When dusk fell, the NeverLight crew found themselves in dire straits. Tough and the Caretaker were engaged in a vicious battle.

The Caretaker's scales had become impenetrable. Tough's daggers, sharp enough to bisect a human with a single stroke, bounced off uselessly as though they were nothing.

One hit was enough to deform Tough's entire head. His limbs were torn off effortlessly and regenerated, only for the Caretaker to rip them off again in an endless cycle. All the while, it smiled with malevolent amusement, like someone dismembering an insect.

Even so, Tough held firm. He towered over the Sinner, and his immortality meant he could always come back to settle this. But whether he was tired or not, he'd make the bastard work for it.

The Caretaker exposed numerous vulnerabilities but Tough could hit anywhere except that wound.

But whenever he targeted it, the Sinner's wings acted like blades, slicing his arms clean off.

That was what Tough had been counting on. He didn't have the force to create such a wound, but he could damn well make it deeper.

His arm, severed by the wound, Tough rode the momentum of the strike, redirecting it with sheer force of will, and lashed out with his tail.

The Caretaker stumbled backward from the impact, but Tough was already there before it could react, his blade poised to plunge into the wound.

Then it happened.

If Tough had eyes, they would have widened in terror.

One second, he was intact, the next, his limbs were gone, torn clean off. Only his torso and head remained before a vicious blow to the skull slammed him into the ground.

He should have been regenerating by now. He was a clone, wasn't he? But his energy had drained too far. One more strike and he was done.

More alarming, he watched his energy slowly fade as the Caretaker's malicious presence siphoned it from him.

At this point, he had a single hope… when he eventually recovered and returned, the Caretaker would still be nearby with the child.

The Caretaker neared, smiling persistently, clearly rejoicing that Tough's regeneration had finally given out.

Without hesitation, it grabbed Tough's head and wrenched it from his shoulders, discarding the body carelessly.

Yet before the Caretaker could approach the baby, something in the atmosphere shifted. Its grin dimmed slightly as it watched Tough's form beginning to regenerate.

Within moments, Tough was intact again. Something felt profoundly wrong with his body, but what consumed his thoughts was that his master, Halo, had used Sin Fragments to bring him back.

Beyond his master's miraculous act of kindness, he'd gained ranks in both humanity and growth. And as he stared at the bronze display floating before him, one particular entry flooded his mind with memories he'd long since buried…

His True Ability.

He didn't waste a second. He assumed his fighting stance, confidence absolutely blazing.

This time, he didn't take the initiative. He deliberately exposed openings, inviting the attack. His continued existence clearly enraged the Caretaker now.

It rushed forward in a blur, driving a vicious strike square into Tough's gut.

The strike should have left him partially paralyzed, but instead, the damage reflected onto the Caretaker. It plummeted to the ground, howling in pain.

But Tough didn't give it a moment to breathe. He closed the distance, his dagger driving straight into the wound, ripping it open as black blood erupted everywhere.

The Caretaker wrenched itself away and retreated several steps. It looked bewildered, struggling to comprehend what had happened. As far as it knew, it had been the one who attacked first.

Still, the Sinner covered its wound with one wing and dropped into a fighting stance. It looked ridiculous and ruined, but beneath the fierce determination radiating from it, hesitation was obvious… it wouldn't attack first again.

But Tough had no problem with that. He charged the Sinner immediately, ready to strike.

His forceful attack made the Caretaker dodge awkwardly, worsening its wound, but its wing lashed out at his arm.

A second later, the Caretaker's arm was on the ground, not Tough's.

The creature, in pain, managed a weak strike that barely touched Tough's chin. It almost made him laugh. Yet this attack didn't bounce back to the Sinner the way the previous ones had.

Its eyes widened in understanding, but it was too late.

Tough wielded the True Ability called Transfer Damage. However, as a servant of Despair, he could only transfer attacks that carried the potential to cause heavy damage.

The Caretaker figured it out, but its injuries made escape impossible. Before long, Tough stood soaked in black, the Sinner's corpse split down the middle.

This should have been satisfying. He'd defeated a Demonic Sinner, something his master had never achieved. But the full weight of what came next hit him.

He reduced in size and moved quickly to the baby. Doubts filled his mind about whether he'd chosen correctly. The baby's cries pierced the air, and he was terrified to even make contact.

Even with a massive hole in its chest, the Caretaker had protected this child. Was he capable of that kind of devotion?

He reached for his face, and what his hands touched made his skin crawl.

He looked up. Took a step back.

His face.

This wasn't something he could ever make the child grow to love.

His hands flew to his face before thought could stop them. He tore at it, nails digging in, skin coming away in wet strips, only for it to crawl back into place, sealing itself as if nothing had happened.

That only made it worse. He stabbed into his own flesh, dragged blades and fingers through it, ripping it off again and again, trying to leave something pleasant behind.

If he were human, the floor would have been slick with pieces of him. Instead, there was only the sickening certainty that even mutilation meant nothing to him.

"What the fuck?! Just change already!"

He stopped cold. He could think. Even more remarkably, his humanity had been tier-6 moments ago but had somehow fallen to tier-4. Yet what truly shocked him, what made his legs give out, he could see. He had eyes now. And hair.

Beneath the crown-like arc circling above his head, dark hair streaked with red at the tips framed his face. His features were vaguely human now, blank except for the distinctive white eyes every one of Halo's clones possessed.

There was only one explanation, Halo had sacrificed another Sin Fragment for his evolution. Tough remained on his knees, head pressed to the ground, thanking his master over and over for what he'd given.

Soon he'd built up enough confidence to take the baby in his arms. He wasn't human, but this was as human as he could become.

"I can't wait for you to see this, Master. I'll raise this child to be as kind as you are."

Tough credited Halo's generosity for making this possible. He was anxious for his master to meet his child.

He gazed into the baby's blue eyes as the crying gradually ceased.

"I'll protect you with everything I have. Master will love you too. And as long as he's around, not even death will stop me."

Something paternal stirred within him. More than ever, he had purpose again, something he'd believed was gone forever. And he meant it completely, the baby's origins irrelevant to him.

But while he began searching for his master, something sinister was approaching.

The ancient Caretaker, the one who'd carved that massive wound into the fallen Caretaker before stealing the child, the Demonic Sinner devoted solely to the mysterious infant—it was dragging itself closer, intent on reclaiming what belonged to it.

"Seele… you brought my soul back to me. You deserve the name."

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