The Broken Halo

The Prime Calamity Crag Hound dropped from the ridge like a falling mountain.

Its shadow swallowed Wagon Eighteen. Compared to the ordinary Crag Hounds rushing through the convoy, it looked like an adult beast surrounded by newborn pups. Its stone-covered body was broader than the wagon, and its open jaws were large enough to bite through one of the armoured beasts pulling it.

The Prime Greater Demon fighting above the convoy noticed it.

His expression changed, and flames gathered around his right hand as he turned away from his opponent.

"Don’t even think about it."

The Two-Horned rebel appeared before him and drove a burning fist toward his chest.

The Prime Greater Demon blocked, but the impact pushed him farther from Wagon Eighteen. Fury entered his eyes as he immediately attacked again, yet the rebel refused to let him leave.

Simon looked toward the other Greater Demons.

The one near the front was surrounded by two Black Banner Greater Demons. Another fought the second Prime Calamity Crag Hound above the rear wagons, while the Greater Demon protecting the formation masters was stopping rebels from breaking into their section.

None of them could reach Wagon Eighteen in time.

The third Prime Calamity Crag Hound had vanished somewhere amid the smoke and broken ground.

Simon’s gaze returned to the beast descending toward them.

"Akaza. Sonya. Follow me."

Both demons turned toward him with strange expressions. Even Akaza looked stunned for a moment.

"We’re fighting that?" he asked.

Simon nodded.

"Yeah."

A wide smile slowly appeared on Sonya’s face.

"Finally, some fun."

She suddenly struck the ground with her heel.

The pillars holding Wagon Eighteen sank deeper and locked into the fractured road. At the same time, a slanted wall of earth rose in front of the wagon.

The Calamity Beast crashed into it.

BOOOOM!

The wall exploded.

Stone fragments scattered through the air, but the slanted surface changed the beast’s fall just enough. Instead of crushing Wagon Eighteen, it struck the road beside it and rolled through a group of Crag Hounds, rebels, and some unfortunate recruits.

The entire narrow path shook.

Simon was already moving.

A Dread Beast lunged at him from the smoke. He lowered his body, allowed its jaws to pass over his head, and drove an upward punch beneath its chest.

Wind erupted from his fist.

BANG!

The Crag Hound flew backward and smashed into other beasts.

Akaza charged through the opening Simon created. A rebel swung a curved blade at his neck, but Akaza caught the demon’s wrist, pulled him forward, and planted a gravity-filled knee into his stomach.

The rebel folded around the strike.

Akaza threw him into another Crag Hound without slowing down.

Sonya was the smallest of the three, but that only made her harder to catch inside the chaos.

She moved beneath the snapping jaws of a Crag Hound, felt the position of its legs through the ground, and struck one knee with a short punch.

Crack!

The leg bent sideways.

When the beast fell, Sonya jumped and drove her knee into the underside of its jaw. A seismic impact travelled through its skull and burst from the top of its head.

The three continued forward.

Simon moved first.

Akaza followed through whatever path he opened.

Sonya destroyed anything that tried to close it behind them.

By the time the Prime Calamity Crag Hound regained its footing, several rebels and Dread Beasts were already dead between it and Wagon Eighteen.

The beast shook off the broken stones from its back and roared.

Its eyes burned red with pain and madness. The black runes around its neck had sunk into the gaps between its plates, constantly tearing at its flesh, and a furnace-red light pulsed through the cracks covering its body.

Then it saw Simon.

The Crag Hound charged, and each of its step shattered more of the road.

"Spread out," Simon said.

Akaza moved to the right.

Sonya moved to the left.

The beast rushed directly toward Simon, lowered its armoured head, and opened its jaws.

Simon waited until he could feel its hot breath.

Then he disappeared from its path.

Wind burst beneath his feet and carried him beside its head. He twisted in the air and drove his demonic energy enhanced heel into one of the glowing cracks below its ear.

BAM!

The beast’s head jerked sideways.

Akaza arrived before it recovered.

Gravity gathered around his body as he leapt and struck the same place with a straight punch.

BOOM!

The stone plate cracked.

The Crag Hound howled and swung one massive foreleg.

Akaza crossed his arms, but the blow still sent him flying.

Sonya had already stepped beneath the beast’s body.

She could not see the plate Akaza had damaged, and she did not need to. Through the road, she felt the force of Simon’s kick, Akaza’s punch, and the slight imbalance in the beast’s stance.

She planted one foot on the ground and drove her demonic energy enhanced fist upward.

A concentrated seismic force entered the joint above her, and the beast’s front leg buckled.

Its enormous body tilted.

Simon landed on its lowered skull and punched the cracked plate again.

And his fist struck at the exact moment the beast tried to regain its balance.

A second later... the plate shattered.

The Prime Calamity Beast screamed in fury.

It threw Simon from its head, twisted violently, and snapped at Sonya. Simon released a gust against Sonya’s back before the jaws closed.

Her small body shot beneath the beast’s throat.

Akaza returned from the smoke at the same moment and kicked its jaw from the opposite side.

Sonya’s heel struck from below.

Simon’s fist descended from above.

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

Three impacts landed almost together.

BANG!

And the beast’s mouth slammed shut with enough force to break several of its teeth.

Soldiers, recruits, and even nearby rebels stared with eyes.

There were other battles taking place, but the sight of three Archfiends beating up a Prime Calamity Beast was not what they expected in the slightest.

The three demons moved around the Calamity Beast without colliding or wasting a single opening. One drew its attention. Another broke its balance. The third struck before it could recover.

To the outsiders watching, Core Nineteen looked like a group that had fought together for decades. However, Sonya and Akaza knew the truth.

Simon was reading every movement of the beast, controlling the pace, and placing both of them exactly where they needed to be.

Their coordination was not the result of years spent together.

It was all because of Simon.

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