The Last Therion | Part One

Velvet turned back one final time at Van Eltia, sensing her kids sleeping soundly inside the ship. She didn't know, but their bond with her was intense as this was the first time she was leaving them. The thought of losing her family gnawed at her soul. Another Scarlet Night happened, and she was close to losing her family again.

No more. Velvet had to find Avernus before it was too late.

The ominous Scarlet Moon shone above. Velvet ran with haste, with Eizen closely following her. The air reeked of burnt wood, death and malevolence, thickening it.

Velvet ran past the wounded people and loyal soldiers flooding the Zekson port to take shelter. Velvet crossed into the fork road and stopped, scanning her surroundings for any signs of Dragonia soldiers. Her golden eyes peered into the distance, and her senses rose to the maximum. Velvet's motherly nature was in full effect, picking up sounds and movement with precision. Then for a moment, Velvet sensed a battle going nearby. Eizen gestured toward a column of smoke in the distance.

"We better take care of any soldiers, or our crew will be in danger," Eizen suggested, and Velvet instantly agreed.

As they got closer, screams of agony grew louder. Suddenly, a Dragonia soldier in black armour threw himself on the ground from behind the trees. Velvet and Eizen stopped and readied themselves for the fight. But Velvet noticed the soldier was unarmed, and his armour was dented and broken in several places. Terror flitted behind the soldier's frightened eyes. He crawled on the ground before turning to his back, ignoring both Velvet and Eizen. Suddenly, his face twisted in shock as he raised a protective hand over his face and screamed.

A shadow loomed over the soldier, and an enlarged guardian paper came falling. The enchanted sheet fell on him, flatting the soldier as his voice silenced in an instant beneath the large paper sheet.

The guardian paper reverted to its average size with a buzz, and a woman strolled from behind the trees, whirling the sheet over her index finger.

"Magilou," Velvet recognized.

Magilou huffed in anger, glared furiously over the broken body of the soldier. "I hope that hurt!" Magilou groaned before turning to Velvet and Eizen, looking annoyed. "I guess your night is ruined too."

"What are you doing here?" Velvet asked, "I thought you'd be well away from Midgand."

"I would if soldiers didn't ambush me," Magilou turned to the column of smoke behind her. Bodies of five soldiers were lying all around the burnt grass.

Eizen noticed the wreckage of a burnt carriage. "Was that yours?"

Bienfu flew out of the dense smoke. He was covered in dirt and ash, gasping for air as his tired limbs dangled from his body. "I managed to extinguish them, Ms. Magilou."

Magilou gazed unfavourably at Bienfu. " You were too slow! The whole thing is burned. I have lost everything!" Magilou burst into fake tears. "A fair maiden like me left with nothing! Where is my white knight in shining armour to come and save me?"

Velvet rolled her eyes at Magilou theatrics. "Why did you have a wagon in the first place?"

"My 'carriage'," Magilou corrected, " had all of Magilou's Menagerie's latest equipment in it! Tents, outfits, and all of my make-up tools! Don't you dare laugh at it!"

"What were you doing here anyway?" Eizen asked.

"Escaping from the Empyrean's throne, or now, Maotelus's shrine."

Velvet's face hazed with more worry. "Why?"

"Dragonia forces hit the place hard. The last time I checked, Eleanor tried to rally the Platinum Knights." Magilou explained.

Velvet crossed her arms, gazing scoldingly at Magilou. "And you left her? You could've helped."

Magilou's eyes widened momentarily in surprise before narrowing in mischievousness. "Helping? Oh, has the Lord of Calamity grown softer? Did you forget? I value my life more than anything, and not everyone has given me a second chance. I haven't changed, unlike you." Magilou said with a hint of enviousness, but she immediately stopped and raised her head and scanned behind Velvet and Eizen for someone. "Wait a minute, where is Avernus? He was usually glued to your side."

Velvet dropped her arms and said with a heavy heart. "He is still in the capital. We were going to look for him."

Eizen suddenly moved beside Velvet. "Wait, Velvet. That might not be a good idea."

Velvet frowned as she turned to Eizen. "What?"

