The Broken Halo

[A/N: This bonus Chapter is thanks to Kollum. Please give a big shout to him/her!!!]

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If Vhaurak or any demon knowledgeable about the Fury Tempest Art ever learned what Simon accomplished in less than a single night, they would most likely refuse to believe it.

Vhaurak spent his final seventy-nine days designing the Six Storm Crowns.

He used the knowledge and experience he accumulated over hundreds of years as a Demon Lord, yet he died without forming even the Gale Crown.

Simon read the inheritance, understood its foundation, corrected a flaw in its first circulation method, and successfully formed the first three Crowns before the crimson moonrise.

He did not merely copy Vhaurak’s work.

He improved part of it.

A normal Archfiend with an A grade wind affinity might need months to understand how the three currents of the Gale Crown interacted. Forming the two Silent Nodes of the Rending Crown could take even longer.

As for the Crushing Crown and its six moving Silent Nodes, failure during its formation could cripple an inexperienced practitioner.

Simon achieved all three in one night.

His High S grade wind affinity played an important role. The gate connecting him to the Chaos Wind Elemental Plane was far wider than the one Vhaurak possessed, allowing Simon to exchange demonic energy for wind elemental energy with little loss.

His body was also far stronger than that of an ordinary Minor Archfiend.

However, neither advantage fully explained his accomplishment.

Simon’s greatest strength was his control.

He could divide his mental energy without losing focus, guide several currents through different pathways, and notice small changes in pressure before they became dangerous.

More importantly, he possessed the experience of a former Demi-God.

Vhaurak created the art from enlightenment and calculations.

Simon approached it with knowledge gained from countless battles, techniques, and mistakes across two lives.

To another demon, the Fury Tempest Art was an inheritance that needed to be studied.

To Simon, it was a structure that could be taken apart, understood, corrected, and rebuilt.

Even Vhaurak might have stared at him in silence before wondering which one of them was truly the monster.

Simon stood in the middle of his damaged room as the crimson light began entering through the cracked window.

He had already dismissed the first three Crowns, but traces of their presence remained.

The air still felt heavier than normal.

Several shallow cuts covered one section of the wall, and the curtains hung at strange angles after being twisted repeatedly by the Rending Crown. Dust covered parts of the floor, while tiny pieces of stone rested near the place where the Crushing Crown had compressed the air.

Simon looked around without much concern.

The damage was not enough to attract serious attention, and most of it could be repaired or hidden.

His gaze returned to the Fury Tempest Art.

The next section of the inheritance described the Fourth Storm Crown which was the Skywheel Crown.

Unlike the first three Crowns, the Skywheel Crown was not meant to remain around the Storm Throne.

It could separate.

Move through the air.

Circle the user.

Attack from another direction.

Vhaurak described it as the first Crown that could ”leave the throne and hunt.”

Simon’s fingers moved toward the open book.

He had enough wind elemental energy to attempt it after another exchange. His body could still endure more pressure, and although maintaining three Crowns placed a burden on his mental energy, they remained within his control.

The temptation was difficult to ignore.

He wanted to see the Fourth Crown move.

He wanted to know how the Skywheel would carry the force of the Gale, Rending, and Crushing Crowns after leaving the Storm Throne.

He also wanted to discover whether Vhaurak’s calculations contained another flaw.

Simon’s eyes flickered with excitement.

’Forming it should be possible.’

His rational mind immediately produced several reasons to stop.

The Skywheel Crown was larger than the first three. It would need to detach from the rotating structure and move independently around the room.

Pipeline Inn was not built to contain it.

The walls were not thick enough.

The neighbouring rooms were occupied.

Even if Simon kept the Crown under control, one unexpected movement could cut through the wall, crush part of the ceiling, or tear apart several rooms before he dismissed it.

He knew all of this.

Yet his hand remained on the Fury Tempest Art.

Greed did not always involve hell stones, artifacts, or bloodlines.

Sometimes, it appeared as the desire to take one more step despite knowing that the ground ahead had not been tested.

Simon understood that kind of greed very well.

’I should be able to compress its size.’

His eyes narrowed as he began considering possible adjustments.

The Gale Crown had already proven that Vhaurak’s dimensions were not absolute. Simon could reduce the Skywheel’s diameter, increase its density, and limit how far it travelled from the Storm Throne.

He could also prevent it from using the full power of the Rending and Crushing Crowns during the first attempt.

That would reduce the danger.

Not remove it.

Reduce it.

A faint smile appeared on Simon’s face.

He was already finding excuses for something he knew he should not attempt inside the inn.

Simon sat down and placed one hand on the book.

Just as he prepared to study the circulation route of the Fourth Crown again, something disturbed the edge of his perception.

The Shadow Eye near the door remained calm.

No one was approaching.

The disturbance came from the table.

Simon turned his head.

Thin red lines had appeared beneath the black surface of the Murmur Bone.

One line brightened.

Then another.

The curved bone began trembling softly against the table.

Simon’s excitement disappeared immediately.

His expression became calm, and the thoughts concerning the Skywheel Crown were pushed aside.

He did not approach the Murmur Bone at once.

Shadow Sense spread through the walls and corridor. At the same time, Simon focused on the Shadow Eye near his door.

Nobody was close enough to listen.

The Murmur Bone trembled again.

A low sound came from the small holes at one end, like air passing through the throat of a corpse.

Then a voice escaped from it.

To Simon’s surprise, it belonged to a demoness.

Her tone was cold and controlled, but there was a faint sharpness beneath it.

”The third nest has fallen, and the eastern crows have counted the bodies.”

A short silence followed as Simon did not say anything.

His eyes remained on the bone.

”The torn banner was not found beneath the ash. If the Third Warden still carries it, turn its wounded face toward the setting moon.”

The red lines pulsed once.

Then the demoness asked:

”Tell me, Warden... when the seventh road drowned, which of the Second Claw’s fingers remained

above the blood?

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