The Broken Halo

“When did you get those wraps? And where did you get them?”

These two questions were questions that were very tricky for Simon.

On one hand, there was no way he could tell Ormon the entire truth, but giving a wrong lie and easily exposed low could cost him a lot in the future.

He had crossed the first hurdle of not exposing all the abilities of the Chaos Wraps like the Chaos Flames, the fact that he could extend them as long as he wished, and the fact that he could actually only use a single blade… The Chaos Blade.

What he did was to expose some abilities that were not so crucial and would not stir up the greed in the hearts of powerful demons.

He made sure not to expose everything at once because he knew that the probability of Ormon asking him and pressuring him to expose more of the abilities of the Chaos Wraps was high.

So, whenever Ormon asked if that was all, he had a backup answer that would make him avoid exposing the core abilities of the Chaos Wraps.

And now, these three questions- Where, When, and How- were questions he was actually dreading and wishing Ormon would not ask him.

Unfortunately for him, Ormon asked two out of the three, and the chances of him asking the third question- How- was very high.

So, Simon planned on answering all three questions at the same time before Ormon asks him how he got the Chaos Wraps.

As usual, he lied.

But he decided to mix his lie with a little bit of truth to it because that was the best way to lie.

“When and where I got these black wraps?”

He looked down at the Chaos Wraps, his eyes flickering with ’sadness’ for a brief moment.

“I got these black wraps in the Blackwind Valley, during the entrance trials of the academy.”

Ormon’s eyes could not help but widen in surprise and disbelief the moment he heard Simon’s answer.

’The Blackwind Valley? During the entrance trial?’

He narrowed his eyes and gave Simon a suspicious look, but before he could speak, Simon spoke.

“During the trial, I mistakenly and unfortunately encountered a Prime Dread Beast and I had no choice but to run for my life.”

“When I was running, I fell into a trap, no, a hole.”

“The hole was very deep and I had no idea how deep I fell. I fell unconscious, and the last thing I remember before falling unconscious is the sound of me falling into a body of water.”

“But when I woke up, I saw that I was no longer underground and I was in a completely different part of the valley.”

“I was so confused, and it was in that moment that I saw the black wraps on my arms. I obviously tried to remove them but I found out that I could not.”

Simon paused, then he released a deep and frustrated sigh.

“It was during one of my battles in the trial that I also realized that I could not hold a sword. The pain I felt back then was unimaginable.”

Ormon had no idea, but this was the only sentence where Simon was speaking the truth, and the more he thought about the Chaos Flames, the more pain he felt in his heart.

He closed his eyes, then he released another deep sigh.

“Although I found out that I could not use a sword or any other weapon back then, I also realized that my fists were stronger and the weapons of my classmates in the trial could barely hurt my arms, so I knew that they were special.”

“I also found out that my demonic energy flowed better in my arms, and that’s one of the reasons I performed so well in the trial… but I was cheated cause I’m a slave, but that’s in the past though.”

“I’m only focusing on the future.”

Ormon had his eyes narrowed, and he kept on looking at Simon suspiciously while still releasing a fraction of his aura on Simon.

Simon was calm, but in his sea of consciousness were multiple rising and falling waves.

He was trying to think of the holes that were in his story, how he could fill up those holes now or in the future, the possible questions Ormon could ask him, the possible actions Ormon could take, and so many other things.

If he had poor control over his demonic and mental energy, his body would be leaking out both of them in excess amount because of how many thoughts were going through his head.

And if not Fearless once again which made him calm in this situation, he would be sweating buckets and Ormon would have noticed that he was lying through his body language.

As he was observing Ormon, he suddenly recalled something and his eyes widened slightly.

’Oh shit. Veilmaster Silent Rose.’

He recalled the female Veilmaster that was in charge of the entrance trials, and he also recalled that she asked about the Chaos Wraps and he told her a lie that he got injured and the Chaos Wraps were bandages.

If she was weak, he would have killed her and disposed of her before Ormon had the thought of questioning her since it was very possible that the Raksha would think of questioning her to get the truth.

But Veilmaster Silent Rose was stronger than he was, and even if he could kill her, he would not be able to weather the storm that would arrive as a result of her death.

Killing Thorgan was bad.

But killing a Veilmaster who was a precious resource of the clan would definitely bring his time of death a lot closer.

Simon had to do something to prevent Ormon from finding out that he told Silent Rose a lie because it would make him to believe that he was also told a lie.

So, he decided to confess… to say the truth.

“By the way, Ormon.”

“Hmm?” Ormon looked at him with a raised brow.

“I might have told Veilmaster Silent Rose that the black wraps were bandages and not artifacts.” He said with a cheeky smile.