Seiryu waited for everyone to settle before he spoke again. Ceres had agreed, she would listen to whatever he had to say before replying to the message engraved on the monolith.
Everyone in the chamber returned to their seats, the air charged with a quiet anticipation.
"Everything Azur told you," Seiryu began, his voice steady and deep, "was true."
He paused.
"But the things she told you… were only what she knew as a spectator of that war. There are truths even the Narf Queen is unaware of."
He turned to look at Ceres, who now sat on the long couch once again, Aurelian on one side of her, Delphine quietly seated on the other.
"The truth is…" Seiryu continued, his blue eyes darkening, "The Demon Lord could have ended humanity a thousand years ago. Easily. He didn't need to deceive the Holy Beast Masters at all."
His next words made every heart in the room still.
"Because the Demon Lord possesses a singular, terrifying ability, Instant Death."
Gasps broke the silence.
Eyes widened. Spines stiffened.
Even Aurelian sat straighter, his hand twitching toward his sword.
"Then why gamble?" Ceres asked, voice low and sharp. "Why go through all that deception if he could just wipe them out?"
"That's the question I've been asking myself ever since you awakened me," Seiryu admitted. "I never had the time, or luxury, to dwell on it back then. The Great War left no room for reflection."
He turned toward the towering window, the sunlight casting pale gold over his face.
His gaze looked far beyond the horizon, as if he could still see the ruins of battle a thousand years past.
"And it wasn't just that," he went on. "Even if the Demon Lord didn't use his ability… he still had his ten children. All of them demi-human shapeshifters."
He turned back to face the room.
"I encountered only two of them, a man and a woman. But they were... enigmas."
"In what way?" Celion asked, unable to hide his unease.
Seiryu looked at Ceres. "You're a halfling, Your Highness. That's why you can't detect mana, just as Azur explained. Demi-humans don't use mana the way humans do. Each race draws power from different sources."
He began listing them.
"Narfs control water.
Dwarves command the earth and mountains.
Elves and faes move with the wind and nature.
Shapeshifters harness raw physical strength, animalistic power multiplied a hundredfold.
Night Dwellers are masters of blood and shadow.
And demons… demons rule over mind manipulation."
He looked back at Ceres. "And yet… though all the Demon Lord's children are shapeshifters, their power goes beyond mere brute strength."
A pause.
"I've seen it with my own eyes. Those two… they possessed abilities that don't belong to their race. Abilities that could rival, no, match, us. Holy Beasts."
"You're joking," Ceres said flatly.
But Seiryu simply gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
"No. And there's more you need to understand." His gaze became solemn. "When we Holy Beasts have no master… our names are forgotten by humans. Forgotten even by our own siblings. Even now, though I know I have five brothers and sisters… I do not remember their names. Not until they awaken."
A hush fell over the chamber.
"And awakening us," Seiryu continued, "does not happen through blood rituals or any rite crafted by men. Our awakening is written in the stars. It can only be done by a worthy human, one chosen by the heavens, not summoned by force."
He paused before adding, "In order to awaken us, only a drop of blood is needed… and the chant to call upon us. But the most important requirement, the most sacred of all, is our name. A Holy Beast's name cannot be carved into a monolith, or etched into an ancient scroll or tome. It is whispered into the mind of the one destined to be our master… through the voice of the world itself."
His eyes softened as he looked at Ceres again.
"That's why, although I've had several masters in my lifetime, all of them, until my last, were noble. They used our strength to protect, to serve, to heal. And when they believed we had fulfilled our purpose, they released us. As we are released, we walk freely again, until another worthy master calls upon us."
He exhaled slowly, his voice lower now.
"But my last master… the one from a thousand years ago… he was not my destined master. And neither were the masters of my siblings. None of them were."
A murmur passed through the gathered commanders and magicians.
"How is that possible?" asked Sir Draven, his brows furrowed. "If your name can only be revealed to a chosen master through the Voice of the World, then how did anyone else manage to subjugate you?"
"Because of that woman," Seiryu said bitterly. "The daughter of the Demon Lord."
"She possessed a terrifying gift, the ability to see the future," Seiryu said grimly. "With that, she tampered with fate itself. They rewrote destinies. They intercepted the true masters meant for us… and handed our names to corrupt men and women. People unworthy of the title."
His eyes grew colder.
"If you must know, there is a sliver of truth in the script written in the Tome. The more blood offered, the stronger the connection to a Holy Beast. But it isn't the blood that empowers us, it's the nobility of our master. The purer the heart, the stronger we become. And if that heart turns corrupt… we weaken. The Demon Lord and his children twisted that truth into a mockery."
Ceres leaned forward. "How do you know all this?"
"Because that asshole of a black panther told me," Seiryu growled, his fist clenching at the memory.
"Panther?" Aurelian echoed, narrowing his eyes.
"Yes. One of the Demon Lord's sons. I faced him in battle. He told me everything, with a damn smile on his smug face," Seiryu gritted. "He said the Demon Lord's plan would never succeed unless the Holy Beast Masters were selfish, prideful, corrupt. And then he laughed. Called me a 'big, stupid lizard.'"
"You said he was powerful enough to match a Holy Beast," Lady Layla said. "How… how did you know that?"
