The Broken Halo

For a Demon King like Sunless, the Eternal Mind Maze should not have worked at all.

Even though Simon’s sea of consciousness was unique and vast, his mental techniques should not have worked on a being like Sunless who was not only a Demon King but was over a thousand years old.

However, Sunless was not in her right state of mind at all.

She was furious, mad, injured, and deep inside her heart, she was actually shaken and fearful of Lilith.

Lilith... terrified her.

These were not all, half of her body was being held together by shadows while dark golden energy still burned at the edges of her wounds.

The mental strain of trying to use shadows and shadow energy to extinguish Lilith’s dark golden energy and to prevent it from killing her physical body.

Her mental resistance was powerful, but her mind was not calm or strong enough to break the maze immediately.

"Blackmoon..."

Her voice became low and hoarse.

"BLACKMOON!"

Dozens of shadow blades formed around her, but they were strange and completely unstable.

Some were large.

Some were small.

Some were incomplete.

And some trembled in the air.

A second later, they shot in every direction.

One flew toward Simon.

Another toward Sonya.

Another toward Akaza.

Several flew toward Merath and Jorra.

Others struck the barrier, the ground, and one even nearly struck the withered tree.

However, the shadow blade barely missed the tree and struck the barrier behind it.

BANG!

The attack scattered harmlessly, and the tree remained untouched.

"Damn it."

Simon’s eyes widened in fear when he saw a shadow blade flying toward him.

The gears in his mind spun rapidly, then he caught sight of a small boulder to his left.

Without even waiting for a single second, he controlled the Chaos Wraps and sent it to wrap itself around the boulder.

With a thought, the Chaos Wraps pulled him closer to the boulder.

Bang!

The shadow blade pierced where he previously was, causing a drop of sweat to appear on Simon’s head.

While Simon was trying to save his life, the others were also trying to save their lives.

"Fuck!"

Jorra cursed as he threw himself to the side.

A large shadow blade passed over his shoulder and cut off a few strands of his hair, causing Jorra to feel a chill across his spine.

Merath also dodged a small shadow blade, but the shockwave sent her flying.

Sonya gritted her teeth and forced herself to move despite the pain in her body. The ground beneath her rose and formed a thick wall, but the wall was instantly cut apart by two shadow blades.

She rolled to the side.

A blade passed through the space where her head had been a second ago.

As for Akaza, luckily for him, his eyes suddenly snapped open when a shadow spear was about to pierce his head.

The threat of death shook his entire being and he was forced awake.

"What the fuck?!"

He rolled to the side in panic.

The spear struck the ground beside his head and exploded, sending him tumbling across the ground like a broken sack.

He coughed blood, then looked around with wide eyes filled with fear and shock.

"Holy shit! What happened?!"

Nobody answered him.

And why would they?

They were all too busy trying to survive.

Sunless staggered.

Her power rose, then it fell, then it rose again.

The Eternal Mind Maze was slowly weakening her mind and causing her mental energy to be depleted at a rapid pace.

The shadows around her expanded and contracted like a heart that had lost its rhythm.

A shadow hand appeared and grabbed at Simon, but it missed him completely and struck the ground beside him.

BOOM!

The ground shattered, and Simon’s body was thrown slightly to the side.

He groaned in pain.

’The maze is working... but not enough.’

His eyes became colder.

Just as Simon had this thought, a shadow arrow suddenly shot toward him.

Compared to the previous shadow blade, this was faster, and the boulder he could see was too far away from him.

Just as the arrow was about to pierce his chest, Merath suddenly appeared beside him.

She grabbed Simon by the back of his clothes and pulled him away.

Bang!

The shadow arrow struck the ground, creating a deep hole.

Simon looked at Merath.

Merath looked back at him through her mask.

"I’ll carry him!"

Her voice sounded urgent, and before anyone could say anything, she lifted Simon from the ground and placed his arm over her shoulder.

Sonya frowned slightly when she saw this.

Akaza also looked at Merath with suspicion despite his dizzy state.

But there was no time to question her.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Sunless released a scream filled with fury, and dozens of shadow hands erupted from the ground.

Merath carried Simon and moved quickly, dodging between the shadow hands. She was fast, and for a few seconds, it looked like she was genuinely trying to save Simon.

A shadow blade descended toward both of them.

Merath twisted her body and narrowly dodged it.

The blade cut the ground beside them.

Another shadow spear shot toward their backs.

Merath jumped to the side and avoided it too.

Simon said nothing as Merath did all of this.

Another shadow attack suddenly came.

This one was a large crescent blade made of shadows, and it was moving straight toward Merath’s chest.

Merath’s eyes flashed behind her mask, then she smiled.

It was a light small and was almost impossible to notice.

Merath suddenly shifted her body and pulled Simon in front of her.

Simon’s pupils constricted slightly.

Sonya’s expression changed drastically.

"YOU BITCH!!!"

Akaza’s eyes widened.

"MERATH!!!"

Merath held Simon in front of her like a shield.

The crescent blade of shadow moved at an extremely fast speed, and Simon’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

When Sunless saw this, she started laughing madly.

Merath’s smile widened.

And then...

Puchi!

The shadow blade pierced Simon’s chest.