The Broken Halo

’The spatial disturbance is not coming from the spatial ring itself.’

Simon narrowed his eyes as he had this thought.

’Inside?’

He spread his spatial perception around the rebel’s hand and felt three faint pulses from somewhere inside the storage space.

Two came at nearly the same time.

The third followed several seconds later.

Each pulse pressed against the boundary of the spatial ring and reached into the surrounding space like a hand searching through darkness.

Simon’s eyes became colder behind the Sword Daemon’s mask as he realized what was going on.

The three cases were marked.

He could not yet tell whether the source was an artifact, a formation, or both, but one thing he knew was that Black Horn could track this spatial ring and the cases given enough time.

’I did not take the spatial ring from him ever since because I was worried it might have a failsafe mechanism that could kill me, but this might be even more troubling.’

A failsafe would only threaten whoever opened the ring carelessly.

A tracker threatened everything Simon wanted to achieve.

Black Horn might already have their location. The centipede’s underground path and the chaotic energy of the cracked lands could delay the pursuit, but Simon had no reason to assume they would hide him forever.

’I need to know where the rebel was going before I deal with the trackers. If I destroy or abandon the cases first, I lose the easiest path into the eastern faction.’

Simon shifted his gaze toward the injured demon.

’I do not recognise him. Is he a spy posing as a Velmora guard, or did Black Horn create another false identity for this mission?’

The rebel noticed Simon staring at him and pressed himself harder against the rock.

"You asked who I am," Simon said.

The demon’s breathing became quieter, then Simon brought out the Murmur Bone.

The crimson markings across the Sword Daemon’s mask made the black bone look even more ominous in his hand.

However, the light of recognition flashed through the rebel’s eyes.

"You were told that the Outsider would be involved in the attack," Simon continued.

The rebel stared at the Bone, then at Simon’s mask.

"That doesn’t prove you’re him."

"No. This does."

Simon briefly showed him the torn-banner command seal before returning it to his spatial ring.

The rebel’s expression changed.

Only the unknown Outsider was known to possess the dead Eastern Warden’s seal and Murmur Bone.

Some of his fear remained, but suspicion now mixed with it.

"If you’re the Outsider, why were you protecting the convoy?"

"Because I needed to be inside it."

"So... are you the real Blackmoon or what are you ?"

Simon tilted his head.

"What do you think?"

The answer made the rebel fall silent.

Simon released a fraction of his killing intent which he had honed and built for decades as the Demon Slayer of Earth.

The Sword Daemon’s mask responded immediately.

The darkness behind its eyeholes seemed to deepen. The rebel heard faint movements behind the surrounding rocks, and for a heartbeat, he saw figures wearing Black Horn armour standing in the distant smoke.

They vanished when he blinked.

Simon’s broken black rings rotated once behind the mask, and he used HollowSkyEye to add one simple interpretation to the rebel’s mind.

They were running out of time.

"Are there any failsafes on the ring?" Simon asked.

The demon hesitated.

He wanted to ask so many questions, but his instincts and body were screaming for him to escape and run away from Simon. At the same time, his mind was constantly telling him that they didn’t have much time before Black Horn operatives found him.

Simon glanced toward the empty land behind him as though he had sensed something approaching.

"If the ring explodes when I take it, I can promise you that I’ll survive, though it’ll be a bit annoying. As for you, you won’t live to see the next day."

"It won’t explode," the rebel said quickly as Simon increased his killing intent slightly.

Simon shifted his gaze back to the rebel.

"Where were you taking them?"

The rebel’s lips tightened.

"I cannot tell you that."

"You can."

"I was ordered not to reveal the handover point to anyone."

"You were also ordered to steal three cases. You succeeded because I allowed you to succeed, and you are alive because I kept you alive."

Simon’s tone remained calm.

"Your mission has already passed into my hands. The only question is whether you help me complete it or force me to continue without you."

The rebel looked at the Murmur Bone again.

At this point, he was fairly certain that Simon was the Outsider, but he still had so many questions about the Outsider’s identity.

Was the Outsider truly Blackmoon?

But that cannot be.

Blackmoon was a mere Minor Archfiend.

Or was Blackmoon using a high level artifact to hide his aura?

Although the rebel had so many questions, he knew that he had to respond to Simon’s words, so he pushed his questions to the back of his mind.

"You could take me with you."

"That depends on your answers." Simon said indifferently.

Silence stretched between them.

A faint tremor passed through the ground in the distance. It was only the cracked lands settling, but HollowSkyEye made it feel closer than it was and it made it feel like an army was approaching them.

The rebel looked toward the sound with faint trepidation.

"There are several ruined buildings east of Velmora," he finally said. "The building with a single chimney still standing is my destination."

Simon already knew that location from the vice-leader of the Eastern Warden, and the answer also matched the first handover point of the seventh ash route.

"What happens there?"

"I go beneath the chimney. There is a underground chamber under it."

"Who is waiting?"

"I don’t know their names. Two rebels are going to arrive with a covered transport cart. One carries half of a split iron token."

The rebel moved his good hand weakly toward the inside of his armour.

Simon used the wind to draw out a flat piece of black iron when he saw how the rebel was struggling. It had been broken diagonally through the middle.

"The other half must fit this," the demon said. "If it doesn’t, I leave."

"And after it fits?"

"I place the spatial ring inside a lead-lined box in the cart. They move it from there. I am not told where."

"Do they ask for anything?"

The rebel hesitated again.

Simon let more killing intent escape.

The air around the mask changed and seemed to fill with whispers of gods and devils. The rebel’s burned fingers began trembling and sweat started appearing on his face and arms.

"They ask whether the road survived," he said.

"The answer is... It only needs its bones."

"What if no one arrives?"

"I wait for half an hour. Then I place the ring inside a hidden slot in the underground chamber and leave."

Simon studied him.

The information was useful, but the rebel could still be lying about one part to lead him into a trap.

"Who informed you that the cargo was inside Wagon Eighteen?"

"I don’t know. The message came through a sealed letter after we left Velmora."

"Do you know the recruit called Dessa? She’s a member of Assault Core Twenty Two."

The rebel’s eyes widened slightly before he quickly controlled them. However, his lips remained tightly shut.

Simon narrowed his eyes when he saw this. The response confirmed that he knew Dessa, even if the thief refused to respond to his words.

Simon did not press further for now though.

Instead, Simon reached toward the peeled edge of the false-skin artifact beneath the demon’s ear.

The rebel jerked away.

"What are you doing?"

Simon held the thief’s head with a current of wind and used his hand to peel it from his face.

The face of the Velmora guard vanished.

Beneath the false skin was a demon with a narrow face, ash-brown skin, and bronze eyes. A pale scar crossed the bridge of his nose, while short dark hair clung to his burned forehead.

Simon studied the face for several seconds.

Then the matte-black surface of the Sword Daemon’s mask shifted.

Its jagged crimson markings disappeared. The metal softened into skin, and Simon’s features changed until the rebel found himself staring at his own face.

His real face.

The demon’s eyes widened in horror.

Simon spoke with the same calm voice from behind the copied features.

"One thing you should know is that I can easily become you."

Simon smiled softly.

"Which means, if you don’t give me the answers I need, I can choose to replace you easily."

Simon unleashed even more of his killing intent, and the rebel saw a completely different scene.

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