The girl fought as explosively as Halo had expected, and her aggression only seemed to amplify her strength. His daggers were razor-sharp and well-made, but every time they met her axe, they felt like they might break.

Liam circled overhead, striking at her with blade-feathers whenever possible, though he kept one eye on Mill, who had Light shadowing him.

The girl delighted in the combat, her strikes accompanied by derisive laughter. Theoretically, her brutal aggression should have been ideal for Seraph's measured, elegant style to exploit.

Yet while she couldn't land a blow on Seraph, Seraph couldn't pierce her defense either. The girl's skin was as tough as armor, and even the Child of Deceit's fire seemed barely more than a nuisance.

With her power on display, Halo couldn't help wondering what would've happened if Mill had entered the fray. Yet he felt like he wasn't giving it his all, and he noticed the same thing in Tough.

Tough was holding back, each strike more cautious than it should be. The clone seemed affected by Halo's uncertainty about the entire situation. Its attacks lacked their characteristic cunning and brutal efficiency, and Halo found himself equally diminished.

When openings appeared, he hesitated. The girl's skin was tough, true, but his Magnus Blade was designed to cut through anything. He could have killed her several times already, but something in him resisted. He'd never been one to kill without good reason, only dire necessity could push him to it.

He knew this wasn't the time for such a stupid principle. If they didn't secure the body of Fade of Bridle, their situation was bound to be their end.

He finally acted on an opportunity, striking at her neck with precision, trying to disable her without killing. But when she parried his attack while still handling both Seraph and Liam's assaults, he quickly disengaged and created distance.

He sneered.

'Shit… this isn't the right time for this. We have to kill her.'

The moment the words echoed in his mind, what followed next was a direct command to his clone, Tough.

'Don't hold back, Tough… this is all or nothing.'

Immediately, Tough began to transform. Its frame expanded to nearly eight feet, and the crown-like arc crowning its head, its paired daggers, and the red energy flowing through its limbs all started glowing intensely.

The girl panicked for a moment.

Halo grabbed Seraph by the collar and put a distance between himself and Tough.

But then something about the girl struck him. Her excitement was growing, her laughs louder, and her energy grew more intense.

Tough had reached its ultimate form. Its speed was unchanged, but the raw destructive power it wielded now was incomparable.

Even if victory wasn't guaranteed, the clash would weaken her enough for them to deliver the killing blow. Yet she seemed delighted. Why?

"Tch… Destruction. The more violently she acts, the stronger her Only Sin makes her."

Halo looked over at Seraph, who clearly wasn't happy with what he'd done, but kept her focus locked on the battle.

Halo sighed.

His principle was holding him back, and this was the only way.

Their fight unleashed destructive chaos across the ghostly grounds. Every clash of their weapons rang out with bone-rattling force, the sounds themselves proof that nothing human could generate such power.

Tough held the upper hand. Its superior height and brute force allowed it to pound her into the ground, grinding her face against the snowy ground. But something that would have stripped the flesh from anyone else's bones barely fazed her.

She only cursed and laughed.

But the moment Tough appeared to gain the advantage, something struck it with devastating force.

Halo felt his skin crawl as sweat formed on his forehead. He didn't know what she'd done exactly, but one strike had been enough to sever Tough's arm entirely, the impact fracturing the ground.

He gulped.

Tough healed instantly, but Halo realized if she landed another strike like that, his clone was finished. More importantly, he wasn't willing to burn Sin Fragments to recover them.

"No way… you actually regenerate?"

The girl said with unhinged amusement.

But before they could continue their battle, Halo commanded Tough to step back.

Once he made the decision, Seraph vanished without a trace. Halo shook his head in disbelief, then moved to engage.

This time, he wouldn't let his old-world ethics be his undoing. Seraph's style forced the girl to fight defensively, preventing another strike like the one that had severed Tough's arm. With her power escalating every moment, he knew the only way to win.

What followed was a battle of pure movement and reaction. They relied on flexibility, reflexes, and speed, while Liam's feathers remained their only weapon.

But all Halo wanted was an opening to strike, and he was certain that would be the end of her.

Before they could continue, something clicked in Halo's mind. The revelation was so staggering he halted his strike halfway through. The girl capitalized instantly, her fist connecting with his chin and driving him into the ground.

He hardly cared about the punch.

He could feel it, something terrible was heading their way, and even though it seemed far, his survival instincts never deceived him.

Light turned to him with its white eyes narrowed slightly. It nodded.

Halo gulped. Light could feel it too.

While Seraph and the tenth member of the Vile of Hawks engaged in their battle, Halo turned to Liam.

"Liam, do you see anything moving around the castle?"

Liam glanced over with a confused look, silent at first, until his eyes went wide with horror and he dropped to the ground.

"Something is coming…"

Liam said, breathing heavily.

"The castle's safe, for now. Sunday must've shielded it… but damn, that thing's fast."

Halo's expression darkened.

"A Crawler?"

The words left him and Mill in a perfect union.

Liam nodded.

Mill clenched his teeth in irritation.

"You bastards, do you even know what you've awakened?! Ugh. I'll dig the body up myself. Stay out of this."

Halo frowned.

It wasn't their fight, alright, but considering they would die without the body, it automatically made it their fight.

Mill started for the hole, but Light stopped him in his tracks. The fight between Seraph and the girl ended abruptly, both combatants turning to face the threat.

The earth shook rapidly beneath them, and the remaining snow appeared to melt of its own accord, as if generating heat from within.

The Crawler was fast and enormous too.

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