"If what Magilou said is true, we need to consider going to the Empyrean's throne and help Maotelus. I'd hate to say this, but losing Maotelus is more dangerous than losing Avernus."

Velvet instinctively became defensive. "But he's my husband-!"

Magilou interrupted her. "I do have to agree with Eizen," She grinned, making Velvet even more uncomfortable. "If we lose Phi, the world will be left unprotected, and there will be no one left to purify malevolence. So, time to choose; your brother or your husband?"

Magilou enjoyed putting Velvet through emotions again. While it was entertaining for Magilou and the answer was clear to the logical Eizen, Velvet was stuck in a deep internal conflict. Velvet raised her head at the Scarlet Moon and saw its bright red shine getting more intense. Maotelus was supposed to subdue the night, but it didn't happen. He was clearly in trouble.

Velvet turned towards the capital, and her heart skipped a beat, remembering that Avernus was still in there amidst the chaos.

"I…" Velvet hesitated and took a deep breath. An image of Avernus crossed her mind, smiling and nodding at Velvet in assurance. "I'll be fine." He winked at her arrogantly. "Trust me."

"Very well," Velvet said, looking confident. "We will go and help Phi."

Magilou was satisfied and walked past Velvet. "Then I wish you good luck-"

Suddenly, Velvet grabbed her arm. "You're coming with us."

"But-!"

Velvet yanked Magilou's arm. "Didn't you propose it in the first place? You surely want to help." Velvet grinned, showing her fang.

Magilou swallowed at her piercing glare, sensing her life was in danger. "What can a delicate maiden like me do in a situation like this?!"

Velvet pushed her forward and whipped her therion arm. Her claws burst from her lace, and Velvet raised her clenched crimson hand at Magilou in total satisfaction.

Magilou gasped in shock. "You got it back?!"

Velvet's grin widened. "You know the drill. It's starving after a year of slumber. Don't be its second snack." Velvet suggested in her stern voice.

Magilou surrendered. She groaned and locked her arms behind her head, walking down the road to the Empyrean throne. "Ugh, fine!"

The three of them made their way over the highway. Velvet sensed the flow of malevolence getting more robust, and she picked up fighting over the horizon near the Empyrean's throne.

"Who was there beside Eleanor?" Velvet asked.

"Rokurou and Lailah. The new captain of the guard, Heldaf, was also helping, but he got injured." Magilou squinted at Velvet's arm. "You said something about me being the second snack. Who was the first?"

"A daemon," Velvet remembered the attempt and her soul was flared up with anger and curiosity about the reason for the effort. "She was sent to kill my children and me. But I took care of her."

"An assassination attempt, then," Magilou said, thinking deeply and in concern. "Then the coup's leaders must have access to more unnatural means." Magilou groaned. "This is not good."

As they got closer, the fires and the road filled with broken shields, swords, arrows, and spears digging into the ground, came into view.

Velvet stopped, sensing a large concentration of hate and rage. "Soldiers fighting," She said and gestured over the road. "There."

The trio scrambled to the scene and came behind a group of Dragoina soldiers cowering behind wooden barriers. Their heads whipped towards Velvet, and she scowled. One of the soldiers raised his sword and pointed at them, his hands shaking in fear. "T-They got reinforcements!"

Velvet recalled the assassination attempt on her children's lives and let her wrist blade loose. "Come at me!"

The rest of the dark-armoured soldiers were alerted to their flank and readied themselves for the attack.

Suddenly, one of the barriers heaved and exploded, sending wooden chips all around. A giant swing from a long sword swept the swords over the ground.

Velvet looked over to the swordsman and recognized the laughter of Rokurou as his demonic eyes pierced the darkness, leaving a red trail. "Thanks, Velvet! Welcome to the party!"

Behind him, Eleanor dashed and slashed away two unarmed soldiers with a pair of dual blades. The short swords cut their shields and sent them flying.

Eleanor landed beside Rokurou and moved into a synced stance, back to back.

