The Broken Halo

Earth welcomed him.

Earth rejected him.

The two feelings reached Simon at almost the same moment the instant he crossed the rift.

There was no thunder. No pillar of light descended from the sky, and the ground did not tremble beneath his feet. The Aether in the air continued flowing as it had before, while the battle around the rift carried on without pause.

Yet Simon felt it.

The sensation was faint, almost delicate. If his soul had not once belonged to this world, he might have mistaken it for nothing more than the unfamiliar pressure of Earth upon a demon.

But he knew better.

Something warm brushed against his soul.

It did not enter his body or disturb the Chaos Flame burning within his Infernal Heart. It simply surrounded him, carrying emotions that were difficult to describe but impossible to misunderstand.

Recognition

Respect

Love

And beneath all three was a tiny spark of joy.

Earth remembered him.

Simon stood quietly as demons moved around him and the Runemasters protected their sealed cases. His sky-blue eyes travelled over the unfamiliar battlefield, but for a moment, he saw none of it.

Memories rose instead.

He remembered the cities he had defended when their walls were falling and their people had already accepted death.

He remembered standing before armies of demons while blood ran from wounds that should have forced him to retreat.

He remembered returning to battle before his body had healed because there had been no one else capable of holding the line.

He had crossed ruined lands to save people he did not know. He had entered territories poisoned by demonic energy and fought until the last survivors escaped. He had watched countries collapse, then helped humanity reclaim what had been lost.

During one of Earth’s darkest periods, when fear had spread faster than hope and humanity had begun to believe that extinction was inevitable, Simon had helped restore the world.

Not alone.

He had never been foolish enough to believe that.

Millions of people had fought, sacrificed, rebuilt, and died. However, he had stood at the centre of that struggle. Whenever another disaster struck, people looked to him. Whenever a battle appeared impossible, they waited for their Hero to arrive.

And Simon had always answered.

He had bled for Earth.

He had sweated beneath its sun, cried over its dead, and buried companions in its soil. He had risked his life more times than he could remember and continued performing his duty even after that duty had consumed almost everything he possessed.

For decades, he had been the Hero of Earth.

The Demon Slayer of Earth.

The Halo of Earth

And the world had not forgotten.

A melancholic feeling spread through Simon’s chest.

He had changed.

His flesh, blood, heart, and power were now demonic. He had lived among demons, learned their ways, killed for his own survival, and formed bonds that the man he had once been would never have imagined.

Despite that, Earth’s emotions reached something buried beneath all those changes.

They reminded him of the man who had once stood between this world and its destruction.

They reminded him of every wound he endured without complaint, every night he spent wondering whether humanity would survive until morning, and every life he failed to save.

The warmth surrounding his soul grew a little clearer.

Then the rejection pressed against his body.

It was not hatred.

Simon felt no anger from the world, nor any disgust directed at him. Earth did not despise him. At least... not yet.

The rejection was instinctive.

His soul belonged here.

His body did not.

Demonic blood flowed through his veins. A Demon Heart beat within his chest, and Chaos Flames were the source of his power. To Earth, he was both someone returning home and one of the invaders it had spent years resisting.

The contradiction should have been impossible, yet both feelings existed without weakening the other.

Earth loved the human soul that had protected it.

Earth rejected the demon that carried that soul.

Simon lowered his gaze to his wrapped hand.

He had not killed a human since returning. He had not damaged the world or done anything that would earn its hatred. That was probably why the rejection remained passive rather than hostile.

But it was only a matter of time.

This was an invasion.

Sooner or later, Simon would act. Humans would stand in his path. The campaign would spread beyond the rift, and the world’s current feelings toward him would be tested by the choices he made.

Earth might stop welcoming him.

Its affection could disappear.

Its rejection could become hatred.

Simon understood that possibility without deceiving himself.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then his gaze rose.

Above the destruction, beyond the smoke and violent flashes of Aether and demonic energy, he could see the sky.

It was different from the sky of the Demon Realm.

A blue sky.

Simon stared at it with a reminiscent expression, and a sad smile slowly appeared on his face.

He had never expected to return like this.

Not as a celebrated Hero.

Not as a forgotten human.

But as a demon marching beside those who had once been his enemies.

How ironic.

Still, the faint joy he felt from Earth was real.

It was happy that he had returned.

That small, innocent emotion affected Simon more than the rejection did.

He closed his eyes for a moment and allowed himself to feel it.

His conclusion about the reasons for Earth’s reaction toward him was simple.

His soul was still human.

Death and reincarnation had changed its vessel, but they had not erased where it came from. The Blessing he possessed was another possible reason. Humans possessed Blessings, and even after becoming a demon, Simon still carried one.

His soul and Blessing told Earth who he had been.

His body told it what he had become.

When Simon opened his eyes, the sadness in them had not completely disappeared.

He looked at the distant sky once more.

’Because how you’ve welcomed me with your feelings, I won’t hurt you and use you to evolve my bloodline. In fact, if things work out the way I want them to work out... I’d be helping you.’

The decision did not come from guilt.

Simon did not regret all that he had done after becoming a demon, nor did he intend to abandon his goal. His bloodline still needed to evolve, and this campaign remained the opportunity he had been waiting for.

He would simply reach that goal without using Earth in the manner he had originally intended.

There was more than one road before him.

’I have no choice but to use plan B then.’

A metallic click sounded behind him.

Simon turned.

One of the Runemasters had lowered a sealed case onto the ground. After checking the locks and the runes running along its edges, the demon pressed a finger against the centre of the lid.

The seals went dark one after another.

Click

Click

Click

The Runemaster lifted the lid.

Simon’s eyes moved toward the contents, then they narrowed.

There was something inside the case.