The Broken Halo

Three weeks passed in Vashar City.

During those three weeks, Simon did not do anything eye-catching.

He did not enter any tournament, he did not offend any young master, he did not rob any merchant, and he did not bring chaos to Vashar City like he had done in the Shadowgrave Clan.

And well, it was not surprising considering his condition.

However, Akaza and Sonya actually expected something to happen during this period because they were used to something chaotic happening around Simon all the time.

But for once, he lived quietly.

Or at least, as quietly as somebody like him could.

Most of his time was spent inside his room in River Rest. He would heal his body and make sure that his demonic pathways recovered properly.

His demonic pathways were the most crucial and delicate parts of his body that he needed to heal, and they were also the ones that suffered the most from Lilith possessing his body.

UnholyRegeneration worked every day. Devour absorbed demonic energy every day, and with every passing day, Simon felt his body become a little less broken.

The dark golden cracks on his skin eventually fades until only faint traces remained beneath his flesh, making them look like old scars that could not be seen unless one looked closely.

His torn muscles healed, his bones stopped feeling like they had been crushed into powder, and his breathing no longer made his chest ache.

However, healed did not mean recovered.

Simon could now sit up on his own, and he could stand without help. He could even walk now, though he had to be careful.

If he wanted to walk for a long period of time, he had to use his demonic energy to strengthen his body, but even that placed a strain on his demonic pathways.

He could run and jump with the help of his demonic energy, but that also placed a strain on Simon’s body.

As for fighting?

That was a completely different matter entirely.

After observing his body, Simon could say that he was back to about 30% of his full strength.

He would need another month or month and a half to be back to 100% if he remained in Vashar City.

The concentration of demonic energy was little compared to that of the Shadowgrave Clan, and because of that, his healing speed was slower than he wanted.

’But I’m not surprised it’s taking this long even with Unholy Regeneration and Seven Stars Blessing.’

’Lilith’s energy is the main problem.’

Simon had this thought a few days ago as he sat close to the window of his room in the River Rest inn.

He had never encountered an energy like Lilith’s before.

It was extremely difficult for him to purge it out of his body, and even though his proficiency with UnholyRegeneration had drastically increased with the help of his Seven Stars Blessing, he was still too weak to remove Lilith’s energy from his body easily.

If his old body was a sharp sword, then his current body was a sword that had been cracked and reforged in a hurry.

It could still cut.

But if he swung it carelessly, it might break again.

Simon had been patient and had been focusing on healing his body for weeks now, but he was beginning to get restless.

He wanted his recovery rate to increase, and he also did not like the fact that he was staying in a single place while being helpless.

Why?

Because he was certain that the Shadowgrave Clan was definitely looking for him.

And he had a feeling that if he stayed in Vashar City for too long, he would be discovered.

If members of the clan arrives in the city and they ask about three injured demons with one not being able to walk, it would not be difficult for them to locate him in the city.

While Simon was focusing on healing his body, Akaza and Sonya did not remain idle.

They gathered basic information about Vashar City, the surrounding roads, the Kharzul Kingdom, and the Darkness Kingdom. They did not go too deep into the city’s affairs, and they did not try to know everything.

Simon had no interest in Vashar City.

It was just a temporary shelter. It was a place to rest and heal.

Nothing more.

The only important thing Akaza and Sonya did during those three weeks was visit Master Avarn with enough hell stones to make the healer’s curiosity quieter than his greed.

Nearly ten thousand hell stones disappeared just like that.

Simon was rich, so it didn’t bother him in the slightest.

In the end, Akaza and Sonya’s hands were regrown, though it was weak.

They had to continuously circulate their demonic energy through their hand to strengthen it. It was like having the hand of a newborn.

Because it was just a hand, it didn’t take time for both of them to fully recover the strength of their hands.

As for Vashar City, it had changed slightly during those three weeks.

The city was still the same small trade city it had always been. Its walls did not grow taller, its streets did not become cleaner, and its demons did not become more polite.

But the atmosphere changed.

More travelers entered the city.

More hunters appeared.

More merchants arrived with covered wagons.

More suspicious demons sat in taverns, asking questions that sounded casual but were not casual at all.

And the reason for all of this was Blackwind Valley.

The rumors had spread more than Simon expected, especially when Blackwind Valley was not close to Vashar City.

He could not help but wonder what the situation was for cities and settlements that were closer to Blackwind Valley.

But when he thought about it, he was not surprised.

The Shadowgrave Clan was a very popular clan because they were a mysterious clan of elite assassins, and the moment there were rumors of the location of their headquarters, it spread like wildfire across the demon realm.

And from everything Simon heard, nobody knew the truth.

And that made the rumors even more powerful.

Truth was a straight road.

A rumor was a forest.

It twisted, split, grew, and hid countless things inside it.

Simon was pleased by this.

The more the rumors spread, the more pressure the Shadowgrave Clan would face. The more pressure the Shadowgrave Clan faced, the less attention they could place on him.

On the twenty-first day after they entered Vashar City, Simon sat near the window of his room like he had been doing for some days now.

He looked down at the street below.

The window was slightly open, and the smell of wet stone, roasted meat, smoke, and beast sweat drifted into the room. The street below was not crowded, but it was busier than when they first arrived.

A group of hunters walked past with a cage covered in black cloth.

A merchant argued with a carriage driver.

Two children with horns chased a small lizard-like beast that was carrying a piece of bread in its mouth.

Vashar City was like a normal city, but it was not useful enough to Simon.

Simon slowly moved his fingers on the windowsill, then he spoke without turning around.

"We’re leaving."