Chapter 175

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

Luna's furious scream shook the entire Black Tower.

The walls vibrated with her voice, the raw edge of her fury crawling down the spines of every demi-human on the floor. For most demi-humans who served within its enchanted halls, they had never seen the usually poised Luna lose control. The dark aura that bled from her body was thick, suffocating, and wild, unrestrained in a way no one in the tower had ever seen before.

"WHERE IS THAT LYING HUMAN?!" she shrieked again, storming down the corridor outside Pixie's quarters, her mismatched eyes glowing black and gold.

"M-Mistress," a demoness stammered, visibly trembling, "t-the humans are… in the garden. With Master Alpha."

Luna vanished in an instant.

The garden air twisted violently as Luna materialized in a storm of shadows.

Delphine barely had time to turn before Luna's hand closed like steel around her throat, lifting her off the ground. Her fingers dug in with enough pressure to crack bone, and the killing intent radiating off Luna was paralyzing.

"LUNA!!!" Alpha's voice rang out in alarm.

The Saintess Knights reacted instantly, swords drawn, eyes burning with rage. But when they slashed at Luna, their blades bounced off her like toy sticks hitting stone. No scratch. No reaction. Not even a flinch.

Luna's aura thickened further, spiraling outward in waves so dense it cracked the nearby earth and wilted every flower. It was dark and violent, and it was draining Delphine's life force.

The Saintess Knights tried again, desperation fueling their strikes, 

"STOP!" Alpha roared, stepping in and striking the three knights with the back of his hand, not to wound, but to throw them far enough away from Luna's death field.

They hit the ground hard, coughing and dazed, staring at him in disbelief.

"Alpha?!" Renee gasped, betrayal flashing in his eyes.

"Your Saintess Knights' abilities won't work on her," Alpha snapped. "If you so much as touch her, you'll die. The only reason your Saintess is still breathing is because of her healing ability keeping her alive, barely."

"WHAT DID YOUR EMPRESS DO TO TOFU?!" Luna screamed, lifting Delphine higher, her nails now drawing blood.

Delphine kicked weakly, her vision beginning to fade, her skin already paling unnaturally fast.

"Luna, calm down! Whatever you need to ask her, you don't have to do this!" Alpha tried again, stepping closer, voice low but firm.

"I'm going to kill this lying bitch!" Luna snarled, black veins pulsing around her throat, her aura a storm of hate and heartbreak.

"They're Father's guests! How dare you lay a hand on them!" Alpha shouted, trying now to use the only name Luna might listen to. "What would Father say if he saw this?!"

But Luna didn't even flinch. She was past reason.

The Saintess Knights charged again, only to be met by both Alpha and Cosmo intercepting them.

"WHAT DID YOUR EMPRESS DO TO MY MATE?!" Luna roared once more, voice raw and cracking with pain.

"How can she answer when you're draining the life out of her?!" Alpha shouted, rage beginning to seep into his usually calm tone. "Let her go, Kitten. Please. You're going to kill her before she can say anything."

Delphine's limbs were limp now. Her body, once radiant, was beginning to age, her skin wrinkling by the second, her hair paling.

Even her Saintess healing couldn't keep up.

Alpha stepped closer, his voice soft now, almost coaxing.

"Let's hear her out. Just… let her speak, Luna. Please."

For one terrifying moment, Luna said nothing. 

"One chance," she hissed. "One."

And she threw Delphine to the ground.

Delphine hit the earth hard, coughing violently as air rushed back into her lungs. Alpha was at her side in an instant, lifting her gently and easing her into a chair that Cosmo quickly summoned with a flick of his hand.

"Send Orso here," Alpha commanded.

Cosmo nodded and vanished in a flash of light.

Alpha placed himself between Luna and Delphine, shielding her with his body.

He turned his head slightly toward his sister. "What happened? Why are you like this?"

Luna's chest heaved with emotion, her eyes glowing brighter now with something more than rage, pain.

"Comet made contact with Tofu," she said through clenched teeth. "I couldn't reach his Deepcall, so I asked Comet to find him, to bring him home. To tell him I needed him. But he wouldn't come."

Her eyes snapped to Delphine, full of venom and hurt.

"Because, according to him… the Empress needs him more."

Her words cracked like thunder.

"SO TELL ME, WHAT DID YOUR EMPRESS DO TO MY MATE?!"

Delphine, frail, visibly aged past sixty, her skin graying under the toll of Luna's aura, could only shake her head. Slow. Weak.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!!!" Luna screamed, the garden trembling from the force of her power. "I TOLD YOU, YOU ONLY HAVE ONE CHANCE!"

"She didn't do anything to him!" Cecilion stepped forward, chest heaving.

"LIAR!!!" Luna roared. "You told me yourselves! Tofu was going to kill your Empress! But she surrendered!!! And Tofu, Tofu doesn't change his mind once he decides! If he meant to kill her, she would be dead! But she still lives! So SHE DID SOMETHING! Something that made him not come back to me!"

"She did nothing!" Robin shouted, frustration exploding out of him. "Tuf just… stopped when he saw her! He froze, because our Empress looks like you and Pixie!"

Alpha stiffened at that, eyes narrowing with a new understanding, but before he could speak, Luna snapped.

In a flash, she was back at Delphine's throat, squeezing with such violent intent that the garden's mana surged in panic.

"Tell me," Luna hissed, eyes glowing like dying stars, fractured with heartbreak. "Tell me before I crush your neck, human. Tofu would never, never, choose another woman just because she shares my face. NEVER."

Delphine's lips trembled. Her eyes brimmed with tears, her breath thinning.

"H-He said…" Her voice came out cracked, a whisper. "He said… she is his human."

It was a whisper.

But it might as well have been a bomb.

