The Broken Halo

The Gale Crown continued rotating behind Simon.

Its quiet roar filled the room, while the silver-green command current spiralled between the gathering and compressing currents. Even when Simon remained still, the Crown preserved the movement it had already gathered.

He returned to the centre of the room and sat cross-legged once again.

The Second Storm Crown was the Rending Crown.

According to Vhaurak, the Gale Crown preserved movement, while the Rending Crown transformed that movement into destruction. It used two opposing currents to pull anything it touched in different directions.

A normal wind blade attempted to cut through an object.

The Rending Crown tore the object apart.

Simon closed his eyes and recalled the circulation route written in the Fury Tempest Art. Since he had reduced the size of the Gale Crown, he also needed to slightly change the dimensions and angle of the Second Crown.

However, he did not touch its main structure.

The Rending Crown had to form around the same Storm Throne, but it would not stand vertically behind him like the Gale Crown. It would rotate diagonally from above his left shoulder to the lower right side of his body.

The two Crowns would cross at two points called the Silent Nodes.

If the currents collided at either point, both Crowns could become unstable.

Simon took his time.

The first attempt failed before the Rending Crown became half complete. One of the Silent Nodes formed too close to the Storm Throne, causing the gathering current of the Gale Crown to interfere with it.

Simon dispersed the unfinished ring and adjusted the angle.

His second attempt lasted longer, but one section of the Rending Crown began losing its opposing rotation.

The third attempt succeeded.

Hum!

A second ring appeared around the Storm Throne.

It was larger than the Gale Crown, reaching almost one and three-quarter metres in diameter. It rotated at a diagonal angle, passing behind Simon’s left shoulder before curving downward toward his right side.

The ring was pale green, but its edges were much brighter than those of the Gale Crown.

Two layers of wind rotated inside it.

One moved clockwise.

The other moved in the opposite direction.

Between them was an extremely thin line where the air seemed to disappear.

The line was almost colourless, but Simon could feel the violent wind shear contained within it.

Whenever the Rending Crown crossed the Gale Crown, both rings became completely silent for the briefest moment.

The wind did not slow down.

And neither did it did not stop.

However, the currents passed through one another without colliding, creating two perfect Silent Nodes.

Simon slowly opened his eyes.

The changes inside the room were immediate.

The curtains were no longer being pulled in one direction. Their upper and lower sections twisted away from each other as the opposing currents passed through the air.

Dust moved in separate spirals around Simon, while the pages of the Fury Tempest Art trembled against the table.

A thin scratching sound came from the wall.

Simon looked toward it.

Several shallow lines had appeared across the stone wall even though he had not released an attack. The pressure escaping from the Rending Crown was already sharp enough to leave marks.

He quickly tightened his control before he destroyed his room and drew unwanted attention to himself.

The loose currents withdrew toward the Crown, and the scratching stopped.

’It needs more restraint than the Gale Crown,’ Simon thought with slightly narrowed eyes.

The Rending Crown was naturally violent. Even while inactive, its opposing currents wanted to tear apart anything around them.

Simon brought out a thick metal shield from his spatial ring and placed it several metres away.

The shield was not an artifact. It was a shield made out of ordinary dark iron which he took from one of the demons he fought during his days in the Shadowgrave Clan.

He raised his right hand.

The Gale Crown rotated faster as it gathered the movement from his arm. Simon guided a portion of that preserved momentum into the Rending Crown.

Its two opposing currents brightened.

Simon swung his hand.

Chiiii!

A curved section separated from the Crown and travelled across the room.

The attack struck the shield.

It did not slice through it cleanly.

Instead, the upper part of the shield twisted to the left while the lower section was dragged to the right. The shield screamed, folded, and tore apart with a jagged opening through its centre.

One half struck the floor.

The other spun through the air before Simon stopped it with a current of wind.

His eyes flickered.

The attack was less clean than an ordinary wind blade, but far more destructive against thick material.

A wind blade focused all its sharpness on one direction. If it failed to penetrate, much of its power was lost.

The Rending Crown attacked from two directions at once.

Against armour, it could drag connected plates away from one another. Against scales, it could lift them before tearing them from the flesh beneath. Even if the attack did not cut deeply, the twisting force could damage muscles, blood vessels, and bones below the surface.

Simon could also release parts of the Crown as curved rending attacks or wrap its opposing currents around his hands and feet.

A punch reinforced by the Rending Crown would not merely strike an opponent.

The wind would grip their defence and tear it apart around the point of impact.

’This is... quite intriguing. I can use to rip a demon or human apart with enough force.’

’Hmm... An attack that pulls two connected sections in opposite directions.’

Simon’s eyes flashed with a thoughtful light, and he could think of several ways the Rending Crown could be used.

He could bring the edge of the rotating close to an enemy, using it like an enormous circular saw.

He could release curved sections from the Crown as rending arcs of destruction.

Or he could wrap the rending wind currents around his claws, hands, or feet. When wrapped around his hands, every physical strike of his gains a twisting and tearing force.

The opponent is not merely punched. Their defence, which could be their skin, is grabbed and ripped apart at the same time.

As powerful as the Rending Crown seemed, Simon could also think of some of its weaknesses.

’The Rending Crown is less effective against soft or constantly changing defences.’

’Loose water, mud, smoke, and certain flexible barriers can disperse before the opposing currents tear them properly.’

’It is also primarily a close and medium range means of attack. The farther its released crescents travel, the more quickly their two currents separate and weaken.’

Simon glanced at the diagonal rotating crown behind him.

"Well, no attack is perfect... especially if it’s from a Demon Lord."

Although Simon was satisfied with the ability of the Rending Crown, he still wanted to see the effects of the Third Crown... The Crushing Crown.

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