The Broken Halo

There was something inside the case.

It resembled a pair of lungs fashioned from black metal.

Each half was covered in overlapping plates that curved around a hollow centre. A short tube joined them at the top, while six hooked legs had been folded beneath the object like the limbs of a sleeping insect.

Thin chaos runes covered every plate.

Some formed branching paths similar to veins. Others gathered around narrow openings along the sides, where a faint trace of demonic energy slowly entered and left the object.

The strangest part was that it moved.

The two metal lungs contracted.

Then they expanded.

A soft hiss escaped through the openings.

The Runemaster who had opened the case reached inside and carefully lifted the object with both hands. As soon as it left the protective lining, the runes along its surface brightened with dark-red light.

The other three sealed cases contained the same thing.

”Chaos Bellows,” the Runemaster said. ”Do not touch one unless we tell you to.”

Sonya tilted her head toward his voice and stared at the insect-like item with a strange expression.

”It breathes?”

”That is what it was designed to do.”

The Runemaster lowered it back into the case. ”Once activated, it will draw in demonic energy from the rift and force it into the land and atmosphere. One is useful. Several working together will spread contamination far more quickly.”

Simon had already understood that much from the visible runes.

The formation carved across the Chaos Bellows gathered demonic energy from the rift, compressed it, and released it repeatedly. Its purpose was simple, although the runes preventing the object from destroying itself made its construction complicated.

But that was not why his eyes had narrowed when the case was opened.

There was another formation beneath it.

Not beneath the metal plates.

Beneath the visible formation itself.

Simon could only perceive it because of his spatial affinity. A layer of space, thinner than paper, had been folded between the runes and the body of the artifact. Inside that hidden layer rested a second network of chaos runes.

It occupied the same surface without touching the first formation.

The Runemaster holding the case had not noticed it.

And from what he could see, none of the others had either.

Simon’s expression remained unchanged as he examined the faint spatial distortion.

Black Horn would not hide a formation from its own Runemasters.

Only one faction connected to the campaign had a reason to place something inside Black Horn’s artifacts without interfering with their intended function.

’Black Banner.’

The answer appeared in his mind immediately.

And if Black Banner had hidden formations inside the objects meant to contaminate Earth, then the preparations had begun long before the army crossed the rift.

’Crownless Dawn is about to begin.’

Simon’s eyes flashed with a calculating glint.

”What happens now?” Akaza asked.

The Runemaster closed the case and rose. He was tall and thin, with grey scales covering the lower half of his face. Two short horns were on his head.

”My name is Veyran,” he said. ”Captain Veyran. The others are Osra, Drevik, and Namis.”

Veyran pointed at their cases.

”We are not the only Runemasters in this army. Twelve teams crossed with the first wave, and each team carries four Chaos Bellows. We have all been assigned different positions across the battlefield.”

Akaza glanced at the fighting ahead.

”And when every team reaches its position?”

”We create one large-scale Chaos array.”

Veyran’s voice remained calm despite the explosions shaking the air. ”The individual formations will connect. They will draw demonic energy from the rift and the army, then spread it throughout this part of the Northern Carpathian Region.”

”The contamination rate will increase,” Rellis said with an expression of realization.

”Greatly,” Veyran replied. ”More importantly, the suppression upon us will weaken.”

At the mention of suppression, Sonya flexed her fingers and lightly kicked a stone which flew and hit a human in the distance.

The human died as a result of the sudden interference.

”The ground can feel me,” she said, uncaring about the result of her actions. ”But it doesn’t want to listen. Moving it will take more energy than it should.”

Akaza rolled one shoulder before clenching his fist.

”My body feels heavier. Not enough to stop me, but my bloodline and demonic energy are being pressed inward. I have lost some of my speed and strength.”

”It feels like I am fighting the air whenever I circulate demonic energy outside my body,” Virella added. She looked at her hands with a slightly nervous expression. ”My techniques will cost more, and they will not be as powerful.”

Rellis nodded slowly.

”My Chaos Flame is stable, but everything beyond my skin feels distant. As though the world placed a wall between me and my own power.”

”That wall is Earth’s World Law,” Veyran said. ”The closer we are to the rift, the weaker the suppression. The farther we advance into uncontaminated territory, the worse it will become.”

Osra tightened the straps around her case.

”The array will not remove it completely.”

”No,” Veyran agreed. ”But it will make the difference between fighting while chained and fighting with enough room to move.”

Another explosion sounded in the distance.

A wave of fire rose above the ruined first defensive line, briefly colouring the blue sky orange. Humans and demons continued colliding across the enormous mountain basin. Trenches, collapsed walls, and rocky slopes stretched far beyond the crater near the rift.

Veyran lifted one arm and pointed.

”There.”

Simon followed his finger.

Nearly a kilometre away, a broad ridge rose above the battlefield. Its front had been cut into three defensive levels, each protected by trenches and silver barriers. At the summit stood a fully equipped watchtower surrounded by four formation pillars.

Human soldiers crowded the lower levels.

Two artifact cannons occupied the second, while Demon Slayers defended the path leading to the top. The ridge overlooked the ground between the rift and the deeper human lines.

”Our assigned location is the summit,” Veyran said. ”The four Bellows must be placed around the watchtower. Once they are active, we will connect our formation to the other eleven teams.”

Sonya faced the ridge.

She slowly brought her hands together.

Crack

Then she pulled them apart and cracked her knuckles again.

”So we just have to kill the humans between us and the top.”

A cheerful smile appeared on her face.

”Easy peasy.”

Akaza looked at the soldiers, barriers, cannons, and Demon Slayers occupying the ridge.

”You say that as though they will stand still.”

”They can run if they want.”

Sonya’s smile widened.

”It will make things more interesting.”

Virella exhaled a heavy and nervous breath. Rellis moved closer to the Runemasters. Osra, Drevik, and Namis resealed their cases and secured them against their bodies.

Captain Veyran looked at Simon.

”Core leader?”

Simon gave the closed case one final glance.

The hidden formation remained concealed beneath its visible runes, waiting for the Chaos Bellows to be activated.

He had no intention of exposing it.

Not yet.

Simon turned toward the ridge.

”Stay close to us,” he said. ”And do not fall behind.”

Wind began gathering around his body.

Sonya moved to his left, Akaza to his right. Virella and Rellis took their positions behind the Runemasters.

Then Assault Core Seventeen began moving.

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