The Broken Halo

Korran and Tarvak stared at Simon’s back as he walked out of the training facility.

The reinforced door closed behind him, cutting off the sound of his retreating footsteps. For several seconds, neither demon spoke.

Tarvak was the first to look away, and he glanced at Korran.

"You are comfortable allowing him leave like that?"

Korran did not answer immediately.

Tarvak folded his arms and looked at the door again.

"He is hiding something. Not one thing. Many things." His jaw tightened and his brows furrowed. "I do not like the feeling he gives me. It is like standing beneath a guillotine and being told the rope is probably strong enough."

Korran’s gaze remained on the closed door.

"I agree."

The answer made Tarvak turn toward him properly.

Korran walked several steps across the training room before stopping near the faint marks Simon’s crowns had left in the dust.

"The stranger he described could explain the empty ring," he said. "A Demon Lord with a strong wind control could reach the centipede underground, tear through its armour, remove the thief’s spatial ring, and detect our trackers."

"Could," Tarvak repeated.

"But the story leaves too many questions."

Tarvak’s expression became thoughtful.

"The pursuit unit followed the residual imprint north-east. Teren said the three direct signals vanished together, then only the imprint on the ring continued moving."

Korran nodded.

"If the unknown demon removed the cases, he possessed a spatial item or method capable of completely suppressing three separate signals. He then emptied the rebel’s ring and sent it in another direction."

"Which means the false trail was deliberate."

"Yes."

Tarvak looked toward the door.

"And Blackmoon claims the stranger had no interest in the Furnaceback Centipede. Don’t you find that strange? Even if this unknown stranger was a Demon Lord, the corpse of a Furnaceback Centipede could still have some uses."

Korran shook his head.

"You’re right, but that doesn’t mean much. I’m very sure you and I have killed Calamity Beasts but did not bother taking their corpses."

The two demons fell silent again.

Simon’s report answered their questions, but it gave them more questions and left every important point outside their reach.

He did not know the rescuer’s name.

He could not properly sense the demon’s rank.

He did not know why the stranger attacked the centipede.

He could not tell where the stranger went.

Even his survival depended on two artifacts nobody had seen and a technique he had only just revealed.

Korran’s eyes became colder.

"There is also his true rank. He says he was always a Supreme Archfiend and an artifact suppressed him, yet no examination or formation in Black Horn discovered it."

"And Sonya and Akaza were certain he survived."

Tarvak looked at Korran.

"You believe they knew?"

Korran frowned. "Most likely. It’s not impossible."

Tarvak tapped one finger against his arm.

"Then arrest him."

Korran slowly turned his head.

Tarvak continued before he could respond.

"Take the risk. Seal his demonic energy, search him, separate him from those two, and force the truth out of him. As long as we do not kill or cripple him, even if he belongs to some powerful hidden family, their retaliation will have limits."

A faintly disdainful smile touched Tarvak’s mouth.

"We apologise, return him, and pay compensation. Powerful clans have forgiven worse when the price was high enough."

Korran gave him a strange look.

"So you did not sense it?"

Tarvak frowned.

"Sense what?"

"His true strength." Korran’s voice became quieter. "Your instincts did not warn you while you watched him? You felt nothing dangerous?"

Tarvak scoffed.

"You are becoming paranoid because your operation failed."

He gestured toward the empty space where the crowns had rotated.

"The boy is talented. Abnormally talented, perhaps. But he is still a Supreme Archfiend, and I am a Prime Greater Demon. Talent does not erase the difference between an Infernal Heart and a Forged Heart."

His expression became disdainful.

"The only things worth worrying about are the artifacts he might possess. Velmora has powerful artifacts too. If necessary, we can rent what we need from the city’s armouries or private vaults and use them against him."

Tarvak shook his head.

"Though that would already be excessive for one mere Archfiend."

Korran remained silent until Tarvak finished. Then he slowly shook his head.

"This is why I have never considered you a threat."

Tarvak’s face darkened.

Korran continued without caring about his expression.

"You are a frog sitting inside a well, and I do not entirely blame you. Your duties, enemies, and ambitions rarely extend beyond Velmora’s walls. It is not surprising that you do not understand how terrifying the world outside this city can be."

Tarvak’s aura stirred.

"Are you looking down on me? Do you think I am a child?"

Korran looked at him without expression.

"This is exactly what I mean. You know nothing."

Tarvak took a step forward, but Korran spoke before his anger could rise further.

"I believe Blackmoon is exceptionally dangerous."

The certainty in his tone stopped Tarvak.

"However, arresting him may lead to many deaths. Possibly even ours."

Tarvak stared at him with a deep frown.

"You’re saying absolute nonsense."

Korran gestured toward the floor.

"You saw the Fury Tempest Art. You saw only what he chose to demonstrate. He admitted that he kept the rest hidden."

"He is still-"

"An Archfiend?" Korran interrupted. "Sonya and Akaza follow him. During the convoy ambush, those three fought a Prime Calamity Beast with their fists and moved as though they had trained together for decades."

His gaze sharpened.

"Do not forget that you are also a Prime Greater Demon."

Tarvak’s face darkened.

"Are you comparing me to that hound they fought?"

Korran chuckled once but did not answer.

The lack of an answer irritated Tarvak more than an insult would have.

"If we move against Blackmoon," Korran continued, "we do it with demons who possess greater authority and enough power to contain whatever follows. Otherwise, if he dies, escapes, or truly belongs to something we cannot afford to offend, you and I will be offered as sacrificial lambs."

Tarvak’s anger weakened beneath the truth of those words.

Korran looked toward the exit.

"I intend to meet the Black Horn Commander."

Tarvak remained silent for a few moments, then his expression changed slightly.

"That reminds me. I heard something earlier today."

Korran looked at him with raised brows and Tarvak lowered his arms.

"The capital is supposedly sending an official to Velmora because of the failed convoy assignment."

Korran’s eyes narrowed.

"Who?"

"I do not know." Tarvak’s earlier mockery disappeared. "My source only said the official holds a high rank."

Korran’s expression changed.

Tarvak watched him for a moment before adding with a soft sigh.

"And according to the rumour, they are already on the way."

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