed the Crown repeatedly, adjusting the size of each current and observing how they would react to one another. His past-life experience allowed him to notice several small problems, but he resisted the urge to change too much.

The technique was still only theory to him.

Changing something before experiencing it personally could create a problem where none existed.

’I’ll form it first.’

’After that, I’ll change what needs to be changed.’

Simon shifted his attention toward his Demon Heart.

Before creating the Gale Crown, he needed enough wind elemental energy.

Demonic energy and elemental energy were not the same.

A demon’s Demon Heart contained their demonic energy, but every affinity also created a separate reservoir within the internal space of the heart. These elemental reservoirs were connected to the respective Chaos Elemental Planes through the demon’s affinities.

The affinity was the gate.

The affinity grade determined how wide that gate could open.

To obtain elemental energy, a demon sent demonic energy through the gate leading to the elemental plane. In return, the Chaos Elemental Plane released elemental energy into the separate reservoir inside the Demon Heart.

Many demons simply called this process conversion, but it was closer to an exchange.

Demonic energy went in.

Elemental energy came out.

The process was not equal for every demon.

A demon with a poor affinity possessed a narrow and unstable gate. A large amount of demonic energy would be lost while crossing it, and only a small amount of elemental energy would return.

The process would also be slow.

A low C grade Archfiend might need to exchange three portions of demonic energy before obtaining one portion of elemental energy. Even then, the elemental reservoir inside their Demon Heart would be small and could be emptied after using a few demanding techniques.

There was no exact ratio that applied to every demon.

Rank, bloodline, control, and the condition of the Demon Heart also mattered.

Still, affinity grade remained the greatest factor.

A demon with an A grade affinity possessed a far wider gate. Their exchange would be faster, the loss would be lower, and their elemental reservoir could sustain them throughout a long battle.

As for an S grade affinity...

The gate was almost completely open.

Simon focused on the connection between himself and the Chaos Wind Elemental Plane.

The moment he did, he sensed it.

It was not a place he could physically see or enter with his current strength. What he felt was an endless region filled with wild and violent wind.

Some currents moved slowly enough to carry dust.

Others possessed enough force to tear mountains apart.

They collided, separated, changed direction, and returned without ever becoming still.

Simon sent a stream of demonic energy toward the gate.

Hum!

The connection opened.

His demonic energy disappeared into it, and pale green wind elemental energy flowed back almost immediately.

There was very little loss.

Simon’s High S grade wind affinity made the exchange close to equal, while his terrifying control prevented the flow from becoming unstable or scattering inside his Demon Heart.

For a demon with a lower affinity, the exchange could take several breaths.

Simon completed it in a single circulation.

The wind elemental energy gathered inside its own reservoir, completely separate from his demonic energy.

Through his inner perception, the reservoir resembled a pale green current wrapped around one section of his Demon Heart. It grew larger with every exchange, rotating slowly without mixing with the darker demonic energy at the centre.

Elemental energy was the fuel.

Once brought out of the Demon Heart and shaped through the demon’s affinity and will, it became chaos.

In Simon’s case, wind chaos.

Simon continued the exchange until his wind elemental reservoir became full.

The air inside the room began reacting to him.

The green lines on the cover of the Fury Tempest Art glowed faintly. The curtains beside the window shifted despite the window being closed, while the broken pieces of the cup on the floor trembled.

Simon opened his eyes.

It was time to create the Gale Crown.

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[A/N: The super gift exchange is still on. Why are majority of you been dismissive about this? Am I not working hard enough? Flood with me super gifts for crying out loud let all this hardwork be worth it GOD DAMN IT!!!!!!]