The Broken Halo

Even though Simon had watched the demons in the Shadowgrave Clan fight numerous times, he could not use that to judge the current battle prowess of the demon realm.

The Shadowgrave Clan was a top tier clan and its members were a cut above the average demons in the demon realm.

This combat test was where Simon could actually see how powerful the demons were now.

And he was not surprised when he realized that they were stronger than his generation.

Not by a wide margin, but they were still stronger than his generation of demons.

And the reason was simple... Hell stones and hell holes.

With the appearance of those two resources, demons were undoubtedly stronger than before.

And Simon could not help but wonder how Earth was now.

No.

Not earth exactly.

His past companions that betrayed him.

Even if they were Demi-Gods now, do they still possess the sharpness, coldness, and battle awareness they had when he was their leader?

Or had they become drunk on their power and were now lazy?

Simon was extremely curious about this, and it was also one of the reasons he decided to join this campaign.

While Simon was having a different set of thoughts compared to the other demons watching the battles, many demons realized a few things.

The battles had shown more than the affinity and strength tests combined.

Some demons with decent strength panicked when they got injured. Some weaker demons fought harder because they knew that their next two opponents might be more difficult than their first.

Some were cruel, but not careless. They injured, crippled, and killed when it gave them an advantage.

And that was what Korran wanted to see.

Not light from pillars.

Not rings from a crystal.

Survival.

Several groups ended quickly.

Some demons died. Some surrendered. Some went unconscious before they could surrender.

Among those that went unconscious were the unlucky ones whose opponents took the opportunity to kill them despite being unconscious.

Unfortunately for these demons, Korran and the officials said nothing about punishing demons who killed an unconscious demon.

As long as a demon did not surrender, they would not interfere.

The blood on the stages sank into the dark red runes, and the cracked parts of the floor slowly repaired themselves.

The black plate lit up again.

More tokens glowed.

Compared to before, fewer demons complained.

They had learned.

The next few battles moved faster. A Superior Archfiend with metal affinity turned his forearm into a dark silver shield and crushed his opponent’s skull with the edge of it. A Prime Archfiend with ice affinity froze his opponent’s foot for half a second and used that short moment to drive his claws through the demon’s throat.

Not every fight ended in death, but every fight carried the possibility of it.

That possibility changed everything.

Ammor watched the stages with a cold expression. Virella stood not far away, her face pale, but her eyes were more focused than before. She looked terrified, but she was watching carefully.

Sonya smiled calmly without saying a word. Her eyes were constantly scanning each battle.

Akaza remained quiet, studying their movements and reactions.

Simon just had his arms folded with an indifferent expression.

Several groups passed once again before the black plate lit up again.

This time, a token beside Simon glowed.

Sonya raised hers between two fingers even though she could not see it.

She could feel the warmth and the change in the token, so she knew that it was her turn.

A faint red light covered the grey surface, and the number three appeared on it.

The compound noticed almost immediately.

Honourable Sonya had been called.

She looked at Simon.

”What number?”

Simon glanced at her token, then at her.

”Three.”

She nodded with a light grin.

”I’ll be back soon.”

She turned and started walking toward her stage without waiting for a response.

Ammor’s eyes moved toward Stage Three, but when he saw her opponent, he knew what the result was going to be.

Her opponent was a Superior Archfiend with dark blue skin and two curved bone blades growing from his forearms. The moment he saw that his token also showed three, his expression became ugly.

He did not complain.

He had seen what happened to those who did.

The blue-skinned demon entered from the other side. Fear was in his eyes, but so was pride and desperation.

He considered surrendering, but there was a problem for him if he did that.

Surrendering without fighting would be shameful, and if he lost this match, he would have to put his all into winning the next two matches if he wanted a chance in this campaign.

Besides, who knew if Sonya’s battle experience was actually poor despite her having a ridiculous affinity grade and physical strength for her size.d

If he found a way to defeat Sonya, his reputation and value would skyrocket beyond his wildest imagination

His mind came up with this foolish thought in order to give him a reason to fight.

The barrier rose, then it closed.

The blue-skinned demon moved first.

He crossed the stage quickly, both forearm blades cutting toward Sonya’s neck from different angles.

Sonya tilted her head slightly.

One blade passed in front of her face.

The other passed behind her head.

She stepped forward and punched him in the stomach.

Her fist glowed with a dark brown demonic light and the earth seemed to press down on the blue skinned demon’s body.

BANG!

His body folded around her fist like a crayfish.

The next instant, he flew backward and crashed into the red barrier hard enough to make the barrier ripple.

He fell to the ground and coughed out a mouthful of blood.

He tried standing but when he saw Sonya approaching him from the corner of his eyes, the fear in his heart increased and he quickly shouted.

”I give up!”

Sonya lowered her fist and frowned.

”That’s it?”

The official stared for a moment before speaking.

”Stage Three. Winner, Honourable Sonya.”

The barrier opened immediately.

Sonya walked out with a disappointed expression.

The demons nearby silently stepped away from her path, and before whispers could grow, another set of tokens began to glow.

This time, Simon’s token lit up.