The Broken Halo

[A/N: This bonus Chapter is thanks to Monkk! Thank you so much man. You’re the best. Also, Monkk has gotten the last spot to have a character in TBH.]

”Which god gave you the divinity that was used in Sunshear?”

Horror remained in Varga’s eyes.

And this horror was mixed with confusion as he stared at Simon from the blood-covered floor. His right arm lay several metres away, his left knee had been bent inward, and the Chaos Blade passed through his remaining palm and pinned it to the stone.

Yet those injuries were not what frightened him most.

It was the demon standing over him.

It was his cold and indifferent eyes that seemed to regard nothing, not even life or death itself.

Simon had entered Ironcrest as an Archfiend. That was what every formation and detection artifact had reported. But he had destroyed the divine shell, walked through Sunshear’s lasers, cut the weapon apart, slaughtered the command staff, and dismantled Varga before he could properly fight back.

None of it belonged within the limits of an Archfiend.

Varga’s thoughts continued spiralling until Simon pressed one hand against the hilt of the Chaos Blade.

The black sword shifted inside his palm.

”AAAAARGH!”

Pain tore through Varga’s arm and dragged him back to reality. His fingers spasmed uselessly around the blade, while fresh blood flowed into the pool beneath him.

Simon looked down at him.

”I am waiting.”

Varga breathed through clenched teeth.

”What...” His voice trembled despite his attempt to steady it. ”What exactly are you?”

Simon’s expression did not change.

”Are you genuinely an Archfiend?”

”I have been asked that question a thousand times,” Simon replied. ”And I am not in the mood to answer it again.”

Varga stared at him.

The answer confirmed nothing, but the indifference behind it made the fear in his chest worsen.

”Why are you asking about the divinity?” Varga demanded. ”What does it matter to a demon? And how do you know the name Sunshear?”

Simon gave no response.

His sky-blue eyes remained cold.

”Answer my question.”

For several breaths, Varga remained silent. Then his lips began to curl.

A weak chuckle escaped him till it grew louder.

”Haha... Hahahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The laughter shook his injured body and sent more pain through his knee and severed shoulder, but he continued until tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.

Simon watched without interest or a change in his expression.

”I don’t know why you want that answer,” Varga said between broken laughs. ”I don’t know how a filthy demon learned Sunshear’s name.”

His expression twisted with hatred.

”But I will never give a demon what it wants.”

Varga gathered blood and saliva in his mouth, then spat at Simon’s face.

The spit stopped in the air.

It hovered several inches from Simon, trembling inside a thin current of wind.

Varga’s eyes flickered, but his hatred quickly returned.

”All of you will perish,” he growled. ”Every demon that crossed the rift will rot in hell. You will scream until death becomes a mercy, and then you will suffer something worse than-”

The wind reversed, and the bloody spit shot back into Varga’s open mouth.

His words collapsed into a wet choking sound.

”Ghk-!”

He coughed violently and turned his face toward the floor. Blood, saliva, and fragments of his own teeth spilled from his lips, but some of the liquid had already entered his throat.

Simon’s expression finally changed. Disdain and disgust appeared in his eyes.

”If you had gone outside and faced me with your soldiers, I would have respected you more.”

Varga continued coughing.

Simon glanced at the bodies covering the chamber.

”I might have even taken your anger seriously.”

He pressed his boot more firmly against Varga’s back.

”But you hid here while others died for your orders.”

Varga tried to speak, but another cough interrupted him.

”You collapsed the western path while your own soldiers were still fighting on it,” Simon continued. ”You ordered Sunshear to fire after we entered Ironcrest even though your subordinates were inside the tower and they could be killed as a result.”

His voice remained calm.

”You were willing to destroy your soldiers, your defences, and your strongest weapon as long as you did not have to stand before us yourself.”

Varga finally forced the spit from his throat.

”You... invaded our world.”

”And that excuses your cowardice?”

”I did what was necessary!”

Simon’s disdain deepened.

”No. You became afraid, lost control, and called every frightened decision necessary because you were the commander.”

Varga’s face turned red.

”You are a demon!” he shouted hoarsely. ”You slaughter humans without hesitation! You do not have the right to judge me!”

Simon regarded him for several seconds.

The anger in Varga’s voice no longer impressed him. It sounded hollow after everything he had witnessed.

”Whether I have the right does not matter.”

Wind moved through the command chamber and pushed smoke away from the severed door.

”A coward remains a coward whether the one judging him is human or demon.”

Varga tried to summon his Aether again.

A few strips of metal trembled across the floor, but his Elemental Spirit did not return. The memory of the Chaos Wraps had driven it away, and his concentration shattered when Simon pushed the Chaos Blade a little deeper.

Varga screamed.

When the sound faded, Simon leaned closer.

”I asked because I wanted to know whether you recognised the source of the divinity.”

Varga’s breathing stopped for an instant.

Simon straightened.

”But I do not need you to answer anymore.”

Confusion returned to Varga’s face.

Simon had felt the divinity the moment Sunshear’s laser entered his shoulder. It had been faint, diluted, and buried beneath the severance runes and the weapon’s Order formations.

But divinity possessed a nature that could not be completely erased.

It carried traces of its owner’s power, Will, and path.

Simon had known that presence at a strength Sunshear could never reproduce.

Time had weakened the trace, but it had not made it unfamiliar.

Varga watched the cold recognition settle in Simon’s eyes.

”The divinity used in Sunshear belongs to...” Simon paused.

Then he spoke the title clearly.

”The Radiant Judge.”

Every trace of rage disappeared from Varga’s face.

His pupils contracted.

For the first time since Simon entered the chamber, Varga looked more shocked than afraid.

”How...”

His voice emerged as a whisper.

”How do you know that?”