The Broken Halo

Virella stood before the Impact Crystal and slowly raised her hand.

”First strike. No demonic energy.” The official said.

She swallowed with the same nervous expression.

Then she struck the crystal with her palm.

Bang

The sound was not loud.

One crimson ring appeared clearly.

The second ring slowly appeared.

The third ring flickered but vanished after a few seconds of trying to remain stable.

”Prime Archfiend physical strength.” The official said with a slight furrow of his brows.

A few demons laughed softly having expected such a result.

Virella lowered her head.

She knew that in this situation, possessing a physical strength that was comparable to demons of a lower rank was shameful.

But she couldn’t be blamed.

She was born this way and she had never trained her body to become stronger.

The official’s expression became calm and indifferent once again.

”Second strike. Demonic energy reinforcement.”

Virella took a deep breath.

Green demonic energy spread from her palm to her wrist, then to her arm. It did not flare wildly like the others. Instead, it moved slowly and wrapped around her hand like layers of vines.

Her expression changed slightly.

The nervousness was still there, but beneath it was focus.

A focus that made Simon narrow his eyes.

She raised her palm again and struck.

BAM!

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings.

The fourth ring flickered, faded, then flickered again.

A second later, it became stable.

When everybody thought that was all, the fifth ring flickered into existence.

Everybody was shocked to the core. Even Korran Veyl’s expression changed when he saw this.

Simon raised a brow.

’Wonderful control.’ Simon was impressed.

To have a Prime Archfiend strength as a Superior Archfiend was disappointing, but to have a strength that was bordering that of a Half-Step Greater Demon after using demonic energy was even more impressive.

Simon was more interested in her than Ammor.

Her raw strength was poor, but her reinforcement was clean. Very clean.

The difference between her first and second strike was large.

The laughter had stopped.

Virella stared at the crystal with wide eyes, as if she did not expect that result either.

She had just tried her best in order not to fail, and the result ended up surprising her.

Korran looked at one of the officials.

”Mark her.”

The official nodded immediately.

Virella stepped back, still looking dazed.

The official looked at the list again.

”Honourable Sonya.”

The compound became quiet.

Sonya’s smile widened.

Sonya’s smile widened.

She walked forward slowly, but unlike Virella, there was no nervousness in her steps.

Her steps were light.

Too light.

If not for the fact that everybody could see her walking, it would have been easy to believe that she weighed nothing at all.

Simon and Akaza were not surprised at all.

This was how they were trained to walk in the Shadowgrave Clan.

Ammor watched her with a dark expression.

He did not want to pay attention to her, but his eyes refused to look away.

After all, this was the demoness who had crushed his pride during the affinity test. If her strength result was poor, then he would at least have something to hold on to.

Peak S grade earth affinity did not mean peak strength.

Affinity was not strength.

At least, that was what he told himself.

He had to console himself.

He had to.

Sonya stood before the Impact Crystal and stretched her arms a little.

Crack

Crack

A few demons frowned slightly as they looked at her.

Her body was small.

Too small.

Even if they knew she was a Supreme Archfiend, and even if she had shown a peak S grade earth affinity, it was still difficult for them to imagine that such a small body could produce a terrifying amount of physical strength.

Even some officials had the same thought as these demons, but they had already made up their minds that regardless of whatever result Sonya got, she would be treasured and treated well.

A Peak S grade earth affinity was extremely difficult to come by.

In fact, some demons had never seen or heard of a demon with a Peak S grade affinity before.

”First strike. No demonic energy,” the official said.

Sonya did not respond.

She simply raised her fist.

For a moment, she remained still.

The noise in the compound slowly faded as more demons focused on her.

Simon looked at her quietly.

Akaza’s expression was calm, but his eyes were more attentive than before.

Then Sonya punched.

There was nothing fancy about it.

No roar.

No heavy wind.

No exaggerated movement.

Her fist simply moved forward and landed on the Impact Crystal.

She also did not use the Broken Rhythm Art since there was no need to. Just like Simon, she understood how the impact crystal worked.

BOOM!

The sound was short and heavy, like a mountain had fallen from the sky and struck the earth.

The entire platform trembled.

The Impact Crystal released crimson light immediately.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings.

Four rings.

The fifth ring appeared.

It did not flicker like Ammor’s.

It did not struggle.

It appeared clearly and remained stable around the crystal.

The compound became silent.

So silent to the point that one could hear a needle drop.

A few demons had their mouths wide open.

Half-Step Greater Demon physical strength.

Raw physical strength.

... Without demonic energy.

... Without chaos.

... Without any weapon.

In that tiny body????

No words came out of the mouths of any demon.

Even the officials and Korean Veyl were stunned.

After some seconds, the official regained his composure. However, his gaze was still on the fifth crimson ring.

He looked at Sonya with a strange gaze that contained awe and a little bit of fear.

”Half-Step Greater Demon physical strength.”

Sonya’s head tilted slightly.

Only after hearing the official’s words did her lips curl.

She could not see the rings, so she had to wait for the result. But from the silence around her, she had already guessed that it was not bad.

Ammor’s face became ugly.

His raw strike had almost formed the fifth ring, but it had failed.

Sonya’s fifth ring formed without struggling.

The difference between almost and success was sometimes small.

But sometimes, that small difference felt like an abyss.

The officials beside Korran exchanged glances.

Even Korran’s eyes narrowed a little as he stared at Sonya.

Affinity could be born.

But physical strength had to be trained.

A small demoness with peak S grade earth affinity and Half-Step Greater Demon raw physical strength was not just talented.

She was dangerous... very dangerous.

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I’m starting a super gift exchange for bonus Chapters.

A magic castle for one extra Chapter which means I’ll upload five Chapters instead of the normal four.

A spacecraft for two extra Chapters which means I’ll upload six Chapters instead of the normal four.

A golden gachapon three extra Chapters which means I’ll upload seven Chapters instead of the normal four.