The Broken Halo

Caesar… was smart and dangerous.

Simon’s view of Caesar could not help but change after hearing everything he said.

And the truth was that Caesar was actually right.

Simon’s main goal in everything he had done ever since he used the three gangs to win his bet was to join a faction.

But not just any faction though.

There were several factions in the academy, but Simon only had interest in either the top factions or those that specialized in information.

Simon was also not planning on starting from the bottom of the faction.

He had no desire to waste his time and energy crawling and fighting his way to the higher ranks of the faction.

What he wanted was to join one of the factions in his mind, and if he joined, he planned on joining at a rank that had authority and power in the faction.

As for the reason?

Information.

After making his findings, Simon knew that the factions were one of the few groups in the academy that had connections to some powerful figures in the clan, and some factions even had connections to some Grave Lords.

His main goal at the end of the day was to obtain information on the Herald’s corpse, and he planned on using the factions to do so.

One might say that he could have taken a different and less dangerous route, but if there was thing Simon lacked… it was time.

The first reason was that he needed to obtain information on the Herald’s corpse before Merath and Jorra did.

He had no idea how they were going to search for the Herald’s corpse, but he would be on the losing end if they found it before him.

The looming threat of the Soul Mirror Demon was also one of the reasons why he lacked time, and the Soul Mirror Demon could come at any time.

The chances that Simon would have to escape the clan once the Soul Mirror Demon arrived were also very high.

To do that, he needed strength.

And finding the Herald’s corpse or the hidden treasure of the clan could drastically increase his strength.

Just like Caesar said, the earliest time an Initiate would come in contact with the factions is during their first year exams.

He couldn’t wait for that long.

He had thought about how to make the factions notice him as quickly as possible despite the fact that he had not even spent up to two weeks in the academy.

And the fastest but most dangerous method was to challenge one of the factions.

However, that was where Simon had another problem.

One problem was that even basic information, such as faction structures, known members, and so on cost thousands of merits.

And for him, it would be triple.

He could not buy detailed information about the factions because he was poor, and because of that, he was not certain about which Second Year was affiliated with a faction.

Akaza knew some, but he couldn’t rely fully on Akaza.

And Akaza had been lazy and was only concerned about his gang and other gangs.

So he had to settle for information about gangs affiliated with factions.

And this brought another problem for Simon.

Surprisingly, nearly all the gangs were not affiliated with a faction, and the very few gangs that were affiliated with a faction were too weak for him to win his bet back then.

Only the Vipers Nest, Stone Crushers, and Black Thorns had the ability, in his opinion, to defeat his classmates… especially Sunless, Merath, and Jorra.

He knew it was dangerous because each of these gangs were backed by factions and these factions had a strange relationship which turned out to be Caesar, but Simon still decided to take the risk.

If he decided to back out of fear, he could end up dying with regrets, but if he died now at the hands of Caesar or any member of the three factions, then so be it.

He would not regret his actions in the slightest.

However, it was still surprising to Simon that Caesar was able to put two and two together and realize that the main reason he was against his factions was because he actually wanted to join a faction.

As for the Iron Fangs?

Simon never truly cared about them.

They were a bunch of failures and he had no desire, no time, and no energy to nurture them.

He would discard them if he needed to, or they would remain his underlings even if he was a member of a faction.

(Back to the present)

Caesar took a long look at Simon after Simon’s nonchalant response to his question.

He was not pissed, he was just… curious and intrigued.

A few seconds later, he exhaled softly.

“Till I have another solid reason, I’ll still stand on my hypothesis as to why you’re doing something as foolish as becoming enemies with my factions.”

“But if I’m right, do you know why you’ve not had any offer from a faction? Or why no other faction has met you?”

Simon narrowed his eyes.

He had actually asked himself this question, and he knew why.

“It’s because of me.” Caesar said indifferently.

Simon tilted his head slightly.

“Your factions are not the strongest factions. There are more factions that are more powerful than you both in terms of quantity and quality.”

Caesar chuckled softly.

“Yeah. You might be right. My alliance of factions might not be the strongest, but I am a demon who always takes both arms even if I’m to die.”

The air turned frigid cold as the boredom in Caesar’s eyes vanished and was replaced with a coldness that could freeze a volcano and an arrogance that could make gods seem like ants.

Caesar chuckled softly but coldly.

“Every faction leader who tried to stand against me is either dead… or beneath me.”

Caesar leaned back lazily.

“That is why no one approached you.”

“I am Caesar, and I have never lost a war, and beneath me is a mountain of corpses.”

“And if you’re not careful, Broken Halo… you might be the newest addition to the mountain.”