The Broken Halo

Earth had changed greatly since the day the first rifts appeared.

The cities of old had not simply been rebuilt after the early invasions. They had evolved.

Glass towers rose beside structures made from Aether-treated metal and pale stone engraved with formations. Elevated trains travelled through the air without touching rails, carried along glowing paths of controlled Aether. Armoured vehicles moved across the roads below, while small flying machines and surveillance artifacts watched the streets from above.

Technology and Aether no longer existed as separate things.

Hospitals used machines to monitor the body and healing formations to repair it. Communication devices connected to satellites, local networks, and System interfaces. Defensive arrays were built into bridges, power stations, government buildings, and even some schools.

The largest cities possessed barrier towers capable of covering entire districts.

When those barriers awakened, runes spread across the sky like enormous nets of light. Artifact cannons rose from hidden platforms, aerial carriers left underground hangars, and every registered Demon Slayer within the region received an emergency mission through the System.

Humanity had advanced because it had no other choice.

Beyond the protected cities, however, the scars of the war remained.

There were abandoned regions where old rifts had poisoned the land, forests occupied by mutated beasts, and valleys where broken formations continued releasing Aether decades after the people who built them had died.

Earth was a world that had learned to live while constantly expecting another invasion.

At that moment, much of its attention had turned toward the northern Carpathian region.

The territory lay within the mountainous lands humans had once called eastern Europe. The names and borders of several countries had changed after the death of the First Hero, and the region was now controlled by an alliance known as the Carpathian Front.

The Front had been created to defend the mountain territories, the fortified cities built between them, and the numerous Aether veins hidden beneath the ancient stone.

The rift was forming below one of the mountain ranges, close enough to a fortified city that its highest towers could be seen from several ridges away.

That made the location dangerous for the demons.

The mountains created natural barriers and narrow approaches. Human artillery and artifact weapons could attack from higher ground, while formations placed on the surfaces of the mountains turned certain valleys into killing zones.

Forests covered much of the lower slopes.

Dark pine trees climbed between cliffs, streams flowed through deep ravines, and small settlements occupied the safer valleys. Far beneath them, several Aether-rich regions fed local cultivation grounds, defensive arrays, and the beasts that had lived in the mountains long before humanity learned to use the power surrounding them.

The forming rift had changed all of that.

Its first appearance had been nothing more than a thin black line within a cavern beneath the mountains.

Then the line widened.

Space began trembling throughout the region.

Aether currents that had flowed peacefully beneath the ground twisted toward the same location. Some veins became violent, while others weakened so suddenly that formations built above them shut down without warning.

The forest felt it before the humans did.

Herds of antlered Aether beasts fled north through the valleys. Winged predators abandoned nests they had guarded for years. Smaller creatures poured out of the mountains in such numbers that nearby settlements had to activate their barriers to stop the beasts from entering.

Even powerful beasts moved away.

They did not understand what a rift was, but their instincts recognised the foreign pressure gathering beneath the earth.

For several days, the mountain range became unnaturally quiet.

No calls came from the trees.

No wings crossed the sky.

Only the wind moved through the branches, carrying a faint smell that did not belong anywhere on Earth.

The closer one travelled toward the forming rift, the more obvious the changes became.

Snow disappeared from several peaks despite the cold. Moss turned grey along sections of exposed rock. Thin black cracks spread through the ground, while pale-blue Aether occasionally burst from them in sharp flashes.

In some places, the opposing energies created stranger effects.

Stones floated a few inches above the earth.

Rain began falling when it was not yet the season for it to fall.

Shadows moved a fraction later than the objects casting them.

None of the changes had become permanent yet.

Earth’s World Law continued resisting the foreign influence, but the land had already become a battlefield before the first demon crossed.

Humanity prepared accordingly.

The Carpathian Front evacuated the minor settlements closest to the mountain range. Hunters entered the surrounding forests to drive away beasts that might interfere with military movements, while Demon Slayers were transferred from several nearby territories.

An enormous military camp spread across the valleys and plateaus facing the rift.

Reinforced roads had been built in less than a month. Armoured transports carried soldiers and supplies between defensive lines. Floating platforms moved artillery onto the higher ridges, and unmanned aircraft travelled constantly above the mountains.

Formations covered the region.

Some strengthened the ground beneath the soldiers’ feet. Others prevented teleportation, detected Demonic Energy, or connected distant units through protected communication channels.

Tall silver pillars had been driven into the mountains around the rift.

Blue Aether travelled between them, forming several invisible barriers that could be activated the moment the opening became stable enough for demons to cross.

Behind the first defensive line waited ranks of human soldiers.

Hunters guarded the supply routes and outer forests.

Demon Slayers occupied the positions closest to the rift.

They carried swords, spears, guns, rifles, bows, shields, and artifacts. Some wore armour made from metal and beast materials. Others dressed lightly because their Blessings made ordinary protection unnecessary.

Above them, several large aerial vessels remained hidden behind cloud formations.

Their engines produced almost no sound. Formation circles rotated beneath their hulls, while long weapons aimed toward the mountain below.

The Carpathian Front had no intention of allowing the demons to establish an easy foothold.

Near the centre of the human camp, a broad command tent stood on a stone plateau overlooking the defensive lines.

It looked simple from the outside.

Dark fabric.

Reinforced poles.

Several guards stationed around it.

But hundreds of tiny silver runes covered the material, protecting it from sound, spying abilities, mental senses, and spatial interference. A transparent barrier surrounded the plateau, and every person who approached was examined by both machines and formations.

Inside, the tent was far larger than its outer dimensions suggested.

A three-dimensional map of the mountain range floated above a central table. Blue lines marked Aether veins. White symbols represented human forces, while a growing black fracture showed the rift beneath the mountain.

Reports moved across suspended screens.

System warnings appeared and disappeared.

The estimated time until the rift became fully traversable continued falling.

And around the table, some of the leaders of the Carpathian Front had gathered.

-------

[A/N: Read the author’s note below. It’s VERY VERY IMPORTANT!]