The Broken Halo

"I never thought I would see this day."

Everybody including Simon looked at the old slave with curious expressions, but nobody interrupted him.

For a while, only the sound of the wind accompanied them.

Then the old slave continued.

"I was born in this clan."

His voice was hoarse.

"I watched my father die here. My wife died here, then my son died here."

His gaze remained fixed ahead.

"The clan took everything from me."

A bitter smile appeared on his face.

"But today..."

The old slave looked toward the distant fires spreading across the ravine.

"Today, I finally saw it bleed and burn."

Silence followed.

Nobody knew what to say.

Should they comfort the man or offer words of encouragement?

This thoughts only appeared in their mind for a moment before they decided to not bother themselves.

They were demons, and things like sympathy was not a thing for them.

Eventually, the path widened and the old slave came to a stop.

Then he pointed forward.

Everybody followed his gaze.

In the distance stood a watchtower... or at least what remained of it.

The upper half had completely collapsed. Smoke was drifting from the shattered structure, and broken stone littered the surrounding area.

This watchtower was destroyed by not just one slave but two... A man and a woman.

These two slaves were used as playthings and sex toys by the guards of the watchtower.

When Simon got to know about them, he used them and this was the result.

The old slave lowered his head.

"My King."

His voice carried an emotion Simon rarely heard from slaves.

Hope.

"The watchtower has been destroyed and an opening has been made. I believe in you my king, you’ll be able to break through the defenses and the bastards who are guarding it."

Simon nodded slightly at the old slave.

"Thank you. Take this first, then you can leave."

Simon handed the old slave a hundred thousand low grade hell stones like he did for every other slave.

"Thank you so much my king."

The old slave bowed once again after keeping the hell stones, then he left.

The wind howled through the ravine, and Simon at the ruined watchtower in silence.

The final stretch of his escape stood before him, but there was one thing he had to do first.

He looked to his right.

"Isn’t it about time you showed yourself... Caesar?"

The eyes of everybody flickered slightly, but in the next moment, three figures stepped out of the wall to their right.

Caesar, his brother, and in Caesar’s hand was the last figure.

Brama.

Simon’s eyes flashed with an unknown glint as he looked at Brama who was in a terrible state.

His body was covered in his blood, bruises can be seen all over his body, and Simon could see that Brama’s limbs were broken. Even his scorpion tail could not be seen, only a small broken portion of it could be seen.

The slave was on the verge of death, and his eyes were blank and numb as he stared at the ground.

"You are full of surprises, Broken Halo. You always find a way to do ruin my plans."

Simon remained silent, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.

Caesar suddenly threw Brama at Simon, causing Simon’s eyes to narrow.

Simon stretched out his hand, and controlled the wind to catch Brama.

He gently placed Brama on the floor using the wind.

He glanced at the slave with slightly furrowed brows, and he could not help but release a sigh.

He had told Brama that if he betrayed the Obsidian Thorns and Caesar, that he would most likely not be found out.

When he said that, he actually meant that Brama would not be found out.

Although he saw Brama as a tool, a tool that turned out to be very useful actually, it left a bad taste in his mouth seeing a subordinate of his in such a state.

Seeing his subordinate laying before him, looking like a corpse that had somehow managed to stay alive... It pissed him off.

Simon crouched beside him, and Brama’s blank eyes slowly moved.

For a moment, they struggled to focus. Then they landed on Simon.

A faint smile appeared on the slave’s bloodied face.

"I... told you... that they were terrifying."

His voice was weak.

It was barely audible.

Simon’s expression did not change, but his eyes darkened slightly.

"You look terrible."

Brama let out a weak laugh that immediately turned into a cough.

Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

"I tried... to leave..."

His breathing was uneven.

"But they found me."

Simon’s gaze briefly shifted toward Caesar, then it returned to Brama.

"You did well."

Brama froze.

The slave stared at Simon as if he had heard something unbelievable.

He didn’t Simon to say those words to him.

For several seconds, he simply looked at him, then his shoulders trembled ever so slightly as he forced a chuckle.

He would never tell Simon that those words actually touched a part of him he never knew existed.

He had spent his entire life as a slave, but none of his masters had ever in genuinely told him he had done well.

Nobody.

A bitter smile appeared on Brama’s face.

"What... will... happen now?"

Simon’s gaze drifted toward the burning ravine.

Smoke rose into the sky.

Several bridges had collapsed.

Parts of the clan were still burning.

Demons were still scrambling everywhere.

Chaos had spread through the entire Shadowgrave Clan.

Then Simon looked back at Brama.

"What we planned on doing before."

A weak laugh escaped Brama’s lips.

"Good..."

His eyes slowly closed.

Not because he was dead.

Because he was exhausted.

Utterly exhausted.

Simon held Brama’s right hand, then he transferred all his merits along with some instructions through his Grave Mark.

Brama’s eyes opened in surprise, but he didn’t get the opportunity to speak because Simon teleported him away from here.

After sending Brama away, Simon stood and looked at Caesar.

His eyes contained a bone chilling coldness and iron cutting sharpness as he stared at the demon who always gave him one issue after the other.

The chaos blade suddenly appeared in his hand, and without saying a word, he vanished and reappeared in front of Caesar.

Space rippled all around him.

Then he swung the chaos blade at Caesar with the intention of separating his head from his neck.