Velvet noticed their new outfits: Rokurou had ditched his robe in favour of a dark blue jacket, dark blue trousers, light sandals, and a hooded cowl that was loose. Eleanor wore a silver chest plate over a blue top covering her shoulders and neck and a white mini-skirt with blue stripes and silver-plated greaves. Her blue cloak with yellow stripes seemed to be made from light material, and her silver gauntlets were adorned with detailed etchings.

A fallen soldier rose on his feet and picked up a spear, rearing back to hurl it at Eleanor. Suddenly, behind Eleanor and Rokurou flashed with an orange light, and a ball of flame was shot at the soldier. The orb blasted in front of the soldier's helmet, and the explosion pulled him off the ground. His body was tossed in the air and forcefully hit the tree behind him, knocking him unconscious.

Lailah flew above them and landed graciously beside Eleanor and Rokorou. Lailah's hair was longer, and she wore her new red and white outfit with her bell-shaped skirt with an open front, showing her legs.

Lailah's serious face softened at the sight of Velvet and beamed.

Velvet smiled casually and sheathed her blade. "Looks like you guys have it under control."

Rokurou placed the Stormquel over his shoulder and strode toward them alongside Eleanor and Lailah. "These people are no match for us, but there are a lot of them."

Eleanor noticed Magilou drumming her fingers over her bicep as she crossed her arms. "Oh, you came back."

Magilou shrugged. "Yeah, yeah. Couldn't leave you people to get all the credit."

Magilou's indifferent voice gave her away, and Lailah quickly caught up on that. She tried to be polite to Magilou. "Velvet dragged you here, didn't she?"

Magilou huffed silently and glanced over the knocked-out soldiers. "Whatever. Is that all of them?"

"No," Eleanor said. "The rest stormed the other side, but Platinum Knights were handling them."

Eizen stepped forward, still pessimistic about the situation. "Then why hasn't Maotelus released the purification pulse? What happened to the ritual?"

Lailah's face darkened with concern. "There is a strong domain clashing against his. Maotelus is constantly trying to push it back."

"Is he in the temple?" Velvet asked, worrying.

Eleanor nodded. "Yes. Don't worry about him. He is doing fine."

Rokurou grinned arrogantly, tapping Stormquell on his shoulder in anticipation. "There is not much action. I expected more. When I heard Maotelus was having a problem, I thought we would get to fight a dragon."

Eleanor poked his left side with one of her blades gently. "You did enough fighting for the night."

Velvet noticed Eleanor wasn't using a spear and instead had two ornate sabres with a round handle and a blue colour that matched her outfit. "So Eleanor, your fighting style has changed."

Eizen smiled and turned to Rokurou. "And it seems someone was teaching you this new technique."

Rokurou nodded. "Yeah. Eleanor's been training a lot. She caught up very quickly."

Eleanor's cheeks turned red. "I didn't spend a lot of time with you! We hang out just to teach me the art of dual-wielding!"

Velvet waved her hand, teasing her. "It is fine, Eleanor. No need to get defensive about it. It's a natural thing."

Eleanor blushed more and got defensive. "T-That's not it! I just spent time with Rokurou to… to learn more about the Rangetsu style. The dual blade techniques aren't easy to learn-"

Suddenly, a distant explosion cut them off. They whirled their heads and noticed the orange flames were coming from the Empyrean's thrones. Velvet scrambled, and they all followed her.

As they got closer, the perimeter came into their sights: more Dragonia soldiers in a long line with archers raining down bolts and arrows.

Velvet didn't waste time and darted at Dragonia soldiers like a bullet. The dark-armoured soldiers turned to see Velvet slashing away at them with a broad swing of her blade. Her strike cut a hole through their forces. Velvet's lightning-fast moves left the soldiers with no room to counter. Her elegant moves sailed the blades on her gauntlet and boot from one soldier to another. Velvet's sharp swords cut the steel and iron clean off. Velvet slashed away at their blades and shields and sliced them in pieces.

"Don't kill them!" Eleanor screamed from the back.

Velvet turned her head halfway. "I know," She agreed, but her eyes flared up with rage. "But I'll make sure they will not hurt anyone else!"

