The Broken Halo

The atmosphere inside Simon’s room at Pipeline Inn was solemn and quiet.

Akaza sat cross-legged on the floor near the foot of the bed. His back was straight, his eyes were closed, and slow streams of demonic energy moved through his body as he cultivated.

Sonya occupied the chair in the room.

One elbow rested on the armrest, while the side of her face leaned against her clenched fist. A slight frown had remained on her face for so long that it looked as though it had settled there permanently.

Tap

Tap

Tap

Her foot struck the floor at a steady rhythm.

Every few moments, she turned her face toward the window, then toward the door. At other times, her pale eyes shifted in Akaza’s direction even though she could not see him.

The repeated tapping continued.

Akaza tried to ignore it despite how annoying it was.

He focused on his breathing, guided another stream of demonic energy through his demonic heart, and attempted to empty his mind.

Tap

Tap

Tap

A vein appeared on his temple.

Several minutes passed before Akaza finally released a long breath and opened his eyes.

"Can you stop?"

Sonya’s head turned toward him.

"Stop what?"

Akaza looked at her foot.

Sonya tapped it against the floor once more.

"What? This?"

"Yes."

She frowned.

"How do you expect me to remain calm when little kitty has not returned after so long?"

"The Furnaceback Centipede most likely carried him far from the convoy before he escaped," Akaza replied. His voice was calm, although the tension around his eyes revealed that he was not as unconcerned as he sounded. "Give him time to return."

"It has been more than two days."

"And the cracked lands are large."

"He has spatial affinity."

"He may be injured."

Sonya’s frown deepened, and Akaza stared at her for a moment.

"Your faith in Blackmoon seems surprisingly poor."

Sonya’s foot stopped tapping.

Akaza continued before she could reply.

"You remember what happened in the Shadowgrave Clan. You remember the being inside him."

Neither of them used Lilith’s name.

Simon had never properly introduced the ancient entity to them, and neither demon intended to speak openly about something so dangerous inside an inn.

"That being fought Sunless," Akaza said. "It destroyed her physical body and fought against the Grave Lords who are far more dangerous than a Furnaceback Centipede. It would not allow Blackmoon to die inside a beast that was not even a true Abyssal Beast."

Sonya remained silent for several breaths, then her fingers tightened beneath her cheek.

"That is one of the reasons I am worried."

Akaza’s brows drew together, and Sonya lowered her voice.

"Do you remember what little kitty looked like afterward? His body was broken. His pathways were ruined. He could barely move, and whatever that ancient being did left him in a condition that should have killed him."

Akaza’s expression became more solemn.

"What if it took control again?" Sonya continued. "What if it saved him from the centipede but left him like that? What if he escaped one danger and met another while he could not defend himself?"

The room became silent again.

Akaza could not dismiss the possibility.

He had seen Simon after the escape from the Shadowgrave Clan. Even with absurd regenerative abilities repairing him, his condition had been horrific.

Still, Akaza noticed the way Sonya’s fingers pressed into the armrest and the impatience in every movement she made.

A strange expression appeared on his face.

"You are acting like you’re his mother."

Sonya slowly turned her face toward him, and Akaza continued with complete seriousness in his expression and tone.

"I do not think my mother was ever this worried about me."

Sonya’s pale eyes narrowed, then her heel struck the floor.

Crack!

A small piece of stone broke free and shot toward Akaza’s forehead.

He calmly raised one hand and caught it between two fingers.

"You just proved my point," he said while shaking his head.

"I can prove it better with a larger stone."

Akaza looked at the fragment in his hand, shook his head once again, and tossed it aside.

"Blackmoon will return. Until then, stop damaging his room. The inn will demand payment."

"This Honourable will make little kitty pay."

"You broke it."

"He made me worry."

Akaza opened his mouth, perhaps to point out the obvious problem with that reasoning.

However, Sonya suddenly froze.

The annoyance disappeared from her face, and her head turned sharply toward the window.

Akaza noticed the change immediately.

"What is it?"

Sonya rose so quickly that the chair scraped across the floor. She crossed the room and placed one hand against the wall beside the window, while her bare foot pressed more firmly against the stone beneath her.

Akaza watched her with furrowed brows.

Sonya could not see, but she could perceive the entirety of the Pipeline Inn through her feet.

The Pipeline Inn was filled with movement. Guests walked through the halls, servants carried food between floors, and beasts shifted inside the stable behind the building.

Sonya ignored all of them and focused on what caught her attention.

A familiar rhythm had entered the inn.

One step.

Then another.

The vibrations were faint after travelling through the road, foundation, and walls, but she knew them. She had followed those footsteps through Blackwind Valley, the Shadowgrave Clan, and Velmora.

"Little kitty is back," she said.

Relief briefly softened her expression, then it vanished.

"But... he is different."

Akaza’s brows rose.

"Different how?"

Sonya did not answer.

Her senses followed the footsteps crossing the lower floor. The weight behind them was controlled, but it was not the same. Every step carried a denser presence into the stone.

More troubling was the earth itself.

A faint earthy energy moved with Simon. It was not borrowed from an artifact or gathered from the surroundings. The element responded to him naturally, like it had always belonged inside his body.

Akaza began rising from the floor.

Sonya’s head turned toward the door.

"He just entered the inn."

Akaza paused halfway through standing.

His confusion deepened.

"You sensed him from outside, but you said he is different. Are you talking about the ancient being? Did it take control of him again?"

Sonya shook her head.

"No."

Akaza stood fully.

"Then what changed?"

Sonya’s pale eyes remained fixed on the door. Suspicion and bafflement slowly appeared on her face.

Then she muttered beneath her breath.

"He is stronger."

Akaza heard her clearly and could not help but narrow his eyes.

’Even if he is stronger, why is she reacting like this?’

Footsteps approached through the corridor, then they stopped outside the room.

A second later, the door opened.

Simon stepped inside wearing the same burned clothes stained with dried blood. His skin carried several dark injuries, but his sky-blue eyes were as calm and indifferent as ever.

Akaza’s attention barely remained on the wounds.

At such a close distance, he felt the depth of the Infernal Heart inside Simon.

His pupils constricted into pinholes.

Akaza instinctively stepped back. His injured body lowered, one foot slid behind the other, and his hands rose into a defensive position as though an enemy had entered the room instead of his comrade.

The aura belonged to Simon, but it was far too powerful.

Akaza stared at him in naked shock.

"Who are you?"

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