The Broken Halo

"Isn’t it because of the being in me that I’m so powerful? What other reason could there be? She’s the person that changed my life and my destiny, and I’m grateful to her."

Lilith was extremely stunned when Simon told Akaza and Sonya that she was the reason for his talent and power.

She could not believe Simon.

Simon was a liar.

He might not be the best liar in the entire world, but he was a bonafide liar.

Because of everything she had seen, Lilith called him the Father of Lies.

And the worst part of it all, no demon would think Simon was lying if they were in Akaza and Sonya’s shoes.

Unless the demon had the ability to tell the difference between truths and lies, or unless Lilith herself came out and said Simon was lying, nobody would think that Simon was lying.

And why would they?

It was very convincing and reasonable for her to be the reason behind Simon’s talent... when truly she was not.

While Lilith was dumbfounded by Simon’s lie, Akaza and Sonya had slightly embarrassed expressions for not thinking of such a thing.

They were expecting Simon to tell them an elaborate and shocking story as to why he was so talented and powerful.

But the answer was rather simple... An ancient demon king helped him.

When they finally processed this fact, both of them could not help but envy Simon’s luck.

Countless demons would do anything to obtain the assistance of an ancient demon king.

Especially for Simon who was born with a trash bloodline.

Simon had the urge to smile as he observed the subtle changes on Akaza and Sonya’s faces.

It was not surprising that they were envious.

If he was in their shoes, he too would be envious.

And to his satisfaction and relief, he could see that Akaza and Sonya did not have extreme envy or greed on their faces.

If they did, he would be more wary of them.

As for why he lied?

It was obvious.

There was no way he could expose the existence of his Seven Stars Blessing, or Devour, or his Daemon Bloodline.

These three things are the foundations of his power.

They are what made him to be who he is right now, and if he told Akaza and Sonya about even one of it, it could lead to greed and betrayal.

So, he lied.

About three minutes passed as Akaza and Sonya pondered on everything Simon told them, then Akaza looked at Simon.

And Simon could see a tinge of worry in Akaza’s eyes.

The moment Simon saw this, he had a guess as to what Akaza’s next words were going to be.

"What about the Iron Fangs?"

Sonya glanced at Akaza, then she shifted her gaze to Simon.

Simon’s lips curled up into a light smile.

"Don’t worry. They are not dead. I gave Brama the location of where I kept some samples of the permanent antidote for the poisons I gave the Iron Fangs and the slaves."

"I also gave him the recipe on how to create the permanent antidotes."

Simon shrugged very slightly.

"I saw no point keeping the Iron Fangs and the slaves under pressure and in fear since I’ve escaped the Shadowgrave Clan and I might not return for years."

"So, I gave them and a few other things to Brama."

Akaza’s eyes widened in disbelief and surprise, then he pointed at himself.

"Then what about me? Give me the permanent antidote for the poison."

Simon shook his head very slightly.

"No."

Akaza’s eyes widened the more.

"What? Why? Why should I be poisoned after everything I’ve done for you?"

Simon looked at Akaza with an utterly indifferent gaze that made Akaza to feel like he was just a puppet or an ant before Simon.

"Ask yourself this, Akaza. Did you ever serve me willingly after I made you my subordinate? Were you not looking for a way to get revenge against me for what I did to you? For taking your power, authority, and reputation from you?"

Akaza’s expression changed, and it became complicated.

"Maybe toward the end, you saw that there was no hope or chance of having your revenge, so you unconsciously decided to serve me willingly, but deep down, it’s very possible that you still want your revenge."

"We were once enemies, and you even swore to have your revenge at some point."

"Though you want to stay around me so that you can become strong, it still does not mean that you won’t betray me."

Simon paused, then he inhaled deeply.

"In fact, there’s a high possibility that you’ll betray me if you’re lucky enough to obtain power that can defeat me."

"So, Akaza... This is why I am not giving you the permanent antidote for the poison." Simon said with a cold and completely indifferent tone.

He didn’t care that Akaza’s expression was ugly and dark. He told the Martial Demon plainly why he was not going to give him the permanent antidote.

However, Simon was experienced and he also knew that he had to place a bait in front of Akaza so that he would not start having funny thoughts.

His voice became less cold and indifferent.

"I don’t plan on keeping you poisoned for a long time. I just need to know that I can trust you, and once that trust is gotten, I’ll remove the poison."

Akaza stared at Simon for a few seconds, then he gave a dry laugh.

"If you didn’t tell me that your mother betrayed you, I might have believed you completely. But now I don’t."

"Your mother betrayed you, and Sunless also betrayed you. There’s no way you’ll trust me so easily."

Akaza paused, then he released a scoff.

"I won’t bank on you trusting me or you removing the poison. Like I said, I’ll stay with you to get stronger since I have this strong feeling that I’ll become stronger if I stay with you."

"We’ll see what happens in the future."

Akaza gave a cold laugh, and Simon’s lips only curled up slightly in response to Akaza’s words.

Akaza then pointed at Sonya.

"And what of her? Don’t tell me you have no plan to poison her too."

Sonya’s gaze instantly became frigidly cold and she looked at Akaza.

"Do you want your balls crushed?"