The Broken Halo

The next morning, Simon opened his eyes.

The room was silent.

He sat on the bed with his legs crossed, and a low grade hell stone was in his right hand.

The hell stone had lost a little bit of its glow, a very tiny bit that one might not even notice.

Simon looked at it for a few seconds before putting it back into his spatial ring.

He had not slept at all throughout the night. He was completely focused on recovering, and because of that, his demonic pathways had recovered a little more during the night. He could now absorb a small amount of demonic energy from hell stones without worsening his injuries, but he still had to be careful.

Too much, and his pathways would crack again.

Too little, and it would not help much.

Still, it was progress.

’Just a little bit more. If I had one more night like tonight, I should reach a point where I can absorb demonic energy from hell stones without worrying too much.’

’Very soon.’

Simon stood up slowly.

This time around, he wore a completely different set of clothes.

He had freshened up and decided to wear something different.

Simon wore a plain black long-sleeved shirt, dark trousers, black boots, and a simple sleeveless coat that reached his knees. The coat had a hood, but it was not as loose as the robe he had worn during their journey.

The moment he stepped into the corridor, he saw Sonya leaning against the wall with folded arms.

Akaza was also standing beside his door.

Both of them had also changed their clothes.

Akaza wore a dark sleeveless tunic, loose black trousers, and arm wraps that covered his wrists and forearms.

Simon looked at the wraps around Akaza’s arms with raised brows, and his expression could not help but become strange when he looked at Akaza.

"What’s with the wraps?"

Akaza was about to speak, but Sonya chuckled with a mocking tone and expression.

"Isn’t it obvious? He wants to be like you so badly that he’s copying your style. You’re his role model.

Akaza instantly glared at Sonya with anger in his eyes.

"I do not! I’m just using it as protection for my fists."

Sonya’s lips curled up in mockery and amusement.

"Sure you do."

Akaza’s eyes flashed with anger.

"You-!"

"That’s enough both of you."

Simon suddenly said, and Akaza calmed down while clenching his fists and still glaring at Sonya.

Sonya stretched out her tongue with a mocking expression.

Simon ignored both of them and looked at Sonya’s appearance.

She wore a short dark jacket over a fitted grey shirt, black trousers, and sturdy boots.

Her appearance was simple.

Simon glanced at Akaza.

"You know you didn’t have to wait."

Sonya smiled.

"We know."

Akaza said nothing because he was still pissed at Sonya’s words.

Simon ignored both of them once again and walked toward the stairs.

The three of them left Pipeline Inn without eating. The demon behind the counter looked at them, but he did not say anything.

Outside, Velmora City was already awake.

The streets were crowded, but the crowd was different from yesterday.

There were more armed demons.

More Archfiends.

More demons with excited, greedy, and nervous expressions.

Some walked alone.

Some moved in small groups.

Some were already speaking about the recruitment with bright eyes, as if they had already received the rewards.

Simon listened without stopping.

"I heard the Black Horn Office is only handling the first screening. The real recruitment will happen after."

"Screening for what?"

"Strength, rank, and whether you’re useless or not."

"Tch. If they only wanted strong demons, why are they allowing Fiends to register?"

"To throw them in first, obviously."

A few demons nearby laughed.

"I don’t care about the invasion. I just want enough hell stones to buy a Profound Artifact."

"Fool. If you survive the campaign, you might even get a Sovereign Artifact."

"And if you die?"

"Then I won’t need an artifact."

Sonya heard that and could not help but chuckle, though she said nothing.

They moved through the eastern district and headed toward the western district.

The farther they walked, the more obvious the recruitment became.

Notices had been placed on walls and pillars. Some had the same words Simon had seen yesterday. Some only had arrows pointing toward the Black Horn Office.

Guards stood at junctions to control the crowd.

A few demons tried to push past the queue forming in one of the streets, but they were immediately beaten back by the guards.

Velmora was not Vashar.

The guards here did not shout much.

They acted.

After almost half an hour of walking, Simon finally saw the Black Horn Office.

It was not a small office.

It was a large compound surrounded by black stone walls. A horned beast head had been carved above the entrance, and three curved lines circled it.

There were two wide gates.

One gate was for Fiends.

The other was for Archfiends.

The Fiend gate had the longest queue.

The Archfiend gate was shorter, but the demons there were much more dangerous.

Simon stopped in front of the Archfiend queue.

Sonya looked at the Fiend queue and clicked her tongue.

"So many weaklings."

Akaza spoke calmly.

"Can you not control that mouth of yours for once?"

"No." Sonya said with a mischievous tone and smile.

A few demons nearby heard Sonya calling them weaklings and looked over with frowns, but after seeing Akaza’s calm gaze and Sonya’s sharp smile, they looked away.

Sonya and Akaza were not the first demons to try and show off and be arrogant, so they didn’t care.

Though, some demons took note of Sonya’s appearance in order to teach her a lesson in the future.

Simon joined the Archfiend queue, and Sonya and Akaza stood behind him.

The line moved faster than Simon expected considering how many demons there were.

At the entrance, guards were checking identity tokens and using a black crystal pillar to confirm heart ranks.

A demon placed his hand on the pillar.

The pillar released a faint red glow.

"Prime Archfiend. Enter."

Another demon placed his hand on it.

The pillar glowed brighter.

"Superior Archfiend. Enter."

A third demon tried to step forward confidently, but when he placed his hand on the pillar, the glow was extremely faint.

The guard’s expression darkened.

"Supreme Fiend."

The demon’s face changed.

"I am an Archfiend! Your pillar is wrong!"

The guard punched him in the stomach.

Bam!

The demon fell to his knees and coughed blood. The guard was a Half-Step Greater Demon, and the demon felt like a car had just ran into his stomach.

"Take him away and send him out of the city."

Some nearby guards came and dragged the demon out of the line.

"Next."