"State your purpose in our kingdom," Aurelian demanded coldly, his voice sharp as a blade drawn in warning.
Tuf rolled his eyes.
"I've said it already," he replied, clearly bored. "I have an appointment with the new Master."
"And I am the new…"
But Aurelian never got the chance to finish.
In a flash, Tuf moved so fast that not even the most seasoned knights saw it coming.
In the blink of an eye, his hand was pressed flat against Aurelian's chest, claws hovering just inches from piercing skin and bone. He would've ripped the Duke's heart out right there, if not for Seiryu.
The holy beast materialized in a shimmer of light and instantly caught Tuf's wrist, stopping the strike with divine force.
"Panther!" Seiryu's voice thundered through the air.
Tuf grinned, lips curling as he slowly lowered his hand, allowing Seiryu to push it away.
"What took you so long, old friend?" he sneered. "I've been waiting."
His eyes flicked past Seiryu.
"Now, where's your real Master?"
"I am the Master," Aurelian snapped, stepping forward.
"Liar!"
The word cracked like lightning from Tuf's throat.
In a blur of motion, he attacked again.
But Seiryu was faster this time, already between them, blocking with force that sent a shockwave through the air.
Suddenly…
"Attack!"
A voice screamed from the top of the gate.
Augustus.
Without warning, his command triggered a volley of arrows from the upper walls, dozens of them.
Aurelian's eyes widened in horror.
"No..!"
But it was too late.
Five arrows pierced through Tuf's body, striking him in the chest, shoulders, and abdomen, vital points. The impact rang through the courtyard.
"Hah! That's the demi-human prince you feared so much, Aurelian?" Augustus mocked, laughter echoing.
"Look at him. Dead already."
Laughter followed from the nobles on his side, smug and unbothered. Some even began to applaud.
Aurelian turned, fury rising in his throat.
"You fool!"
But before he could finish, Tuf vanished.
In a heartbeat, he reappeared directly in front of Augustus, all five arrows still embedded in his body, yet he moved as though untouched.
Before anyone could react, Tuf raised a hand, and with a single, fluid motion,
He beheaded Augustus.
Blood sprayed in a sharp arc, painting the stone floor red. Augustus's head rolled, eyes wide, expression frozen in disbelief.
A scream tore through the air.
Aurora. She stood frozen beside her brother, her face splashed with blood.
She couldn't look away.
And then, another scream.
All the archers who had drawn their bows, each one was suddenly headless. Their bodies collapsed where they stood, blood soaking the walls and battlements. It had happened in the space of a breath.
Terror flooded the ranks.
Tuf turned toward Aurora, who stood trembling, barely able to remain upright. Her knees threatened to give out, but something told her, if she ran, she would die.
He stepped closer.
Slow.
Predatory.
He lifted her chin with two fingers, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"You…" he whispered. "You're my type."
He grinned.
"I've never tasted a human before."
Then, without warning, he licked the blood from her cheek, slow and deliberate.
Aurora shuddered, barely breathing.
"Hmmm."
A groan left her lips as pain blossomed in her neck, Tuf's fangs had pierced her skin, sinking deep as he released a little of his venom into her bloodstream.
For demi-humans, the venom was euphoric.
For humans?
It was lethal.
Aurora convulsed violently in his arms, her eyes wide with agony.
Across the courtyard, Aurelian's heart seized, not at Augustus's death… but at the sight of Aurora, his little sister, dying in front of him.
Despite their years of distance, despite the bitterness… she was still his baby sister.
And he lost control.
He teleported forward in a blink and struck Tuf with all his strength.
Tuf staggered slightly and released Aurora, who dropped to the ground, body twitching as her HP plummeted.
"Delphine!" Aurelian shouted, an order, a plea, a scream.
A flash of white light, and Delphine appeared at Aurora's side in an instant. Her hands were already glowing with divine energy, radiating gold as she knelt beside the convulsing girl.
"Hold on," she whispered urgently, pressing both palms against the puncture wounds on Aurora's neck. Sweat gathered at her brow as her magic poured into the girl's fading lifeforce.
