The Broken Halo

Simon had read a lot about the Inquisitors of the Shadowgrave Clan, and he could describe them in one word.

Unreasonable.

When it came to the Inquisitors, one could not reason with them or have a normal conversation with them because the Inquisitors could suddenly become angry or displeased over a minor matter.

If one was unlucky, the Inquisitors could kill the clan member and if one was even more unlucky, the Inquisitors could beat up the clan member till he or she was on their last breath.

Inquisitors were law enforcers, and they had more power than the Shadow Enforcers, but they were only used to either kill or capture dangerous and highly wanted criminals of the clan.

Most of the time, Inquisitors were used to kill criminals of the clan.

If a clan member is not killed on sight by the Inquisitors, the clan member is considered lucky.

Simon knew that when the Inquisitor at his room entrance asked him if he had anything to say, saying anything to these group of unreasonable demons would only lead to more beating.

They would never let him go, and they were not the type to perform investigations.

They only make arrests and they kill.

One of the Inquisitors chained Simon’s wrists, and Simon immediately felt the restriction on his demonic energy.

’I can’t circulate my demonic energy.’

’Hmm.’

Simon’s eyes flashed with a calculating glint as he stared at the chains.

”Move.”

He was shoved to the front by the Inquisitor who punched him, and Simon walked without making a fuss.

They all left his room and the corpses inside his room.

The Inquisitor who seems to be the leader placed two talisman papers on the outside walls of Simon’s room.

A second later, a transparent barrier covered the entrance of the room.

The Inquisitor looked at the First Years who had baffled expressions.

”This is a crime scene. Nobody is allowed to enter. If you do, you’ll be punished for tampering with evidence and a crime scene.”

The First Years felt a chill across their spine hearing the Inquisitor’s cold words.

The Inquisitor turned and walked in front of Simon and his two colleagues.

The First Years watched the Inquisitors take Simon away with varying expressions of shock, disbelief, and confusion.

They all looked at one another, then they ran to Simon’s room and stopped in front of the barrier.

The moment they saw the corpses inside Simon’s room, they all sucked in the cold air.

”Damn. Did that bastard really kill five clan members?”

”Who are they? Does anybody recognize them?”

”No. But I saw the slave talking to five Initiates, and those five Initiates seem to have the same body structure as these corpses.”

”What the fuck? Did the bastard really kill his teammates on his first mission?”

”That’s going too far even for him.”

”Why would he do such a thing?”

”Cause he’s crazy, arrogant, and an idiot?”

”You’re right.”

”I’m more curious about how that bastard killed these five. I mean... The aura their corpses are releasing...”

”You’re right. They’re stronger than Archfiends. They should be Half-Step Greater Demons.”

The gathered First Years sucked in another cold breath of air.

”Don’t tell me he was able to kill five Half-Step Greater Demons?”

”No. No. No. That would make no sense. Isn’t that too much power for a Fiend?”

”Exactly. That would be absurd. How can a Fiend kill not one, not two, but five Half-Step Greater Demons? It makes absolutely no sense.”

”But... Those are claw marks and the Inquisitors won’t just arrest him for no reason. The Inquisitors are a big deal and we rarely see them.”

The First Years looked at one another, then one of them broke the silence.

”Well, let’s just wait for the news. If the slave dies, then so be it.”

”We all thought he was calm and was no longer looking for trouble. Who knew that it was the calm before the storm.”

The First Years that were gathered in front of Simon’s room were not the only ones talking about Simon.

Every demon that saw Simon and the Inquisitors whispered or spoke about him.

Though they didn’t know about the corpses like Simon’s neighbors did, but word travelled first.

Especially when there was a Grave Mark that acted like a mobile phone.

The First Years who knew about the corpses of the Grey Pact communicated with their friends, and their friends communicated with those around them, and those around them communicated with their friends too.

Because of how popular Simon had become, many clan members were curious about him.

Some gloated.

Some were happy.

Some were curious.

Some were excited to finally see some action in the clan and the academy.

Some just wanted to see blood.

While some were very worried.

Those who were worried were the slaves of the clan.

The moment they saw that Simon was being taken away by the Inquisitors, they quickly spread the word through the channels Simon created.

It didn’t take time before Akaza and the Iron Fangs learned of Simon’s situation, and Sonya was also told.

Unfortunately for Simon, Ormon was unavailable because of his mission.

As Simon and the Inquisitors walked, the whispers followed them everywhere.

Some demons moved out of the way immediately upon seeing the blood-red word on the Inquisitors’ masks. Others lowered their heads and pretended not to notice anything.

Nobody wanted to attract the attention of an Inquisitor.

Simon ignored the gazes directed at him.

His expression remained calm, but his mind was working rapidly.

The situation was bad.

Worse than bad.

Everything had been planned perfectly.

The corpses.

The interrogation.

The timing of the arrival of the Inquisitors.

Every step had been arranged to place him in a position where he could not defend himself.

’Caesar.’

Simon’s eyes darkened slightly.

Soon, the group arrived at a heavily guarded black stone building.

The building had no windows.

Only a massive iron gate covered in countless runes.

The moment the gate opened, Simon felt a cold aura rush out from within.

Without a word, the Inquisitors escorted him inside.

After descending several flights of stairs, they stopped in front of a metal cell.

The door was opened.

”Inside.”

Simon entered without resistance.

The door slammed shut behind him.

Clang!

The chains around his wrists were finally removed, but the restrictive formation covering the cell made it impossible for him to absorb demonic energy from his surroundings.

The leader of the Inquisitors stared at him through the bars.

”You will remain here until your trial.”

Simon said nothing.

The Inquisitor turned around and began to leave.

After taking several steps, he suddenly stopped.

”The trial will begin tomorrow morning.”

With those final words, the three Inquisitors disappeared into the darkness of the prison corridor.

Soon, only silence remained.

Simon sat down on the cold floor of the cell.

Then he slowly closed his eyes.

Tomorrow was going to be interesting.