The Broken Halo

Sonya’s warning had barely left her mouth when the fractured road rolled beneath the convoy.

It did not simply shake.

A long swell travelled beneath the central wagons, lifting one section of stone before dropping it again. Wagon Eighteen groaned on its supports, the armoured beasts screamed, and several wounded demons were thrown from their feet.

Simon stopped and looked toward the left ridge.

The movement was travelling in that direction.

”It’s not beneath us anymore!” Sonya shouted, her palm still pressed against the ground. Her face had become tense. ”It’s moving toward the ridge... and it’s huge!”

A deep grinding sound rose from below.

The black glass covering the left ridge began to crack.

At first, the damage looked like another effect of the exploding arrows. Then the entire side of the ridge bulged outward.

Rebels standing on its slopes lost their footing. Crag Hounds slid between broken stones, clawing wildly at the ground. The impostor carrying the three cases slowed and looked up, while the wounded Prime Calamity Crag Hound skidded to a stop several leaps ahead of Simon.

Crack!

A line split the ridge from its base to its peak.

Then the earth exploded.

BOOOOOOM!

Black glass, burning stone, rebels, and Crag Hounds were launched into the air as something enormous burst from beneath the ridge.

Its first body segment was broader than a small house.

More followed.

One.

Two.

Ten.

Dozens.

The creature rose until its front half towered above the convoy like a tall city building, while the rest of its body continued tearing free from the ground.

Thick black plates covered every segment of its back. Dark-red light burned through the gaps between them, and smoke poured from small openings along its sides like the exhaust pipes of a train.

Hundreds of hooked legs struck the broken ridge.

Each one was longer than a demon’s body.

Its head was flat and wide, protected by two heavy plates that curved forward like shields. Four black jaws opened beneath them, one inside another, while six red eyes glowed along both sides of its skull.

Simon recognised it. He had seen, not fought, a similar beast like this in his past life.

It was called a Furnaceback Centipede, but he had never seen one this large.

The Furnaceback Centipede lifted its head, and its aura descended over the narrow road. Every Archfiend below felt as though a mountain had been placed on their hearts and bodies.

Some fell to one knee.

Several Crag Hounds stopped attacking and whimpered. The Dread Beasts closest to the ridge turned around and tried to flee, only to be crushed beneath the centipede’s falling legs.

Simon’s expression became solemn.

’Half-Step Abyssal Beast.’

It possessed power comparable to that of a Half-Step Demon Lord.

Even the Greater Demons stopped fighting for a heartbeat.

Kavren, the Prime Greater Demon who had protected Wagon Eighteen, hovered above the centre. He was an ordinary Two-Horned Demon with bronze skin, black-red eyes, and flames wrapped around both forearms.

Across from him was Vasker, the earlier Minor Greater Demon of Black Banner. The ash-grey Two-Horned Demon still had one burning fist raised, but his earlier confidence had vanished.

Near the front, Maela, a Superior Greater Two-Horned Demon with smooth ivory skin and long blade-like ears, broke away from the two rebels surrounding her.

One was Tavra, a Prime Greater Demon with deep green-black skin and dark veins visible beneath it. His mouth was unusually wide, and drops of thick poisonous liquid gathered along his nails. He’s a Mireblood Demon and he served Black Banner.

The other was Ruka, a Minor Greater Demon whose white-ringed tail moved stiffly behind him.

At the rear, Bronn, a Prime Greater Orrun Demon with a dark hide that resembles overlapping iron plates. His head is bald, his jaw is square, and thick metals protected his neck and shoulders.

He stopped attacking the second Prime Calamity Crag Hound and looked at the Furnaceback Centipede with fear and disbelief.

Every one of them stared at the creature that had destroyed half the ridge simply by standing up.

Kavren was the first to recover.

”You mad bastards brought a Half-Step Abyssal Beast?!”

His roar travelled across the battlefield.

Vasker looked genuinely offended.

”Are you blind? It threw our demons into the sky too!”

Maela pointed toward the Furnaceback Centipede while keeping one eye on Tavra and Ruka.

”Then make it stop!”

Tavra’s pupil-less eyes widened.

”Do you think we hide building-sized centipedes in our spatial rings?”

Bronn glanced from the rebels to the beast.

”So it isn’t yours?”

”No!” Vasker, Tavra, and Ruka shouted almost at the same time.

Silence followed.

For one ridiculous moment, convoy soldiers and Black Banner rebels looked at one another as though the opposing side might suddenly produce a better answer.

Kavren slowly turned toward the Furnaceback Centipede.

The beast lowered its head, and burning saliva dripped between its jaws. Wherever the liquid touched the ground, the stone hissed and turned red.

Kavren’s face twitched.

”So none of us planned for this beast to come here?”

”No,” Vasker replied.

Kavren released a breath that sounded dangerously close to a laugh.

”Wonderful.”

His burning arms lowered slightly.

”We’re all fucked.”

The words seemed to release everyone from their disbelief.

”RETREAT FROM THE RIDGE!” a Black Horn officer screamed.

”FORGET THE WAGONS! MOVE!”

”GET THE WOUNDED OUT!”

Rebels began climbing higher along the unbroken parts of the right ridge. Soldiers dragged injured recruits away from the left side, while beast handlers cut harnesses from animals that had become too frightened to move.

The Furnaceback Centipede watched them.

Its six eyes moved independently, following the largest groups of living beings.

One eye settled on the convoy.

Two followed the rebels.

The remaining three turned toward the path beneath its head.

Toward Simon.

Toward the wounded Prime Calamity Crag Hound.

And toward the false guard carrying the three cases.

The impostor had stopped completely.

His face was pale beneath the blood he had used as part of his disguise. He looked toward the ridge behind the creature, then toward the road below, searching for another route.

There was none.

The Prime Calamity Crag Hound growled and tried to turn around. The pain runes around its neck flared, forcing another roar from its throat.

Simon remained between it and the convoy.

For a moment, the three of them formed a straight line on the broken path. There were other demons, dead and alive, in this path, but for some strange reason, the Furnaceback Centipede had eyes on the three of them.

The Furnaceback Centipede’s jaws opened wider.

The sound that came from it was not a roar.

It was a piercing metallic scream, like thousands of blades being dragged across stone. Black glass shattered across the remaining ridge. Demons covered their ears, and several weaker Crag Hounds collapsed as blood poured from them.

Then the Half-Step Abyssal Beast dropped its massive front half onto the slope.

BOOM!

The left ridge crumbled beneath its weight.

Hundreds of legs began moving.

The Furnaceback Centipede charged down the broken ridge and into the narrow road.

Straight toward the thief.

Straight toward the Prime Calamity Crag Hound.

And straight toward Simon.