"You demon!" Aurelian roared toward Tuf, voice shaking with fury.
Tuf merely smiled.
Still tasting the faint sweetness of human blood, he looked almost euphoric. One by one, he reached for the arrows lodged deep in his body and yanked them out, with complete indifference, as if removing thorns from his clothes.
Golden blood dripped onto the stone floor. And from those drops… lilies bloomed.
Beautiful, pale lilies.
"I was going to heal her," Tuf muttered lazily. "Gods, you humans are so fragile."
His gaze flicked back to Aurora, who was now weak but standing, supported by Delphine's divine magic.
"I definitely like your taste," he added with a charming grin, like he'd just complimented a dessert.
"Attack!"
This time, the command came from Aurelian, his voice sharp, his rage uncontrollable.
He didn't know where the fury came from. Maybe it was Aurora. Maybe it was Tuf's disregard for life. Or maybe it was the dangerous pull he couldn't explain, the one whispering that if Ceres ever met this creature, she would never be safe.
And that was a risk Aurelian would not take.
His knights responded instantly, teleporting one after another in synchronized strikes, weapons flashing as they charged the demi-human prince.
Tuf was caught off guard for a moment, his smirk faltering in amusement.
His usual attacks, fast, precise, always aimed at vital points, should have killed half the knights by now.
But none fell.
His claws grazed arteries. Sliced through organs. But no one died.
"What?" Tuf narrowed his eyes. He understood instantly.
It wasn't just the bodysuit, the one he had admired earlier for its mana channels.
It was something else.
His eyes scanned, and then found her.
Delphine.
Standing beside Aurelian, her body glowing, arms outstretched. Beneath her, the stone glimmered with a growing halo.
Tuf's eyes sharpened. Every knight that should have died within the radius of that divine ring was immediately restored, wounds sealing, blood retreating, breath returning.
He snarled, and roared.
A panther's roar shook the battlefield. The sound was primal, echoing through the capital gates like a war drum.
The knights around him froze mid-motion, instincts screaming to flee.
And then, he levitated.
First slowly, then with terrifying grace, rising into the air like a shadow defying gravity. His smirk returned… then twisted into a laugh. Not sinister.
Childlike. Joyful.
The kind of laughter that sent a chill down the spine.
Because for them, this was war. But to Tuf, this was playtime.
"A Celestial Saintess…" he murmured, eyes locked on Delphine. His grin widened. "How interesting."
The entire army felt it, the shift. His focus had zeroed in on her.
She was his new target.
And without warning, he darted toward Delphine like a streak of midnight fire.
Aurelian and Seiryu reacted instantly, intercepting him midair, blades clashing in sparks of magic and steel.
But behind them, another Tuf appeared.
A second version, identical in every way, rushed straight for Delphine.
"Protect the Saintess!"
Lady Layla's voice cut across the air as Holy Knights surged forward, summoning their Valkyries in radiant light.
The battlefield ignited.
All-out assault.
Tuf's clone was met with divine steel and blessed shields. He tried to behead a knight, but each time, another blocked the strike, and those that did fall to the ground were resurrected instantly by Delphine's glow.
"You pesky little vermin," growled the first Tuf, still airborne, now side by side with the clone.
He wasn't out of breath. Not even sweating.
He looked annoyed.
"Your master must be quite noble, lizard," Tuf addressed Seiryu with mocking reverence.
"To grant this level of divine support to humans… Impressive."
He gave a lazy clap.
"You've grown stronger, Seiryu. A thousand years of slumber did you well. Though your growth is... predictable."
Then, without any dramatic spell or summoning ritual, before everyone's eyes, the two Tufs multiplied.
Now there were ten of him, floating in perfect formation, smirking like devils with mirrored faces.
Gasps spread across Aquilonis's lines.
But the nightmare didn't stop there.
In unison, the ten Tufs spoke:
"Valkyrie."
And behind each one, ten Valkyries appeared, clad in black and red armor, their wings dark as night, blades pulsing with unholy light.
One hundred demon-born Valkyries.
Aurelian's jaw clenched.
And for the first time, even Seiryu looked tense.
With a single command, the ten Tufs launched their attack.
