The Broken Halo

The carriage did not stop for long after Sonya buried the corpses.

The driver was pale, but he did not dare to waste time. He quickly returned to his seat, grabbed the reins, and urged the scaled beasts forward.

The carriage moved again.

For a while, nobody spoke.

Mira, Devia, Brukk, and Orven still looked stiff. Their gazes occasionally moved toward Akaza, then to Sonya, and finally to Simon.

Akaza had killed more than twenty bandits like he was swatting flies.

Sonya had buried the corpses with a snap of her fingers.

And Simon was the one who had given the order.

That was the part Mira could not stop thinking about.

She looked at Simon.

He was leaning against the side of the carriage with his eyes half-closed. His expression was calm, and there was not the slightest change in his breathing.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Mira opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Simon spoke without looking at her.

"If you have something to ask, ask."

Mira hesitated for a moment.

"Have you always been like this?"

Simon opened his eyes slightly.

"Like what?"

Mira looked at him with a complicated expression.

"Cold. Emotionless... Calm."

Simon looked at her for a few seconds, then he looked outside the window.

"No."

Mira waited for him to continue, but he said nothing else.

She almost laughed, but the atmosphere did not allow her to. Instead, she released a soft sigh and leaned back into her seat.

A few minutes later, the driver’s voice came from outside.

"We’ll reach the first resting point before nightfall. After that, if the road is kind to us, we should reach Velmora in six days."

Nobody replied.

The driver swallowed when he received no response, then he focused on the road.

The first resting point was a small roadside camp surrounded by wooden stakes and old stone walls.

Several carriages were already there when they arrived, and demons sat around fires, eating, drinking, and talking in low voices.

The moment Simon’s carriage entered the camp, several gazes landed on them.

That was normal.

Travelers always looked at new arrivals.

But when some demons noticed the blood stains on the wheels and the side of the carriage, their expressions changed slightly.

The driver jumped down and quickly went to speak with some of the other drivers.

Simon did not need to listen to know what he was talking about.

Bandits.

Akaza.

Sonya.

Him.

Death.

And fear.

It did not take long before the demons in the resting point began looking at their carriage differently.

Sonya noticed this and clicked her tongue.

"He has spoilt all the fun. I would have loved it if one of them found our trouble. Now he has prevented that.."

Akaza closed his eyes.

"Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that little head of yours."

"A lot more than what goes on in that big head of yours."

Akaza opened his eyes and glared at Sonya. Sonya glared back at him.

Simon remained silent and completely ignored Akaza and Sonya.

He did not leave the carriage unlike Mira, Devia, Orven, and Brukk.

He did not need food for now, and he did not want to waste energy moving around without a reason. Unholy Regeneration was still slowly repairing his body, and every bit of strength mattered.

That night, Simon took out a low grade hell stone from his spatial ring.

The moment his fingers touched it, he could feel the dense demonic energy inside.

He did not absorb it immediately.

He waited.

Then he gently used Devour to carefully pull out a very thin thread of demonic energy.

The demonic energy entered his body, and pain followed almost instantly.

Simon frowned slightly.

It was not unbearable, but his demonic pathways were still too fragile.

He stopped after two breaths.

The hell stone disappeared back into his spatial ring.

’Not yet.’

It was better than before, but still not good enough for him to use a hell stone to heal.

He closed his eyes and continued absorbing the thinner demonic energy in the atmosphere.

It was slow, but safe.

The night passed without trouble.

The next day, the carriage left the resting point with three other carriages traveling in the same direction.

None of the other drivers said it openly, but it was obvious why they chose to follow.

Akaza.

Or more accurately, the fear of what Akaza had done.

Their driver did not chase them away.

In fact, he seemed relieved. The road to Velmora was safer when carriages moved together when it came to bandits.

Bandits would usually think twice before attacking numerous carriages because of the increased number of guards.

And the three new carriages that started following them also had their personal guards.

For the next two days, nothing serious happened.

They passed abandoned watch posts, dry hills, broken stone markers, and a narrow bridge built over a black stream.

Twice, they saw groups of demons standing by the road.

One group looked like mercenaries.

The other looked like a fake toll group.

But after they saw the number of carriages and the cold-looking demons inside the first one, they did not make a move.

Sonya was disappointed.

"Cowards."

Akaza glanced at her.

"You wanted them to attack?"

"I wanted something to happen."

Mira, Devia, Brukk, and Orven all looked at Sonya as if she was crazy.

Sonya noticed their gazes and raised a brow.

"What?"

They quickly looked away.

Simon closed his eyes.

"Don’t start trouble."

Sonya pouted slightly while folding her arms.

"You’re no fun when you’re injured. I would have punched you by now."

Simon ignored her.

’I can see why Ormon always sent her out of the Shadowgrave clan. She’s a real troublemaker.’

Simon shook his head slightly, and he could not help but wonder how much chaos Sonya would cause in the future.

He quietly watched the passing road while continuously healing his body.

’Around 45% healed. When it’s 50%, I’ll try absorbing a hell stone. Hopefully it works.’