Seiryu's jaw tightened. His voice dropped into a low growl.
"Because… painful as it is to admit it, that panther nearly crippled me when we fought."
The room froze.
Ceres scowled. "What the fuck, Seiryu. Seriously? That's how useless you were?"
Seiryu shot her a deadpan look. "Did you not hear what I just said earlier, Your Highness? If our master is noble, we grow stronger. But if our master is corrupt, we grow weak. And back then? My master was none other than the Second Prince of Aquilonis, who is very corrupt. So yeah… cut me some slack."
Ceres made a face in his direction, thoroughly unimpressed.
Seiryu grumbled under his breath but moved on.
"Also," he said, "aside from her Foresight, the Demon Lord's daughter had another ability."
Ceres straightened. "What was it?"
"She could command an army of the dead."
Gasps rang out again.
Seiryu's eyes darkened. "When I encountered the two of them, the Great War had already been raging for a year. Every day, thousands of humans were dying. With a single thought, she could have raised those corpses and sent them against the living. It would have been enough to wipe humanity out. And it would have spared the demi-human races from endless bloodshed."
"But she didn't," Seiryu said bitterly. "She just… watched."
He looked up, his expression unreadable.
"She and her brother stood by. Silent. Observing the battlefield like scholars watching an experiment unfold. As if making sure that everything was happening exactly according to plan."
A heavy silence followed Seiryu's words.
"What I'm trying to say, Your Highness," Seiryu finally continued, his eyes fixed on Ceres, "is that I know how much you want to speak to the Demon Lord. Desperately. But I don't want you walking into a deal without understanding what could happen. That being have manipulated not just the Great War, but the very fates of us Holy Beasts. If you make a deal with him…" Seiryu's tone darkened. "Be careful. For all we know, this might all be a trap."
Ceres fell into thought, her brows knitting.
There was a very real chance that the message from the Demon Lord's son was a carefully laid snare.
"And one more thing," Seiryu added, voice low and steady. "I don't believe the Demon Lord did all this a thousand years ago just to protect the demi-humans."
"You think Azur lied?" Ceres asked sharply.
"No, Your Highness. I think she told you what she believes. The Demon Lord may have fed them that reason. The other races may have bowed to him thinking they were ensuring survival. But doesn't it seem strange? If he and his children had the power to kill humanity instantly… why didn't they? Why allow the war to drag on for years? Why build the Blinding Mist to conceal their entire existence for over a thousand years? I don't think that was ever his true reason."
He looked each person in the eye, letting the weight of his next words settle.
"I'm saying this because… while his children are undoubtedly demi-humans, and while the Demon Lord feels like one… the truth is, he isn't."
The air thickened with tension.
"The Demon Lord," Seiryu said, "is a human."
Shock shattered the silence.
"Are you fucking kidding us right now?" Ceres swore in disbelief, rising slightly from her seat.
"No, Your Highness," Seiryu said firmly. "That is the truth. The Demon Lord is a human."
"How could you tell?" Delphine finally asked, her voice quiet but stunned.
"Because we Holy Beasts," Seiryu explained, "can smell human blood. It's part of our awakening process. And his scent was unmistakable. He is a human, an incredibly dangerous one."
A tense silence gripped the room as everyone tried to process the impossible.
Then Seiryu smiled bitterly.
"Now that you know… I hope you'll think carefully about your next step."
No one spoke. The air in the room was thick with shock.
The Demon Lord, a human.
A human powerful enough to birth demi-human children who could match the strength of Holy Beasts.
Ceres rose from her seat without a word and approached the monolith.
"Empress, what are you doing?" Aurelian's voice was tight with alarm.
"Sending my reply," she answered without hesitation.
"After everything Seiryu just said?" he pushed.
"You still don't get it, do you?" Ceres turned to face him. "The purpose of that message wasn't to ask permission. It was to inform me. The Third Son of the Demon Lord is coming to see me, whether I like it or not."
She let her gaze move around the room.
"And Seiryu is right. There's something deeper to the Demon Lord's intent. If he truly wanted to destroy the human kingdoms, he could've done it. With his children, with his own power, he could've ended everything. But he didn't. Instead, he hid their existence, cloaked themselves in myth, and disappeared for a thousand years. Why?"
She stepped closer to the monolith.
"Maybe we triggered something. Maybe our actions disrupted a plan long in motion. But the last thing we should do now is act afraid. Fear is surrender. And we've already lost the moment we start to cower."
She glanced at all of them. "We still have one month. I suggest we use that time. Prepare for every possibility. But right now… someone is set to meet me. And if that's the case, it's only proper to acknowledge it, with a reply."
She picked up a pen and a piece of parchment from the nearest table and, with deliberate grace, wrote in English:
'Third Son of the Demon Lord,
I will be waiting.
New Master of Seiryu'
She handed the letter to Celion.
"Send that message back through the monolith," she said firmly. "Do not miss a single word."
Celion took the letter with both hands, bowed, and stepped forward.
"Yes, Your Highness."
And as he turned to deliver the reply, across ancient magic, everyone in the room understood:
The game had already begun.
And the Empress of Aquilonis was not afraid to play.