Chapter 164

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR, YOU FUCKING LIZARD!!!"

Tuf's roar split the air, his voice reverberating like thunder, shaking the very stones of the outer sanctum.

He was furious, beyond furious, as he slammed his palm against the invisible barrier of the labyrinth gate. No matter what he tried, he couldn't force entry. Seiryu wasn't letting him in. And because the dimensional plane of the labyrinth wasn't Tuf's to command, he couldn't create a door of his own.

"I said no," Seiryu snapped, eyes glowing with restrained rage. "I have my orders. The Empress does not want you inside."

Ceres had called Aurelian. Her HP had dropped below 30, and she needed to replenish it, urgently. But she suspected what would happen if Tuf ever found out she was sharing her bed with either Aurelian or Legion. He would explode.

So she'd waited until he was distracted and quietly slipped into the labyrinth, where she summoned Aurelian. Before anything else, she gave Seiryu one direct order, "Don't let Tuf in. No matter what happens."

Now Tuf was losing his mind.

"I KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING IN THERE!" he screamed, veins bulging from his neck.

"I CAN FUCKING SMELL IT! I SWEAR TO EVERY STAR IN THIS CURSED SKY, I'LL KILL THAT FUCKING VERMIN FOR TOUCHING MY HUMAN!!!"

"Then wait until they come out," Seiryu said flatly, not even blinking.

"I'LL KILL YOU FIRST IF YOU DON'T OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR!!" Tuf bellowed.

"You can't kill me, Panther," Seiryu replied, his tone edged with contempt. "Holy Beasts can be weakened, yes. But not killed. And you know that. So don't waste your breath with empty threats. You're not my master, and my master has specifically ordered me not to let you in."

There it was.

The cold line drawn.

Seiryu didn't understand Tuf's obsession. "My human", he kept calling her that. But there was no mate-bond between them. If there had been, Seiryu would've felt it. A thread of fate. A link carved by the stars.

And he had felt no such thing.

Ceres did seem comfortable with Tuf. She laughed around him. Trusted him even. But there was no soul-deep bond, no sacred tether.

Seiryu had seen Tuf's twin flame once before, his sister. The one called Luna. Their bond had been unmistakable. Which meant Tuf couldn't have another.

Unless, of course, his first flame was already dead.

"Last chance, lizard."

Tuf's voice dropped low, shaking with fury.

"Open the door... or I'll erase Aquilonis from the fucking map."

His control was slipping.

The scent, the scent was driving him insane. It was growing stronger. There was no doubt what was happening inside, Ceres was being claimed.

By a fucking human.

Tuf's claws scratched against his palms, blood threatening to break through. His mind spiraled, dark with rage. He could not, would not, let anyone but Caelum touch her. No one else had the right. Certainly not that pale, pompous pest.

"Go ahead then," Seiryu said coolly, eyes narrowed. "Try it. Destroy Aquilonis.

That just means your so-called deal with the Empress? It's over.

She agreed to go with you only after the kingdom has recovered. If you blow everything to pieces now… you lose the only thing you wanted."

It was a bluff.

But Tuf was too enraged to see it.

He froze. Breathing hard.

For a long moment, he said nothing.

Then, without warning, he laughed.

Not just a chuckle. Not a smirk.

A full, unhinged, hysterical laugh that echoed like thunder cracking across the sky.

It was the sound of a man at the edge. 

And the citizens watching from afar, those brave or foolish enough to linger, did what any sane person would, they held their breath… and backed away slowly.

For three hours, Tuf stood outside the entrance of Seiryu's labyrinth, watching every human come and go.

Everyone, except him.

No matter what he did, no matter how much he seethed or screamed, Seiryu never opened the door.

So he stayed there. Silent. Still.

Locked in a battle of glares with the Holy Beast.

But the longer he waited, the more unhinged he became.

And the world responded to his unraveling.

The sky darkened unnaturally, swirling as if a storm was gathering just above the capital.

Every piece of magitech in the vicinity powered down in a low, hissing hum. The city fell eerily silent.

Then the door of the labyrinth opened.

And Aurelian stepped out.

Still flushed, still carrying her scent, Ceres's scent, clinging to his body.

Tuf lost it.

Before Aurelian could even register what was happening, the air shifted. Every human above ground collapsed to their knees, eyes wide in panic as their mana vanished like air from their lungs. Every ability was stripped from them, neutralized, stolen, snatched without warning.

Aurelian was dragged into the sky, upside down, dangling like a puppet before Tuf.

"You sick fucking bastard! What the hell are you doing?!" Aurelian yelled, his voice hoarse, mana-deprived.

"Did you enjoy it, vermin?"

Tuf's voice wasn't loud, but it was venomous. Controlled fury pulsed from every word.

"Did you enjoy touching my human? You fucking pest, how dare you lay your hands on her! How dare you share her bed!"

"Me sharing the Empress's bed is none of your fucking business, you crazy cat!" Aurelian snarled, even as the world spun around him. "What, you going to kill me for it? Hah! Go ahead, asshole! Think I'm scared of you?"

"Kill you?"

Tuf laughed. The sound was sharp. Cruel.

"Oh no. I won't kill you…" he purred.

"But trust me, you'll wish I would."

Then, with a single swipe of his claws, he sliced open Aurelian's skin.