Velvet dashed in a blink of an eye and pressed her feet, releasing the blades and jumped over the soldiers. Everything was in slow motion as Velvet flipped her body in the air and studied their formation from above in an instant. Velvet rolled in the air and slashed her legs in a broad swing. Her blade cut a clean and calculated path over their shields and swords.

The Dragonia guard's formation broke. Menagerie's relentless attacks picked off the soldiers. Eizen shifted his attention to soldiers with towering shields and reared his fist, charging it with magic. "Perfect Mayhem!"

The Dragonia soldiers were clueless. They heard buzzing sounds of magic and turned their heads around frantically. None of them could see the seraphim attacking them. Eizen's fists quickly slammed their guards to dust and broke their guard. With their weapons obliterated by an unseen force, they shouted in terror and fled the battle.

Rokurou spotted their retreat and opened his palms. Velvet saw small star-shaped weapons that were concealed under his sleeves. Rokurou cracked an arrogant small and threw them at the fleeing soldiers. They hit them in feet and legs in an instant, and the soldiers dropped to the ground, rolling in the dirt.

"My leg!" One of the soldiers screamed in pain, rolling on the ground.

Velvet nodded favourably. "Looks like you got your hands on new weapons. Nice work on immobilizing them."

"These are not just the only weapons that I've found," Rokurou rolled up his sleeve and raised his arm, showing a hidden metallic wristband that had a chain tied up under it. "Can't wait to show you what else I can do with them."

Eizen moved beside them, looking bored. "There is no fun in hitting opponents who can't see you."

"At least they don't have daemon assassins among them," Velvet said.

Rokurou's eyes widened in excitement. "Did you say a daemon assassin?"

Velvet nodded. "A daemon was after my children and me. She attacked me when I was taking Elaine and Alistair away from the capital."

"Don't you think that might be a coincidence, though?" Eleanor asked.

Velvet raised her left arm and clenched it. "No. I devoured her and took a glimpse of her memory. I heard whispers that looked like an order, but not much."

Lailah stepped closer, looking at Velvet's arm. "Did you get your therion abilities back?"

Before Velvet could answer, a group of Platinum Knights strolled toward them. Velvet noticed their armour had seen some combat, slash marks and dented on some places, but the knights were in high spirits.

"Thanks for the help," One of the knights said and looked at Velvet with slight doubt. "We didn't know they sent a lady for assistance."

Then, another knight limped forward with short golden hair and violet eyes. "That's not just any lady," Two other knights were helping him. "It's Lady Velvet, Sir Avernus's fiancee."

The rest of the knights bowed at her. "Forgive me for not introducing myself. I'm Rodrick Heldalf, captain of the Platinum Knights."

Velvet swallowed. This was her first time interacting with people that Avernus had worked with. Their treatment of her with royalty respect, aside from Van Eltia's crew, was new. Velvet never wanted to know them before.

"How did you know who I am?"

Heldalf glanced briefly at her long hair and her vestments with recognition. "Sir Avernus described you perfectly. The distinguishing features are… unmistakable, and your fighting style is elegant and unique."

Velvet appreciated Heldalf's respectful gestures. Something that she didn't expect from the Empire that she one day fought against. However, Velvet's rough persona was back, and she glared with slight intimidation. "What is the status of your platoon, Heldalf?"

"We're still alive. Some were injured, but they survived. We were able to hold most of the attackers back with the help of Miss Hume and Mr. Rangetsu."

Velvet spotted one of the scouts running at them with a breakneck speed. "Sir! We got more troops coming in from the south!"

Heldalf turned to the soldier with a pained movement, grabbing his side. "How many?"

"Around twenty."

Heldalf looked around, checking the surroundings, but he gritted his teeth, letting out a hiss and lowering his head.

Velvet noticed he was in no shape for another battle. "Looks like you need to sit this one out."

"Yes," Heldaf said and turned to Velvet, trying to suppress his pain. "But my men need orders and someone that can take control of the battle… I have a request, would you lead my knights?"

Velvet crossed her arms, tilling her hip to the side. "What made you think I can lead your men?"