Valkyrie versus Valkyrie.
Chaos erupted across the battlefield.
One of the Tuf clones dove straight for Delphine, fangs bared and claws extended. Another locked blades with Seiryu, dark mana clashing against celestial fire. One faced off with Aurelian, while the others engaged the four Saintess Knights guarding Delphine. The remaining Tufs swept toward commanders, picking them off in surgical, lethal strikes.
But Celion's forces surged from the rear lines, stepping forward with glowing hands and calm determination. Their magic pulsed through the ground, amplifying mana, reinforcing defensive wards, casting support spells to both shield and strike. The entire formation began to glow with layered enchantments, and for a moment, the humans held their ground.
What should have remained a mere game to Tuf, another round of hunting sheep, was beginning to turn tedious.
Every time one of his Valkyries struck down a soldier, Delphine revived them.
Every time a knight fell, they stood again.
And yet, despite the growing irritation, what truly gnawed at Tuf's mind… was the absence.
Where is Seiryu's new Master?
He scanned them again, faces in the crowd, energy signatures bursting through the air, mana pulses rippling like waves. And yet…
Nothing.
There was no one in the field with the boundless mana presence he was expecting. Not among the warriors. Not among the cowards trembling behind the lines.
"Coward…" he muttered. "Are you hiding behind your sheep?"
Then it happened.
In the midst of the battle, the smallest among the Saintess Knights, Arwen, leapt high into the air, blade shimmering with divine fire. With incredible speed, she pierced straight through the heart of the Tuf she was dueling.
The clone's eyes widened, shocked, as if his death had never been written into this story.
Then, without a sound, his body disintegrated into a swirl of black and gold ash.
And with him, ten dark Valkyries vanished.
The battlefield stilled for a breath.
The other Tufs paused, retreating into the air. Even the one engaged with Seiryu faltered, thought flickering behind his eyes.
That shouldn't have happened.
Their connection, a hive, meant the clones should not die unless he did. They were fragments of him. Echoes of his will.
And yet… one was gone.
Tuf's eyes, the real Tuf, narrowed.
He turned toward Arwen.
Without warning, he redirected his clone to hold off Seiryu and lunged at her himself.
He struck again and again, claws slicing the air, but none of his attacks landed.
Not even a scratch.
It wasn't the battle suit.
It wasn't Delphine's healing radius.
This woman was invincible.
Just like the other three knights surrounding the Saintess. His attacks, his clones' attacks, nothing touched them.
He was about to test her again, but for a fraction of a second, his eyes flicked away, calculating the movement of Seiryu, and in that split heartbeat, Arwen struck.
Her blade narrowly missed his heart, but it scratched him.
Golden blood spilled across the air in a slow arc.
Tuf staggered, staring at the mark on his chest.
He waited for it to heal.
It didn't.
Instead, it burned.
"A soul piercer…" he muttered under his breath, eyes locked on Arwen.
He floated higher, surveying the battlefield again as the Holy Valkyries continued their relentless fight, one against ten. The humans weren't falling.
Not really.
Then,
He saw it.
A faint, almost invisible thread, red as blood, thinner than silk, linking Arwen, and the three other invincible knights, directly to Delphine.
Not to her magic.
To her soul.
His eyes widened, and then a slow, wicked grin spread across his face. His tongue traced the edge of his lips like a man savoring the memory of a rare delicacy.
"It's not the Halo," he whispered, gleeful now.
"It's her."
The Saintess wasn't just healing them.
She was anchoring them. A tether. A living wellspring of celestial force that flowed into the four knights like blood in a beating heart. It was because of her that they were invincible, unlike the others.
"How deliciously dangerous..." Tuf murmured, a grin curling on his lips.
High above, the true Tuf hovered in midair, and as if testing a theory, he gave a silent command.
Five clones dove toward Delphine and the four Saintess Knights like a storm descending. Their claws blazed black, ready to cleave flesh and soul.
Tuf felt it instantly, through the shared connection of his clones.
The four knights' blades weren't normal.
They were soul-piercers. Blades that disintegrated not just body, but spirit. Permanent. Absolute.
