The Broken Halo

After jumping out of the ravine, Simon, Sonya, Sunless, and Akaza ran as fast they could.

They ran on one of the bridges, and they didn’t stop to take a good look around since they were not out of danger yet.

However, Sonya, Sunless, and Akaza were surprised when they recognized the familiar bridges, mountain, and forest.

"We were in Blackwind Valley all along?" Sonya mumbled softly as she ran.

The location of the Shadowgrave Clan had always been a mystery to a lot of demons.

Even when Shadow Blades and Veilmasters left the clan and told their family where the trial took place, very few organizations are able to locate the Shadowgrave Clan.

Sonya could not help but wonder if it was completely because of the Shadow Veil array or something else entirely.

’Why am I even thinking about this when I don’t even know where the Blackwind Valley is located in the demon realm.’

Sonya shook her head, then she looked at Simon who was in front of them.

And it suddenly dawned on her that Simon’s condition was actually not good at all.

Despite his condition, Simon was still running at the front of the group, but his movements were no longer as smooth and effortless as before.

Parts of his skin were blackened from burns, and some sections of his flesh were still red and raw.

His clothes had long since been reduced to little more than bloodied rags hanging from his body.

The right side of his body looked especially terrible.

His shoulder had been shattered by the explosion, and although UnholyRegeneration was continuously healing it, the process was far from complete.

Sonya could actually see the flesh around the injury twitching from time to time.

New flesh slowly formed, damaged muscles repaired themselves, and the cracks in his bones gradually disappeared.

However, every bit of healing consumed demonic energy.

A lot of it.

Sonya, Sunless, Akaza, Merath, and Jorra were amazed by the fact that Simon was still able to run despite his injuries.

They couldn’t help but ask themselves if Simon felt no pain at all.

His injuries were the worst, but he was still moving in front of them.

’Little kitty’s mentality is a little bit frightening.’ Sonya shook her head slightly.

While Sonya and the others had similar thoughts about Simon’s condition, Simon himself was thinking about something completely different.

In fact, his expression beneath his mask was dark and his eyes were filled with a complicated light.

Why?

Because everything was too easy.

Way too easy.

One might think that the reason why he was able to get this far was because of the meticulous planning and setup he laid out months ago, but that was not completely true.

One must not forget that the Shadowgrave Clan was one of the six major clans and it was a clan of assassins.

The best and most terrifying clan of ASSASSINS.

Yes, Simon was powerful and talented.

Sunless was powerful and talented.

Sonya was powerful and talented.

Akaza was powerful and talented.

However... The Shadowgrave Clan had many other clan members who were equally talented.

None of them showed up.

The guards did not show up.

The demons who enforced the laws did not show up.

No instructor aside from Sormon showed up which was strange.

No other Grave Lord aside from Black Midnight showed up.

The only demons that showed up to stop him were demons who were blinded greed, and these demons were... untalented in Simon’s eyes.

They showed no single quality a Shadowgrave assassin should possess.

The only demon that gave him trouble was Caesar.

Where were the Velaris?

Where were the Shadow Inquisitors who captured him?

Where were the Grave Lords?

The hidden Demon Lords?

The Night Sovereign?

Where was everybody?

Everything felt wrong to Simon... so utterly and completely wrong.

He had known this ever since Black Midnight stopped chasing him.

No.

Ever since he always found a way to avoid Black Midnight and was a few seconds ahead of him.

Black Midnight might have thought he was fooled or he might have thought that he would be filled with pride for being able to avoid a Demon Lord.

But Simon was not.

Simon knows the power of a Demon Lord.

He knows how terrifying the power of a Demon Lord was.

If a Demon Lord wanted to destroy the ravine of the Shadowgrave Clan, he or she could accomplish that with ease.

Black Midnight could have teleported a lot faster with shadow teleportation, and he could have even used the Grave Mark to locate him.

But for some reason, he didn’t.

At first, Simon convinced himself that it was because of Black Midnight’s arrogance and foolishness that he was able to stay ahead of him, but that was not the case anymore.

’My guts are telling me that something is coming. Something big and terrible. But what?’

’Caesar seems to be long gone since I can’t sense him at all.’

’I cannot sense any other demon through Shadow Sense or the wind. I can hear the screams of some demons behind, but it’s faint... Very faint.’

’Either the Shadow Veil is almost fully repaired or it’s all fake.’

Simon had a deep frown beneath his mask.

’There seems to be a trap waiting for me, but should I stop? Could it be that Jorra and Merath fooled me? Or could it be something else?’

’No. I won’t stop. Let’s see this to the end. I can’t let a little bit of fear overwhelm me.’

One of the reasons why Simon was so confident is because of the agreement he made with Lilith.

She was his trump card.

If not for her and well, the immense allure of the corpse of a Herald, he would have escaped through a different means a long time ago.

"Hey, little kitty. Where are we going?" Sonya suddenly asked, and Simon glanced at her.

"To the withered tree..."

He turned to his front.

"To where we did the second trial."

There was silence for a moment, and then...

Puchi!

A sword pierced through Simon’s solar plexus, forcing Simon to come to a stop in complete shock and disbelief.

He instinctively looked down at the sword piercing through his chest, and his eyes widened slightly.

The sword... It was... familiar.

’Isn’t this... Blackblade’s sword?’

Simon shakily turned to the back, his eyes landing on Sunless.

Eventually, a word escaped his lips.

"... Why?"