Heldaf chuckled faintly. "Sir Avernus spoke highly of you. He mentioned how you commanded and coordinated small teams into battles against monsters and exorcists. We are a small platoon, and from what I have seen, I can bet my life you are the best person for the job."

"You're gambling a lot on a person you still don't know enough." Velvet said with a bit of uncertainty. Strangers were having high hopes and faith in her made Velvet uncomfortable.

Eleanor moved beside her. "We have trust in your ability, Velvet. You've been doing that for more than two years."

Velvet didn't want to get involved with people out of her circle she knew. Velvet had an easier time working on her own. Before she could refuse, another voice reached out to her. A familiar one that made Velvet whipped her head towards it.

"Eleanor and the knights are right. You're born to do this."

Velvet instinctively smiled in realization. "Laphicet."

She recognized the new Empyrean, now in his normal form, was standing behind the knights and applauding his sister.

Velvet walked toward him, passing all the knights. They couldn't see Maotelus, and they were baffled by the name Velvet called, looking at each other puzzlingly.

"You know, my name is Maotelus. I guess people are going to be confused saying my name like that."

"I think that's true. Maotelus suits you,." Velvet said. "But I'm going to call your Laphicet. Like always."

Suddenly, the knights, along with Heldaf, turned to each other upon hearing Velvet mentioning his name. "Maotelus?! Lady Velvet can see the Great Lord?!" One of the knights said, and Heldalf nodded favourably.

"It's apparent that there is more to Lady Velvet, and it seems she is close to Lord Maotelus." Heldalf bowed again with a bit of struggle. "It is truly an honour."

Velvet blushed slightly at the sudden respects the knights were shown her again. She frowned, looking at Heldalf from the corner of her eyes. "That's nothing, really. You don't need to be like that."

Maotelus chuckled. "I think your fanbase is growing."

Velvet shook her head. She was more concerned about the situation they were in. "Are you okay? What's with this domain I keep hearing about?"

"I'm fine," Maotelus assured and looked at the moon, his eyes flitting with concern. "But I'm dealing with a powerful domain that I've never seen before. And it is a corrupt one."

"Is that from a daemon?" Velvet asked.

"No. It's from a seraph. I'm using all I can muster to push it back. The other Lords are dealing with other domains invading their territory."

Rokurou scratched the back of his head and joined them. "Another powerful seraph? Can even a seraph turn evil?"

Velvet followed Maotelus' gaze to the moon. "So, there are five other seraphs that are working with Dragonia soldiers. And they are nearly as powerful as the other Lords." Velvet turned to Maotelus with determination. "I will lead the defence. You look out for malevolence. I can feel their souls generating a lot of corruption. Purify them when we knock them out."

Maotelus nodded, and his body floated up high and turned into an orb, shooting back towards the temple like a comet.

Suddenly with a slight shake, rays of like appeared from behind the temple, and a pair of large silver wings rose. Maotelus's divine dragon form flew and landed on the front of the temple doors. Platinum knights saw his majestic figure and gazed over him with awe. The immense power revealed him to normal humans.

"Lord Maotelus has shown himself!"

"I'm sensing a storm of malevolence darkening their hearts," Maotelus turned to Velvet, lowering his head. "You have my silver flame, Velvet."

Velvet smiled favourably at Maotelus. "We will lure them closer and out of that corrupted domain."

Velvet shifted toward the battlefield and scanned it. Her mind planned different strategies as she swept a glance over the chokepoints and open spaces. Velvet predicated the flow of the counterattack and turned to the knights, gesturing over the area of interest. "Shield bearers, reinforce the southwest! Stand your ground and cover the flank!"

Velvet whipped her hand, pointing at a high ground. "Archers! Move to that position and rain down arrows. Shoot to suppress, not to kill!"

The knights obeyed instantly and moved into their positions with orderly formations.

Velvet turned to the rest of the knights. "Sword bearers, you are with us. We will force them out of the jungle and into open combat!"

Rodrick watched her with great interest and favour. Velvet's confident and powerful voice rallied the knights and increased their morale to the highest.