One clone went for Delphine, but was repelled the moment it neared. A barrier flared to life, pure, radiant, and completely invisible to the naked eye, yet it halted the clone as if slamming into a wall of starlight.
Tuf's brow arched in surprise.
"That's… not mana," he murmured, intrigued.
Indeed, it wasn't cast by a mage. Nor by the Saintess herself. Not even by Seiryu. It was celestial energy, raw, unfiltered, and ancient.
"Ah… so the true master finally speaks," Tuf whispered, eyes glinting.
"You are here, after all."
The clone never had a chance. Two of the four knights struck in unison, blades plunging into its back, and it shattered into black and gold ash, carried by the wind. The other clones attacking the Saintess were quickly dispatched the same way, turning to nothing.
But Tuf wasn't finished.
He gave another command, this time, a subtle shift in intention.
The three remaining clones targeted only the knights, deliberately avoiding Delphine.
And just as he expected,
Their blades no longer worked.
One knight pierced a clone directly through the chest, and yet, it did not disintegrate. No golden ash. No soul-splitting effect. The clone simply grinned and kept fighting.
Tuf's smirk deepened.
"So that's it…" he whispered.
Their power was conditional.
Their oath limited.
The knights were only invincible when defending Delphine while she was in direct danger.
Now that she wasn't the target?
They were ordinary again.
On the ground, Aurelian and Seiryu froze.
They knew what Tuf had realized.
He had found the flaw.
Tuf's gaze swept across the battlefield once more.
He turned toward the outer edges, where warriors still stood behind the frontlines, watching, waiting. Among them…
The Narfs.
Warrior Narfs. Battle-ready. Watching from a safe distance.
And at their center, Queen Azura and Prince Azul.
"So… the fishes finally picked a side?" Tuf called out, his voice amplified by magic, echoing across the entire capital.
Despite the distance, everyone heard him.
He gave a slow, theatrical wave.
And then, he smiled.
Tuf recalled his remaining clones back into his body in a flash of shadow and smoke.
He raised his head, and let out a panther's roar.
But this time…
It was different.
The sound rolled like a wave across the capital. Not just stunning the humans.
It broke them.
Abilities failed.
Spells unraveled.
Even Delphine's divine magic fizzled out.
The Valkyries vanished.
Silence fell.
Tuf hovered in the air, watching with delight as panic set in.
He saw it, the fear in their eyes. The dread. The sudden, terrifying emptiness where power once flowed.
He was about to speak, triumphant, when he heard it.
A soft voice. Gentle. Melodic.
A command spoken behind the Narf line, distant yet echoing like prophecy:
"Restore."
A heartbeat.
And like a dam breaking,
Abilities returned.
Delphine gasped as power surged back into her body.
All across the field, humans felt strength return to their limbs, to their hearts.
The Valkyries reappeared, weapons drawn, faces resolute.
Hope ignited.
Tuf paused. Blinked. And then,
He laughed.
A rich, gleeful sound, full of childlike wonder.
"This is exciting," he declared. "Not even the Great War stirred me like this. You know... I only feel this thrilled when I'm with my Luna."
Then, slowly, Tuf ascended even higher.
He raised his hands.
And something fell.
Shackles.
None of them had even noticed he was bound.
With a clang, the silver cuffs hit the earth below, silent yet deafening.
A moment later, the sky darkened.
A thick pulse of aura exploded from Tuf's body, a hundred times stronger than before.
A wave of corruption, thick and suffocating, drenched the battlefield in unnatural darkness.
"Make sure to give it your all, pesky vermins," he said with a sinister smile.
Then…
"Arise."
The earth trembled.
A low, mournful cry rumbled beneath their feet.
And then…
From the cracks in the ground, from the deep soil of Aquilonis, from tombs long forgotten and mass graves beneath the cobblestones,
The dead returned.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Skeletons of men, women, children, those who had died across a thousand years.
Civilians. Warriors. Nobles. Even former kings.
Clad in the tattered robes and rusted armor of every era of Aquilonis.
Their empty eye sockets burned with a red glow.
"Aquilonis, welcome your ancestors," Tuf purred.