The Broken Halo

"We found two more!"

The commander turned to the voice of the guard.

Several guards were gathered around two bodies close to what remained of the western tunnel.

One of the demons had a stone spike buried through his neck. Blood covered the ground beneath him, and his eyes remained wide open.

The second demon lay beneath a broken pillar.

Neither moved.

"Both are Supreme Archfiends," one of the guards said as the commander approached. "They appear to be dead."

A female healer who had been treating wounded civilians nearby climbed down into the chamber.

Her robe was covered in blood, and strands of hair stuck to the sweat on her forehead.

"Move aside," she said.

The guards immediately created space for her.

She knelt beside the Supreme Archfiend beneath the pillar and placed two fingers against his neck.

Nothing happened at first.

Then her brows furrowed.

"He’s alive."

One of the guards stared at her.

"Are you sure?"

The healer pressed her palm against the demon’s chest. Pale green light entered his body, and after a few seconds, a faint heartbeat became noticeable.

"His heartbeat is weak, but he is alive. His ribs are broken, and his skull has been damaged."

The commander glanced at the surrounding guards.

"Remove the pillar carefully. The moment he is free, place suppression seals on his neck and limbs."

The healer looked up at him.

"If you want him alive, I need space."

"You’ll have it."

As the guards began lifting the pillar, another guard crouched beside the dead Supreme Archfiend.

He stared at the demon’s face for several seconds, then his expression slowly changed.

"Commander."

The Greater Demon looked toward him.

"What is it?"

"I’ve seen this demon before."

"Where?"

The guard pointed at the corpse.

"He participated in the Black Horn recruitment earlier today. I was stationed outside the combat area during the final test."

The commander became still and his expression became more solemn.

"You are certain?"

"Yes, Commander."

The guard swallowed and looked at the exposed maps.

"He was one of the applicants."

The commander’s eyes moved toward the dead Supreme Archfiend.

If the demon had been selected, he would have joined the raid force travelling to Earth.

That meant the rebels were not only planning to sabotage the convoy.

They were also attempting to infiltrate the invasion force.

"Send a message to Korran Veyl," the commander said.

His voice had become noticeably colder.

"Tell him that one of today’s recruitment participants was part of this rebel cell."

Before the messenger could leave, two guards dragged a wounded Archfiend from beneath a collapsed section of wall.

The rebel’s left arm hung uselessly beside him, and blood flowed from a wound across his forehead.

They forced him onto his knees before the commander.

The rebel looked around and saw the corpses scattered across the chamber.

His face became pale.

The commander stood before him.

"Who attacked this place?"

The rebel pressed his lips together and said nothing.

The commander glanced toward the headless body of the Half-Step Greater Demon lying a short distance away.

"Your leader is dead."

He then looked toward the Supreme Archfiend being pulled from beneath the pillar.

"One of your vice-leaders is dead, and the other might not wake up."

The commander returned his attention to the rebel.

"There is nobody left to protect you."

The rebel’s breathing became uneven.

"Who attacked you?" the commander repeated.

"A demoness," he finally said.

His voice was hoarse.

The commander studied his expression.

"Describe her."

The rebel swallowed.

"She was small. At first, we thought she was a child."

His remaining hand trembled slightly.

"She came for a spatial ring one of our men stole."

The commander’s brows drew together.

"A spatial ring?"

The rebel nodded.

"We refused to return it."

His eyes moved toward the dark tunnel behind them as though he could still see what happened there.

"We destroyed the lights because we thought she wouldn’t be able to fight properly in the dark."

A strange mixture of fear and disbelief appeared on his face.

"But she didn’t slow down."

The rebel released a shaky breath.

"She moved without making a sound. We would hear something from one direction, attack it, and then someone would die behind us."

The surrounding guards listened silently.

"She controlled the earth like it was part of her body," the rebel continued. "The whole structure was collapsing, but she held it up while killing us."

His voice dropped.

"We couldn’t see her, but she knew where everyone was."

The commander’s gaze sharpened as a thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Did you see her eyes?"

The rebel hesitated.

"They looked strange. She never looked directly at anyone, even before the lights were destroyed."

Before the commander could ask another question, a heavy presence descended from above.

Korran landed beside the exposed chamber with two Black Horn officials behind him.

His eyes moved across the ruined street, the exposed tunnels, and the bodies being carried from beneath the rubble.

A deep frown appeared on his face.

The commander climbed out of the chamber and met him beside the remains of the bathhouse.

"What happened?" Korran asked.

His tone was calm, but there was anger beneath it.

Who would dare cause such a damage to Velmora?

The commander explained what they had uncovered.

The forged uniforms.

The identity tokens.

The maps of the convoy route.

The explosives.

And the dead Supreme Archfiend who had participated in the recruitment.

Korran’s expression became colder with every word.

When the commander finally described the small demoness who moved through the darkness and controlled the earth, Korran closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"So it was her."

The commander studied him.

"You know who did this?"

Korran opened his eyes and looked at the destruction stretching across the street.

"A demoness called Sonya."

His tone carried frustration rather than amusement.

"A Supreme Archfiend with peak S grade earth affinity. She participated in the recruitment today."

The commander glanced at the damaged buildings.

"Fourteen civilians are dead. More than thirty are injured."

"I can see that."

Korran’s jaw tightened.

"But if she had not broken the formation lines, those explosives would have detonated together. The destruction would have spread far beyond this street."

"That does not remove her responsibility." The commander said coldly.

"No," Korran replied. "It does not."

He looked toward the maps that had been recovered from the rubble.

"But she also exposed a rebel cell, prevented the convoy from being attacked without warning, and revealed that the rebels were attempting to enter the raid force."

The commander remained silent for a moment.

Even though he was angry about the death of Velmora citizens, he couldn’t deny that Sonya had also helped Velmora in the process.

"What do you want us to do about her?"

"Find her definitely." Korran said without hesitation.

"Should we arrest her?"

Korran turned and looked directly at him.

"No."

The commander raised a brow.

"Do not surround her," Korran continued. "Do not threaten her, and do not send ordinary guards to drag her through the city."

His eyes briefly moved toward the broken street.

"She is already responsible for this. I have no interest in watching her destroy another district because someone decided to place chains around her."

The commander understood his reasoning, but there was something else.

Sonya was a Kragh.

Though Korra had not told him this, he could put two and two together, so he knew that Sonya was a Kragh.

If the situation was handled badly, it could become more than a matter of damaged property and civilian deaths.

"I’ll speak to her myself," Korran said. "Where is she staying?"

One of the Black Horn officials stepped forward.

"Pipeline Inn. She registered there with the other two."

Korran released a slow breath and looked once more at the ruined bathhouse.

"All this destruction just because a thief stole her ring," he muttered.

The commander heard him and frowned.

Korran turned away from the destruction.

"Come. Let us hear how a stolen ring became a hundred metres of ruin."

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