The Broken Halo

Marek’s explanation of why the invasion was necessar changed the silence across the assembly ground.

A few moments earlier, many recruits had only been thinking about the merits, treasure, and territory waiting on Earth. Now their thoughts had climbed much higher.

A Demon God.

Most demons knew that demon gods existed. Ancient records mentioned them, some ruined temples carried their marks, and certain bloodlines were said to descend from beings who once stood above Demon Kings.

Yet no Demon God had appeared in the Demon Realm for a very long time, to the point that many began to believe that Demon Gods were a myth.

Many recruits had assumed the reason was a secret only Demon Lords, Demon Kings, royal families, and ancient clans were allowed to know. Others believed the demons of the present age had simply become weaker than their ancestors. That their bloodlines had diluted.

Marek had given them another possibility.

Their world itself might be the limitation.

Quiet murmurs spread through the ordered rows of recruits.

”If the World Grade rises, then someone can become a Demon God?”

”Why someone else?”

A two-horned Archfiend near the front smiled with naked ambition.

”If the world can support one, it could be me.”

Several demons laughed, but none mocked him completely. Every demon standing there believed talent, fortune, blood, or violence might carry them farther than others expected.

The possibility was distant, almost ridiculous, but demons had killed for opportunities far smaller than godhood.

Sonya’s grin had widened.

Akaza remained composed, although his eyes held a deeper light than before.

Simon observed the surrounding recruits without speaking. Marek had taken their greed for ordinary rewards and pointed it toward the highest realm of power they could imagine.

And it was effective.

Marek raised one hand.

The murmurs weakened, then disappeared.

”Do not misunderstand me,” he said. ”Assimilating Earth will not place divinity in your hands. Most of you will never approach the level of a Demon King, much less a god.”

A few eager faces darkened.

”But if our realm cannot support a Demon God, then talent alone means nothing. A fish cannot grow larger than the lake containing it.”

His pale-orange eyes moved across them.

”If the lake expands, the limit changes. Someone will reach it eventually.”

The hunger returned with his words, then Marek lowered his hand.

”Now you understand why powerful demons want Earth. But there is another question.”

His tone became colder.

”Why must the humans be killed or driven away?”

Many furrowed their brows in confusion, and Marek swept his gaze across them.

”If empty land can be contaminated, would it not be easier to occupy places where humans do not live?”

”It would be easier,” Marek replied to himself with a nod. ”It would also accomplish far less.”

He stepped toward the front edge of the platform.

”Earth’s World Law is not strengthened by land alone. Every living human born beneath it carries a connection to that world.”

Their souls were shaped by Earth.

Their bodies adapted to Aether.

Whenever a human used their system, circulated Aether, activated an artifact, or built a formation, that connection became stronger.

Settlements reinforced it as well.

A village where a few hundred humans lived created a small amount of resistance. A city containing millions of humans, defensive formations, Aether artifacts, and generations of accumulated power became something entirely different.

”Imagine every human as a tiny anchor holding Earth to itself,” Marek said. ”One anchor means almost nothing. Ten anchors can be broken. But millions spread across the same territory create a chain buried through the land.”

The explanation was simple enough for every recruit to understand.

Human souls strengthened Earth’s resonance.

Aether cultivators strengthened it further.

Their homes, cities, formations, artifacts, roads, and gathering places gave Earth’s World Law more points through which it could hold the territory.

Even humans incapable of cultivation contributed through their collective presence.

”They do not need to understand what they are doing,” Marek continued. ”A tree does not understand why its roots hold the soil. It does so merely by living.”

The more humans occupied a region, the harder it became for Demonic Energy to transform it.

Contamination might spread through an abandoned forest or an empty wasteland very quickly, but a nearby human city would continue pushing Aether and Order into the surrounding land.

Human armies could march out from that city, and the experts among them could cleanse demonic energy before it settled deeply enough to become permanent.

”So we remove the anchors,” Marek said.

There was no mercy or discomfort in his voice.

”Kill the humans defending the region. Force the rest to flee. Break their Aether formations. Destroy the structures that gather and circulate their power. Tear down major strongholds before they can purify what we have contaminated.”

He pointed toward the rune masters standing behind the Vice Commanders.

”Then our own rune masters replace human formations with demonic arrays. Where their artifacts once strengthened Earth’s hold, ours will strengthen the claim of the Demon Realm.”

A broad-shouldered recruit raised his voice.

”So the killing itself contaminates the land?”

”Bloodshed helps,” Marek answered. ”Fear, death, our demonic energy, and destruction all create conditions favourable to Chaos. But killing is not a magical ritual.”

His gaze settled on the recruit.

”We kill because if we don’t, it becomes harder to assimilate earth into our world.”

The recruit nodded slowly.

Marek continued.

”A powerful demon slayer can reinforce a territory more than thousands of ordinary humans. A large defensive formation can hold back contamination across an entire district. A human city built over an Aether vein may resist the Demon Realm’s law for years even after demons occupy its outer walls.”

That was why the first battle around a rift mattered so much.

If demons shattered the defenders quickly, the contamination formations could be established before reinforcements arrived.

If humans held their ground, their presence allowed Earth’s World Law to press back through the open rift.

The struggle was not only between armies.

Every living body, every formation, and every circulating current of energy added weight to one world or the other.

”Empty wilderness is useful,” Marek said. ”It gives us room to establish a foothold. But wilderness alone does not win a world. Humans will continue returning from their cities, restoring their formations, and cleansing the land.”

His hand slowly closed.

”To claim Earth, we must break the places where Earth’s hold is strongest.”

Cities.

Military bases.

Places where humans cultivated Aether.

Major settlements.

Places where millions of human lives and countless structures reinforced the same World Law.

Marek’s voice travelled clearly across the assembly ground.

”Humans themselves prevent the Demon Realm from consuming Earth.”

The sentence produced a different reaction from everything he had said before.

Some recruits smiled.

Others looked toward the distant rift as though they could already see the cities beyond it.

To them, the humans were no longer merely enemies guarding treasure.

They were part of the barrier.

Destroying them was not separate from assimilation.

It was one of its requirements.

Marek allowed that understanding to settle.

”When you cross, remember this. Securing the gate is not enough. Killing one army is not enough. Every human stronghold left near the rift gives Earth a hand with which to pull the territory back.”

His eyes hardened.

”Drive them away. Break their anchors. Protect our formations until the land begins answering to Chaos instead of Order.”

The atmosphere had changed completely.

The recruits no longer needed to be told why the first wave mattered. They would not merely cross to fight humans. Their victories and deaths would decide which World Law gained the first hold around the rift.

Marek looked over the rows once more.

”Everything I have explained is enough to justify our conquest. Territory strengthens our realm. Assimilation raises its limits. And human resistance must be removed.”

He paused.

”But those are not the darkest reasons this war is necessary.”

Simon’s eyes narrowed, and Marek’s next words came slowly.

”The final reason is World Vitality.”