The Broken Halo

Simon remained silent as he pondered on everything Lilith just told him.

Shadow Walkers.

The Chaos Shadow Plane.

Body, soul, and shadow.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized just how troublesome beings like Sunless were. In a normal battle, killing the enemy’s body was usually enough. Even for powerful demons with frightening regeneration abilities, there was a limit.

Destroy the head.

Destroy the heart.

Destroy the soul.

Destroy the body to the point that regeneration could no longer keep up.

There were several ways to kill a powerful being, and even Simon was certain that if he was not careful, he could still die even if Unholy Regeneration became as absurd as the regeneration rate of the Mother Fleshwood.

However, Shadow Walkers were different.

If what Lilith said was true, then killing their body was only the first step. Their true self might not even be in the body one was fighting.

That alone made Simon feel that Shadow Walkers were extremely annoying and dangerous.

[So, if a Shadow Walker hides their soul well enough, they can fight without truly fearing death?] Simon asked.

[Not exactly.] Lilith replied. [They can still die. It’s just much harder to kill them.]

[Their body can still be destroyed. Their shadow can still be damaged. Their connection to the Shadow Plane can still be interfered with. And if their soul is exposed, then they can die like any other being.]

[But the problem is finding the soul and cutting the connection before they escape.]

Simon narrowed his eyes slightly.

[So the reason you couldn’t see her heart and soul earlier was because of this connection to the Shadow Plane?]

[Partly.] Lilith said. [Her body was in front of us, but her soul was not. Her heart was also being concealed by that connection and by the method she used to hide her true self.]

[What I was seeing was not complete.]

Simon slowly exhaled.

[That explains why you compared her to a Lich.]

[A crude comparison, but it helped you understand the situation quickly.] Lilith replied indifferently. [A Lich hides its soul in a vessel. A Shadow Walker can hide their soul behind shadow, inside shadow, or in a place connected to the Shadow Plane.]

[The method is different. The result is similar.]

Simon stared at the ceiling.

His room was quiet, and the dim reddish light from the lantern on the wall barely illuminated the cracked wooden ceiling above him. The bed beneath him was not comfortable, but compared to the hard ground of Blackwind Valley, it was already a luxury.

His body still hurt.

The pain was constant, but it was no longer the type that made his thoughts shake. It had become something he could place at the corner of his mind and ignore.

For now.

Simon closed his eyes for a brief moment, then asked another question.

[In Blackwind Valley, you said Shadow Walkers are entities of the Shadow Plane and that they are meant to be in the Shadow Plane, not in the physical world or any other plane of existence.]

Lilith was silent.

Simon continued.

[Why? If their body can appear in the physical world and they can live like normal demons, why say they’re meant to be in the Shadow Plane?]

A few seconds passed before Lilith spoke.

[Because the physical world is not their proper state of existence anymore.]

Simon frowned slightly.

Lilith continued.

[A normal demon exists in the physical world. Their body is physical. Their soul is within them. Their shadow is a shadow. Even if that demon has shadow affinity, even if that demon can control shadows, they are still a being of the physical world.]

[But a Shadow Walker is not like that.]

[The moment their gate partially inverts and their shadow becomes one of the pillars of their existence, their nature changes.]

[Their body might still be here, but their existence is no longer completely here.]

Simon was silent.

Lilith’s voice became slightly deeper.

[Think of it this way. A fish can jump out of water for a few seconds. Some strange fish might even crawl on land for a while. But no matter how long they remain outside water, water is still their natural place.]

[A Shadow Walker is similar.]

[Their body can walk in the physical world, talk in the physical world, kill in the physical world, and even rule in the physical world. But a part of them is always being pulled toward the Shadow Plane.]

[The more complete they become as Shadow Walkers, the more true this becomes.]

Simon opened his eyes slightly.

[So Sunless’ body was like a fish crawling on land?]

Lilith scoffed.

[That example was already insulting enough. Don’t make it worse.]

Simon would have smiled if his body was in a better condition.

Lilith continued.

[There is another reason.]

[The physical body of a powerful Shadow Walker is not always their true body. In fact, at a certain level, their physical body becomes more like a vessel, a projection, or a puppet.]

[A body they can use to interact with the physical world.]

[A body they can fight with.]

[A body they can abandon if needed.]

Simon’s gaze darkened.

[Like Sunless.]

[Yes.] Lilith replied. [The body we fought was her true body in one sense, but not her true self in another sense.]

Simon frowned.

[That sounds contradictory.]

[That is why I said you would not understand the true concept.] Lilith said calmly. [But I can explain it in a way that will not break your head.]

Simon’s lips twitched slightly.

[How kind of you.]

[Be grateful.]

Simon did not respond.

Lilith continued.

[Sunless’ body was not a clone. It was not a simple avatar either. It was her body. However, that body had already become something like a vessel tied to her true existence.]

[If you destroyed it, she would suffer. She would be weakened. She would need to rebuild or restore it. But she would not truly die because her true self was not completely inside it.]

[That is why I said Shadow Walkers are meant to be in the Shadow Plane. Their natural state is closer to the Shadow Plane than the physical world.]

[The physical world can hold their vessel, but it cannot completely hold what they are.]

Simon’s eyes flickered slightly.

For some reason, those words made him think of gods.

Demi-Gods.

Daemons.

The Heralds.

Beings whose true existence were not be as simple as flesh and blood.

He had seen many things in his past life. He had killed powerful beings, avatars of gods, and he had also fought things that humans did not have names for. But even with his experience, he could tell that the path ahead of him was much deeper and stranger than the one he had walked in his past life.

Lilith then spoke again.

[And there is another problem.]

[The weight of the Shadow Plane.]