Two of the knights eagerly joined Velvet and the rest, shifting into their combat stance. "Hey, Otto, I think I can see my wife and children tonight!"

His friend's eyes brimmed with excitement and anticipation. "Yeah! No one can stop us now, Rollo!"

Eizen stepped beside Velvet. "I guess leading the knights came naturally to you."

Velvet groaned, watching the horizon vigilantly. "This is just for tonight."

Lailah clapped her hands and beamed, joining Velvet. "I agree! Even though you were a little bit more intimidating, they followed your orders without a second thought!"

"Thanks for being honest, Lailah," Velvet focused on the jungle and sensed the Dragonia troops approaching. "Get ready. Here they come."

Amidst the darkness, the black-armoured soldiers broke through the gloom and stormed the frontline. Their battle cries reverberated through the plain. Velvet and the rest rushed to meet them head-on. Rokurou zoomed and ran past Velvet, brandishing his swords. "Let's do it!"

Rokurou whipped out his swords and slashed broadly as he ran past the Dragonia soldiers. The quick attacks left a trail of blue light, and the soldiers crashed to the ground. Rokurou turned back and grinned in satisfaction. "You can't walk for a week or two… or even a month."

Velvet heard the buzzing sound of arrows flying above her and rained down on the attacking soldiers. The arrows hit them in the leg, knee or arms. The Dragonia soldiers dropped and rolled on the ground, holding onto their wounded limbs.

With their flanks secured, the rest of the platoon choked between the only way they were left to go; right toward Velvet and her group.

Eizen rushed and slammed his fist into an unsuspecting Dragonia guard, tossing him into the air. The others whipped around in fear as they couldn't see him. Their voices stuttered, and they began to step back. Eizen circled them with his hands behind his back. He leaned closer to a soldier's ears and flung his fingers, creating a slight wind burst.

The Dragonia guard screamed like a child and fell on his back, crawling on the ground. "Ghosts! They've got ghosts!"

Another guard whipped his blade and slashed aimlessly, cutting empty air and eyes darting from left to right. Eizen crept up behind him and patted his shoulder. He shrieked and dropped his sword, running away, but he tripped over the previous soldier and fell on him. As both struggled to get up, Eizen grabbed his head and smacked their head into each other.

"It's just too easy." Eizen groaned, bored as an invisible being took all the excitement out of the fighting for him.

As the fight went on, Velvet clashed against the Dragonia leader. The heavily armoured knight recognized her and raised his towering black shield, and slammed it into the ground. "I have sworn revenge to bring justice to those who killed sons and daughters of the Dragonia house. I'm blessed, for I shall take their vengeance on their behalf!"

A shock went through Velvet's nerves. How did they know? Did they do it because of what they did all those years ago? Velvet remained unflinching and gazed coldly into the narrow gap of the knight's helmet. "And you want to do more harm by killing innocent people?"

"Time for talk has passed, fiend," The knight unsheathed his sword. "Submit and die!"

The Dragonia captain pushed on toward Velvet, taking cover behind his shield as he prepared to bash her. He smacked his guard, but it hit nothing as Velvet quickly stepped to the side effortlessly. Velvet's superior reflex made her observe this in a slow motions speed. She had the opportunity to slash the enemy captain and end him there.

But Velvet kicked him in the waist, and he lost control, falling to the ground.

"Surrender, and you can still have your limbs." Velvet spared him, but her voice was still threatening and intimidating as before.

The Dragonia captain rose on his feet and resumed his stance. "Never!"

"Fine," Velvet whipped her arm and released her shining blade. "I'm running out of patience anyway."

The Dragonia captain rushed at her and swung widely. He missed, and he followed his attack with another slash. Velvet's nimble body smoothly dodged each of his attacks until he tired himself out with constant and pointless swinging. He was no match for a seasoned warrior like her.

With a heavy gasp, he brought his sword down one final time. Velvet reared her arm and slashed with a heavy swing. Her blade clashed and hit his sword in an instant, pushing it away like a flash of thunder. The enemy captain stumbled back, letting out a strained groin. Velvet pressed her feet, released the hidden blades from the back and front of her boot, and raised her leg vertically to the top, standing on one foot.

