The Broken Halo

The leader knew that collapsing the underground safehouse would not be enough to kill Sonya.

She was a demon with peak S grade earth affinity. Believing that falling stone and broken supports could bury her was foolish.

But killing her was not the only purpose of the formation.

The formation was meant to destroy the maps, forged tokens, uniforms, and convoy information scattered through the chamber.

It would remove all evidence of them being here.

It would also force Sonya to divide her attention between holding up the structure and fighting his subordinates since he was certain that was going to happen.

Most importantly, it would open the hidden escape passage beneath the western tunnel.

The leader and the two Supreme Archfiends beside him carried matching marks connected to that route. The others did not.

They were useful, but replaceable.

Unfortunately, they would die and he would live.

If Sonya had informed the guards before entering, then every second mattered. He intended to leave with the important documents while the rest of the cell kept her occupied beneath several tonnes of stone.

The formation activated.

The chamber groaned as cracks spread across the ceiling and walls. Dust poured down, supports snapped, and several rebels shouted when parts of the tunnels began folding inward.

Sonya kept one hand against the ground.

She felt the destruction moving through the entire safehouse, but she also sensed something else. A narrow passage was opening beneath the western tunnel, and three identical marks were connected to it.

Her lips curled slightly.

’So that’s the plan.’

She clenched her fingers.

BOOM!

Thick pillars erupted from the ground and slammed into the collapsing ceiling. More rose through the surrounding tunnels, replacing broken supports before they could give way.

The safehouse stopped collapsing, but the pressure did not disappear. Cracks travelled through the pillars, and Sonya felt the strain pull at her concentration.

She was literally carrying a building and a lot more, and the weight of everything combined was not little at all.

The leader’s lips curled into a smile.

"Kill her while she’s distracted." The leader ordered.

The rebels moved.

Sonya kicked several pieces of broken stone into the darkness.

Tap

Tap

Clink

The sounds travelled in different directions. Two Archfiends attacked the false movements, while another turned toward the sound of metal striking the floor.

Sonya disappeared from where they expected her to be.

A hand covered the mouth of the nearest Archfiend. Two fingers that were coated with a sharp and dark metal pierced the side of his neck, and his body dropped without a scream.

An Archfiend spun toward the sound, but Sonya had already moved behind him. She struck the back of his knee, caught his jaw as he fell, and twisted.

Crack!

The darkness became filled with confused breathing and hurried footsteps, but Sonya moved among them without speaking.

A thrown metal fragment made one rebel release a wind blade toward his companion. A small shift in the floor ruined another demon’s balance just as a spear passed through the space where his head had been.

The playful demoness who argued with Akaza and joked with Simon was gone.

What remained was a Shadowgrave assassin.

Bodies fell one after another, and the surviving rebels began attacking every sound they heard. Some struck empty air, while others injured their own allies.

One of the Supreme Archfiends vice leaders rushed Sonya with a spear covered in flames. She sensed the heat and air movement, avoided the first thrust, then allowed the second to graze her side so she could enter his reach.

Her movements suddenly became strange.

Broken Rhythm Art.

The Supreme Archfiend raised his guard too early as he thought he saw Sonya’s fist going for his head.

Sonya’s fist struck his ribs instead, and her elbow followed into the side of his head.

BAM!

He crashed into one of the pillars and fell unconscious.

At the same time, the second Supreme Archfiend moved toward the western tunnel with a leather case filled with maps and convoy records.

Sonya sensed him.

The ground beneath the tunnel rose and sealed the passage before he reached it. He turned sharply, but a stone spike erupted from the wall and pierced through his neck.

Puchi!

He held his throat in disbelief and fell with a thud as he breathed his last.

The leader finally attacked.

Dark silver light spread from his arms, pulling broken weapons and metal fragments from the floor. They floated around him before shooting toward Sonya from different angles.

Sonya avoided most of them, but two cut across her arm and shoulder.

At the same time, one of the pillars behind her cracked as the pressure and strain was becoming more difficult to handle with every passing second.

Sonya’s breathing became heavier.

Holding up the safehouse while fighting a Half-Step Greater Demon was beginning to cost her.

The leader appeared in front of her and punched.

Sonya crossed her arms.

BANG!

She slid several steps backward, then struck the ground with her heel. The floor tilted beneath the leader, ruining his next step and preventing him from continuing a follow-up attack.

Sonya closed the distance and an earth gauntlet appeared around her fists.

Their fists collided.

BOOM!

The leader’s metal-covered hand cracked, but Sonya was also forced back though her earth gauntlets remained intact.

Her affinity was much higher than his.

The leader was skilled enough not to waste his advantage.

They exchanged several more blows. Metal fragments cut through the darkness while Sonya’s earth gauntlets broke through his defence piece by piece.

During one exchange, she heard the faint sound of her ring striking against something inside his robe.

Clink

Sonya’s expression sharpened.

She feinted toward his throat, then changed direction and drove her fingers into the side of his robe. The fabric tore apart.

Her spatial ring fell.

Sonya caught it before it touched the ground and placed it back on her finger.

"Finally gotten back my ring."

The leader staggered away with blood running from his mouth.

Most of his subordinates were dead, crippled, or too frightened to move. One Supreme Archfiend was unconscious, while the other was dead.

His first plan had failed, and he had to move to Plan B.

If possible, he didn’t want to do it, but he had no choice.

Sonya was much stronger than he expected for a Supreme Archfiend.

So he pressed his palm against the control rune again.

This time, he forced far more demonic energy into it.

The formation lines beneath the safehouse turned crimson.

Sonya’s instincts screamed, and through her senses, she knew that the leader was no longer planning on just crushing her.

He wanted to detonate the entire underground structure and tear apart the foundation of the street above.

The leader smiled through bloody teeth.

"I don’t mind dying with you as long as our goal is fulfilled."

The pillars supporting the ceiling began cracking faster.

Sonya could continue holding the structure and risk being buried with every demon inside.

Or she could stop trying to save it.

She chose the simpler option.

First, Sonya sent a violent tremor toward the street above by stomping on the ground.

Bang!

The warning shook buildings, overturned carts, and sent civilians fleeing from the abandoned bathhouse.

Then she spread both arms.

Her control entered every pillar, wall, and tunnel she had been holding together.

Instead of reinforcing them, she pulled upward.

The leader’s expression changed.

"What are you doing?"

Sonya grinned.

"Making an exit, bitch."

BOOOOOOM!

The underground supports shattered.

The abandoned bathhouse collapsed, a large section of the street sank, and the entire rebel safehouse tore free from beneath Velmora.

Stone, metal, stolen uniforms, maps, and screaming rebels erupted toward the surface.

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