He started with the hand.

Slow. Surgical. Deliberate.

Blood poured down in glistening sheets.

Gasps echoed across the grounds, but no one could move. No one could stop him.

Tuf made sure Aurelian stayed awake, barely alive, but conscious. He held him there, suspended in agony.

And Aurelian never begged. Not once.

He screamed, yes. Cursed every breath. But he didn't plead.

Seiryu, who had stood silent for too long, finally turned and stormed back into the labyrinth, through the corridors, down into the resting chamber where Ceres lay curled in sleep. Her body was still recovering from her union with Aurelian, her skin flushed, her breathing soft and slow.

"Your Highness," Seiryu called, his voice tight. "You have to get up."

Ceres groaned, eyes barely opening. She was still half-asleep, too drained to rise.

"What's the emergency?" she mumbled.

"You need to come out," Seiryu said. "The panther's lost it."

She sighed, heavy with expectation. "Did he destroy any buildings?"

"No, Your Highness."

"Did he kill anyone?"

"Not yet."

"Then let him throw a tantrum. I need to sleep."

Seiryu took a sharp breath. 

"He's skinning the Duke alive."

That jolted her fully awake.

"What?" Her eyes snapped open.

"He's skinning the Duke alive. He's neutralized everyone outside the labyrinth. And he's caged Delphine in a sealed crystal, her healing powers can't reach the Duke."

"What the fuck is wrong with him?!" Ceres hissed, leaping out of bed and conjuring her clothes in one swift motion.

She stormed toward the labyrinth's exit, shouting over her shoulder, "No one follows me. No one goes outside. Just in case the damn Panther has finally snapped."

Ceres was half hoping Seiryu had exaggerated, or maybe, just maybe, he was wrong.

But of course, she knew better.

He couldn't lie. At least not to her.

And the moment she stepped out of the labyrinth, her breath caught in her throat.

Her eyes widened in horror.

Aurelian.

Not just him, Legion too.

Both men hung upside down, suspended in the air like grotesque trophies.

And Aurelian… gods.

He had been skinned.

Everything, his arms, his legs, his chest, even his manhood, ripped bare.

Only his face had been spared.

Ceres's stomach lurched violently, and she doubled over, vomiting at the sight.

Legion wasn't much better. Long, glimmering metal spikes had been driven into every inch of his body, his thighs, arms, shoulders, even beneath his ribs. His blood pooled beneath him, but he didn't beg.

Then she heard it. A woman's voice screaming from nearby.

"It's not the Duke's fault!"

Celestria.

Her voice shrill and venomous.

"It's that whore of an Empress who keeps calling him to her bed! So why are you punishing him instead of her?!"

Ceres looked up just in time to see Tuf with his hand wrapped around Celestria's throat, eyes gleaming with madness.

"Did you just call my human a whore?" he hissed.

His eyes were glowing, feral, deranged.

"You filthy little worm… Do you know what I'll do to you? I'll let my monsters have you, violate you until you beg for death. And I will keep you alive just to hear you scream."

"Tofu, ENOUGH!" Ceres's voice thundered across the courtyard, finally recovering from her sickness.

"Release everyone. Now."

"NO!" Tuf shouted back, eyes wild.

"They deserve this! I'm going to show them, all of them, what happens when they touch you. When they touch my human!"

"Release them. Now. Or I swear to the heavens…" Her voice dropped, dangerous.

"If I'm the one who has to stop you, you'll never see me again. I will disappear, and you won't find me."

Tuf froze.

Then his expression darkened. "Do it… and I'll kill them all. Every single one of these vermin. I'll slaughter the nobles, the commoners, even their children."

"Seiryu. Freeze." Ceres ordered.

And the Holy Beast went completely still.

In front of everyone, in front of Tuf, she conjured a blade. A silver, gleaming weapon, crackling with celestial energy.

She placed it against her own throat. And then… pressed it.

A thin stream of blood trickled down her skin.

"Your Highness! NO!" Seiryu shouted, straining against her command, but he couldn't move.

Aurelian and Legion, even in their weakened states, screamed in protest as blood painted Ceres's neck.

Even Delphine covered her mouth in horror.

"Release them. Let Delphine heal them," Ceres said calmly.

"Or I swear, I'll slit my throat."

Her eyes bore into his. Cold. Steady. Unshakable.

"You can't do that!" Tuf choked out. The fury in his face vanished, replaced by sheer panic.

He dropped Celestria immediately.

"You wouldn't," he said, trying to sound composed.

Ceres didn't speak.

Instead, she moved the blade, just a little. A slicing motion, sharp enough to deepen the cut.

"No! Wait, wait, okay! Okay!"

He threw his hands up in surrender, breathing heavily.

"I'll release them," he said. "I'll… I'll let the Saintess heal them. Just, just drop the blade. Please."

Even through the storm in his chest, he let them go.

The floating bodies collapsed gently to the ground.

Mana flowed back into everyone.

Delphine ran to Aurelian and Legion without hesitation, casting golden light across their skin.

Tuf stepped back, eyes still wide. Shaken. But not from fear of death.

From the threat of losing her again.

Because if there was one thing he knew from his father's memory…

His mother does not make threats.

She gave warnings.

And when those warnings were ignored?

She acted.