It all happened in a blink of an eye. Velvet's flawless and quick slashes of her foot blade left crimson trails and cut the towering shield. The knight captain froze and glanced terrifyingly at his shield. It suddenly fell apart into dozens of pieces.

The knight captain tossed the shield's remains and prepared to charge one last time, grabbing his sword with two hands.

Velvet, still standing on one leg, threw one last heavy kick into his helmet. Velvet's metallic book crashed into the steel and pulled him off the ground, and sent him flying.

The two Platinum Knights, Otto and Rollo, were watching the combat with great interest. Their eyes followed the enemy captain's body as it landed between them with a loud bang.

"That was awesome!" Otto patted the other on the shoulder, feeling victorious. "It seems we won-"

Suddenly, Velvet caught the enemy captain as he rose on his feet and prepared to slash the Platinum Knights with a surprise attack.

Velvet acted in an instant and pounced at him. She intuitively whipped her therion arm, and her claws tore through her magical lace. Velvet swung her enormous claw and ripped the sword out of the captain's hand. The force pushed him away, and he hit his head into the stone on his way down, knocking him down for good.

But Velvet gasped. She just unleashed her therion claw right in front of the people. She turned to the Platinum Knight and surprisingly saw them looking at her with awe and favour.

"That was… badass! Lady Velvet can do magic too?"

Then Velvet remembered, they couldn't see her therion claw, as it only looked like she did a heavy slap move with magical red sparkles. She heaved a sigh of relief.

Velvet matched at Otto and picked his sword up from the ground. Velvet frowned, glaring scoldingly into his eyes. "You need to be focused to survive any battle! If you want to go back to your family, you must stay focused!" Velvet twirled the sword and pointed the handle at him. "You have a duty to go back to your family. Do you understand?"

Otto accepted the sword and bowed quickly in shame. "Y-Yes, ma'am!"

With the whole platoon down for the count, Velvet swept a glance one last time over the battlefield.

But her heart skipped a beat. Goosebumps ran across her skin as she felt malevolence enveloping the area.

Velvet raised her head, and thick dark clouds covered and swallowed the crimson moon.

The rest joined her, feeling uneasy as a terrifying sensation fell all over them.

"Look at the clouds! Why are they moving so quickly?!" The knights shouted.

Eleanor clutched her chest and fell on one knee. Rokurou and Lailah helped her back on her feet. Eleanor gritted her teeth. "The malevolence! It's… too strong!"

The ground suddenly shook beneath their feet. Once. Twice and kept shaking rhythmically as if giants were walking toward them. Rokurou's daemonic eye flared up and squinted into the dark forest in front of them.

"Here they come."

Velvet spotted pairs of red eyes appearing in the gloom with heavy breathing and eldritch screeches piercing their eardrums.

"Monsters," Velvet said and turned to the knights. "Go back and take cover near the temple. This is not what you were trained for."

"But we can't leave you alone," Heldalf insisted as other knights helped him, limping on one leg.

Velvet turned halfway and looked at them from the corner of her eyes. "If you believe in my judgment, then you will do as I say."

Unsure, Heldalf stayed silent for a few moments before turning to his men. "Group up near the temple and wait for further orders."

Eizen noticed something in the sky, gazing at it intently. "Looks like we have our culprit here."

Velvet and others followed his eyes and spotted someone levitating in the sky.

A tall man with a black and dark purple suit floated down gracefully in front of them. His hair was gray and lifeless as ashes and eyes crimson as blood. He landed on the ground, holding a long trident.

"That's the seraph Laphicet was talking about." Velvet recognized, sensing his crushing domain on her psyche. She instantly recalled Innominat's domain stretching over the planet. But this one was different. It was crueller and unforgiven.

The first, true Seraphim Beast descended near the entrance, between the unconscious and wounded bodies of the Dragonia soldiers. Vassan, the ancient seraph of water and tyrant of oceans, gazed over them. His eyes showed no interest. Unimpressed, he whispered only one word.

"Lowlives."