The Broken Halo

Korran glanced at Simon and Sonya briefly as the commander’s killing intent was slowly leaking out of his body. Something unreadable passed through his eyes before he turned toward the guard commander.

"She is here to give a statement," Korran said calmly. "Not to be punished twice for the same incident."

The commander’s nostrils flared and his jaw tightened.

"She speaks as if the dead mean nothing. She acts as though their deaths are amusing."

Sonya said nothing in response to his words, this pissed off the commander the more.

His fingers remained pressed against the bent edge of the metal sheet. The pressure leaking from his body had not disappeared, but Korran’s presence prevented it from spreading beyond the table.

Sonya allowed the silence to continue, then the playful curve of her lips faded.

"Before we continue, I have a question."

The commander’s eyes narrowed. "You are here to answer questions."

"And I have been answering them."

"With mockery."

"That is simply how I speak."

The commander’s jaw tightened again, but Sonya did not give him time to respond.

"Am I here as a witness, a suspect, or a criminal?"

Her voice had changed.

It was still calm, but the carelessness was gone. Even the way she sat had become subtly different. Her back remained against the chair, yet her shoulders were no longer loose.

The guard commander stared at her, seemingly displeased by the question.

"A witness," he eventually said. "Unless this investigation discovers a reason for that to change."

Sonya nodded once.

"So, this statement can be used against me?"

The guard commander nodded.

"If you break Velmora’s laws again, yes."

The recording crystal hummed softly between them, preserving every word.

Sonya turned her face toward it.

"Then the record should also include everything your guards recovered from the bathhouse."

The commander’s brows drew together.

"This is your statement, not ours."

"But you have been using the results of your investigation to question me."

Sonya raised one finger.

"Fourteen dead."

A second finger followed.

"Thirty-seven injured."

Then a third.

"Six buildings damaged."

She lowered her hand onto the table.

"You clearly want my statement compared with what your guards found. That means anything capable of proving or disproving my words is part of this questioning."

Korran’s gaze shifted toward Sonya.

The commander leaned back slightly, studying her with a colder expression.

"What are you trying to say?"

"There were three demons who attempted to flee through the hidden route."

Sonya spoke slowly now, giving each word room to settle.

"The leader and the vice-leaders."

The guard commander furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Yes, I know. The recovery team accounted for all three."

"I doubt that," Sonya said while shaking her head.

The commander’s expression remained unchanged, but Simon noticed the brief pause before his next breath.

Sonya noticed it too.

"One vice-leader died before I left the underground chamber," she continued. "The other was still alive."

Her fingers began tapping softly against the table.

Once.

Twice.

Then she stopped.

"If you found three corpses, one of them was most likely not the vice-leader that survived. In that situation, he most likely escaped."

The commander scoffed.

"Even if he escaped, do you expect me to believe you remember the condition of every rebel after bringing an entire building down? He could have died from your punch or the formations or your actions of bringing down an entire building."

Sonya nodded while shrugging nonchalantly.

"Honestly, I have a darn good memory."

She folded her arms with a smug expression, and Simon could not help but give her a strange look.

He could clearly remember how she had forgotten that she was meant to be here in the first place.

"And I also remember the sound his chest made when he hit the pillar. His heart was still beating."

The guard commander glanced at Korran, but the Two-Horned Demon merely watched in silence.

Sonya leaned back and crossed her legs before speaking.

"There are only three reasonable explanations."

She raised one finger again.

"He died before your recovery team reached him."

A second finger rose beside it.

"He survived, and your guards failed to secure him."

The commander’s gaze turned dangerous.

Sonya raised the third finger.

"Or he is currently in your custody."

The air inside the room became still and tense.

As for Simon, he finally understood what she was doing.

Sonya had not asked whether the vice-leader survived.

She had placed the commander inside a narrow cage and allowed him to choose which answer appeared in the official record.

If he claimed the demon was dead, Sonya could ask to be certain because this was a vice-leader they were talking about, not an ordinary member.

She could play the card that only she could identify the vice-leader, and she could suggest seeing the corpse to be certain that it was actually the vice-leader and not the corpse of another demon.

If the guard commander remained silent, then it could indirectly mean that Velmora’s guards had lost a Black Banner vice-leader or something else entirely.

And if he defended his subordinates, he would confirm that the prisoner was alive.

When Simon thought about everything, he could not help but give Sonya a second look.

’She’s smarter than she lets on.’

Simon also knew that since Sonya was questioning the capabilities of the city guards, the guard commander himself would be very displeased and would want to preserve his dignity and that of his subordinates.

And just as Simon expected, the commander’s eyes hardened.

"My guards did not lose anyone."

Sonya’s fingers slowly lowered, and a faint smile returned to her face.

"Ohh. Then he’s alive and in your custody."

The commander’s expression froze for a fraction of a second.

It was not long, but it was enough.

The corner of Korran’s mouth moved slightly before returning to normal.

"You are twisting my words," the commander said, his voice dangerously quiet.

"No. I gave you three choices."

Sonya tilted her head.

"You removed one yourself."

The metal sheet beneath the commander’s hand crumpled.

A low pulse of demonic energy swept across the room, causing the light inside the recording crystal to flicker.

Korran placed his palm on the table, and he released a portion of his aura.

His aura instantly overshadowed that of the guard commander

"Control yourself," Korran said.

His voice was not loud, but the authority within it left no room for argument.

The commander inhaled deeply. The bone ridges across his head seemed darker than before as he slowly opened his clenched hand.

He stared at Sonya with a coldness that could freeze hell.

Sonya, however, remained calm and unperturbed. She turned toward the recording crystal again.

"If he has already spoken, you should question me using his version. If he has not, then everything you have accused me of so far comes from the surviving unimportant rebels and the civilians above."

She paused.

"So which is it?"

The guard commander did not answer.

Sonya’s brow rose slightly.

"Has he accused me of something?"

Silence

"Did he claim that I attacked first?"

The commander’s lips pressed into a thin line.

"Did he say the explosives belonged to me?"

"No!" the commander snapped.

Sonya leaned forward slightly.

"Then what did he say?"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU TINY BITCH! HE SAID NOTHING!"

BOOM!

The words left the commander’s lips before he could restrain himself.

His aura and killing intent flared and if not for Korran who held his shoulder and prevented him from standing, the commander would have launched himself at Sonya.

The room became silent and tense at the same time.

Simon’s eyes flickered with a calculating glint.

The commander realized what he had done and revealed, and the coldness in his expression deepened into something far more dangerous.

Sonya, however, merely leaned back and tilted her head slightly.

"Nothing?" she repeated, her tone carrying mild curiosity. "So he refused to speak."

The commander stared at her for several breaths. Then he glanced at Korran, perhaps hoping the Vice Commander would end the questioning.

Korran did not.

Finally, the commander spoke through clenched teeth.

"He did not refuse."

His fingers slowly curled around the ruined metal sheet.

"The prisoner has not regained consciousness since he was recovered."

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