Luna's body locked, a tremor pulsing through her as if something inside her snapped. Her grip tightened, unthinking.

Alpha opened his mouth in horror, but he wasn't the one who saved Delphine.

"Luna."

Caelum's voice rang out.

Calm. Soft.

But unmovable.

Luna froze, her fingers still wrapped around Delphine's neck.

"Release her."

He wasn't shouting. He didn't raise his tone. He didn't need to.

Caelum stood only a few feet away, holding Pixie's small hand, the child pressed against his side, silent but wide-eyed.

And in his gaze, those ancient, sorrowful eyes, was not anger.

It was understanding.

It told Luna, I know what this pain is. But this is not how we survive it.

Tuf had slept with countless women throughout millennia. It had never shattered Luna. Never broken her like this. Because she always knew, his heart was hers.

But now?

Now she heard the words.

She is his human.

Not a plaything.

Not a passing obsession.

But his.

And that... broke her.

Luna wasn't like their father.

She wasn't strong enough to live with that kind of pain.

Then, finally, she let go.

Delphine collapsed to the ground, coughing, sobbing, gasping for air, but alive.

"Papa…" Luna whispered.

Not Father.

Papa.

Her voice cracked, childlike and shattered, like the entire world had turned its back on her and only one person could still protect her from the pain.

Luna began to cry.

Not with the controlled grief of someone used to pain, but with the raw, messy sobs of someone who had been strong for far too long.

Tears poured from her mismatched eyes, her entire frame shaking as her knees buckled.

Caelum moved without a word.

He walked to her, slow and sure, and pulled her into his arms.

He didn't speak.

There were no reassurances.

No hollow comforts.

Because he knew… nothing could ease the pain of realizing the one you love no longer belongs to you.

He held her tightly as she cried into his chest.

Then, he looked over her trembling form and addressed Alpha.

"Tell Tofu to come back here before the day ends," he said quietly.

Alpha nodded, solemnly.

Without another word, Caelum turned and walked away, his daughter, broken and sobbing in his arms, and Pixie trailing quietly behind them. Tears clung to the child's lashes, though she made no sound, her small hand tightly holding her father's shirt.

"Saintess!" Cecilion's voice was thick with fear as he rushed to Delphine's side. Renee and Robin followed instantly.

"Heal yourself, quickly!"

But Delphine only shook her head faintly.

She couldn't.

Her mana reserves were nearly gone.

And her life force, ravaged by Luna's aura, was too low. If she tried to heal herself now, it wouldn't restore her. It would kill her.

"Alpha!" Cecilion turned sharply. "Help her!"

"I can't," Alpha replied, his voice calm but tense. "But don't worry. My brother Orso is on his way. He'll be able to heal her."

Delphine, barely conscious, was breathing shallowly, her skin pale, her aura flickering like a dying flame.

"How is this even possible?" Robin demanded. "How could she hurt the Saintess like this? And why didn't our Saintess Knight abilities work? Is it because we're in Velrathis?"

Alpha shook his head slowly.

"No. That's not the reason," he began. "I've felt the edge of your sword. It's a soul piercer. A rare weapon. It might not have killed us outright, but it would have wounded us badly."

The knights tensed, unsure whether to take that as compliment or a warning.

Alpha continued. "Delphine and Luna are opposites. Your Saintess gives life. Vitality. But Luna… she drains it. She was born to consume light. And no matter how strong Delphine's Saintess abilities are, Luna has something that tips the scale."

He looked directly at them now.

"She has thousands of years of experience."

The knights said nothing, the weight of that truth settling heavily on them.

"But that's not all," Alpha went on. "Your powers didn't work because of another ability Luna has."

He paused.

"She holds the ability called Oathbreaker."

"What?" Renee said, stunned.

"It's an ability that disables any power or skill that draws strength from an oath. And your Saintess Knight abilities… rely on your sacred vow, don't they?"

The knights froze.

"That's… possible?" Robin muttered. "Someone can actually cancel an oath?"

"Even if that oath was made to the Celestials themselves," Alpha nodded slowly, "it would be useless against Luna."

Before any of them could speak again, the air shimmered behind them.

Cosmo appeared, alongside a man who made all three knights instinctively reach for their weapons again.

Massive. Towering. Broad-shouldered and scarred, his sheer size made Alpha look small by comparison. His aura radiated raw power, and his glare could've sent lesser men fleeing.

"Bear, heal her," Alpha ordered.

The enormous man's deep voice rumbled. "Luna?"

Alpha nodded. "She's with Father and Pixie. She's fine, for now."

Alpha turned to Cosmo. "Tell Peanut to contact Tofu. Let him know Father's given a direct order, he must come back by the end of the day."

Cosmo gave a small nod before teleporting again, vanishing without a sound.

The towering man stepped forward, but Cecilion moved to block him, weapon raised protectively in front of Delphine.

"Stand down," Alpha said calmly. "Let him through. He's the only one who can help her now. This is our brother, Orso."

There was a long pause. Then, reluctantly, Cecilion lowered his blade. He and the other knights stepped aside.

Orso knelt beside Delphine. His massive hand moved with surprising gentleness as he placed it against her forehead.

Delphine flinched, but only for a moment.

And then… something shifted.

Luna's lingering aura, dark, cold, draining, began to gather. Like smoke pulled into a cyclone, it curled away from her veins, rushing toward Orso's palm like it had been summoned. The air around them grew colder as the black mist spun tighter and tighter.

In seconds, it was gone.

And then Orso pressed his palm flat to her chest, and healed her.

In an instant, color flooded back into Delphine's cheeks. The gray faded from her skin. Her breathing steadied. Her hands stopped trembling. Even her aura brightened, stronger than it had been before.

Delphine blinked… and then exhaled.

Alive. Whole.

"...Thank you," she whispered.

Orso simply nodded.