Having just won his first real fight against an intelligent Horror, Aseren felt a rush of euphoria wash over him.
He looked down at the unconscious body beneath him and hissed through his teeth. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, every bruise and strained muscle demanded to be felt.
"Tch."
He pressed a hand against his ribs and forced out a shaky breath.
"That... hurt a lot more than I thought."
His lips curled into a tired grin.
"I won."
The grin didn’t last.
His body suddenly lurched.
His vision swam.
"...Huh?"
He staggered backward, bracing himself on the wall. His heart racing suddenly.
He was breathing too quickly, with ragged breaths.
"No... no, something’s..."
He grabbed at his chest, fingers digging into his shirt.
His heartbeat exploded into a frantic rhythm.
"What’s happening to me...?"
His knees nearly gave out.
Saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth, then increased, with thick strands splattering onto the floor.
"...Why..."
He wiped at his mouth, only for more drool to spill between his fingers.
"...I can’t..."
His breathing hitched.
"...Control..."
His pupils trembled.
His eyes darted around the room before settling on Bramble’s unconscious body.
His throat tightened.
The word slipped out almost instinctively. He tore his gaze away and stumbled toward the shelves, knocking over a stack of journals in the process. His hands searched blindly until they closed around a wicker basket filled with dried fruit and preserved berries.
He quickly seized the first object nearby and put it in his mouth. He took one bite, then a second, barely chewing each time before grabbing the next.
Sweetness filled his mouth, but his body rejected it almost immediately. The ache in his stomach only deepened, spreading through his limbs like a fever.
He swallowed hard and reached for another piece, then another, forcing himself to keep eating even as nausea rose in his throat.
"Come on..."
"Just... stay down."
His breathing grew heavier. Every instinct screamed that something behind him was waiting. He knew nothing had changed. Bramble hadn’t moved.
Yet the scent lingering in the room had become impossible to ignore.
His jaw clenched until it hurt.
His fingers clutched the edge of the shelf so tightly that they threatened to splinter the wood. He kept his gaze fixed ahead, refusing to look back. He understood that if he did, he might have to confront whose hunger he was truly responding to.
His body betrayed him.
His feet moved before his mind could stop them.
His nails dug into the wooden shelf until splinters disappeared beneath his skin. Another step. Then another. The hunger spread through every inch of him until thought itself became difficult.
...
Time Cracked
...
A metallic taste remained on his tongue as his breathing slowly steadied. The burning sensation in his ribs disappeared, and his shoulder no longer throbbed.
Even the cuts across his knuckles had begun to close.
Aseren frowned.
"..."
"What... did I eat him?"
Of course, he didn’t believe that being a horror only had the benefits he already knew. He was now a monster.
He glanced at his hands, then shifted his gaze to the floor.
His expression stiffened unhurriedly.
Before he could make sense of it, translucent letters appeared before his eyes.
It hovered before me with an almost mundane certainty.
═══════════════
SIGIL
═══════════════
Existence: Bramble
Classification: Horror
Rank: Lesser Beast
Evolution: Infant
Status: Dead
Cause of Death:
You
────────────────
Ether Absorbed
+100
Furnace Capacity
200 / 1000
═══════════════
Aseren stared at it for several long seconds.
"Ether? And Furnace...?"
He blinked once as understanding dawned on his face. His eyes shifted back to Bramble. Warmth spread through his body. The pain from his wounds was gone, and the emptiness in his stomach had vanished.
A bitter smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"You would’ve eaten me."
He let the words hang in the silence.
"So don’t complain."
His gaze lingered for another second before turning away.
"A Horror eating another Horror."
"That’s all this was."
He wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince anymore.
I grabbed a clean towel, neatly folded beside the washbasin, and soaked it with water. Crimson stained the fabric almost immediately as I scrubbed my hands. My fingers shook slightly, but I forced myself to keep going.
I wiped the blood from my face, neck, and clothes before crouching beside the floor, carefully cleaning every smear I could find. The wooden boards drank in some of it, but the rest came away beneath the damp cloth.
When I finished, I wrung the towel dry, folded it back as neatly as I could, and took one last look around the room.
I scanned the room before my eyes settled on the wardrobe.
"Guess you’re staying here for a while."
I grabbed Bramble beneath the shoulders and started dragging him across the floor.
"Damn... you’re heavier than you look."
I changed my grip and pushed the wardrobe doors open. Clothes. Blankets.
Good enough.
"Sorry, Mother."
"You’ll have to excuse the mess."
I lifted him inside, forcing his body into the cramped space. One leg refused to fit.
"You’re making this harder than it needs to be."
I bent the leg, pushed it farther in, and shut the doors.
Click.
I stared at the wardrobe for a second before rubbing my sore shoulder.
"There."
"Out of sight."
I snorted.
"If anyone opens that... that’s their problem."
Then, without warning, I heard voices outside.
My body tensed.
I checked the time on the clock.
Had it actually been under ten minutes? I wasn’t sure.
Somewhere during the fight, I’d snapped. Everything after that was a blur.
Honestly, that was quite frightening.
The door creaked open.
"Big Brother?"
Petal peeked inside, her eyes darting around the room before settling on me.
"There you are!"
She stepped in, looking past me.
"...Where’s Bramble?"
For the briefest moment, my heart skipped.
Then I smiled.
"He had to leave."
She frowned.
"Huh?"
"He remembered Mother asked him to do something." I shrugged casually. "He told me to let you know he couldn’t play anymore."
Petal puffed out her cheeks.
"He promised..."
"I know."
I walked over and gently patted her head.
"But I’ll play with you instead."
Her expression brightened almost instantly.
"Oh, yeah, you promised me too!"
I nodded.
"As much as you want."
"Even hide-and-seek?"
"Sure."
"And tag?"
"Sure."
"And dolls?"
I hesitated for exactly half a second before smiling again.
"Even dolls."
She beamed, taking my hand without the slightest hint of suspicion.
"I knew Big Brother was the best."
I let her pull me toward the door.
"Let’s go."
Before leaving, I looked back at the wardrobe only once. I then silently closed the door.
The rest of the afternoon passed quietly.
I played hide-and-seek three times before Petal declared I was "too good" and accused me of cheating. We played tag until she collapsed onto the grass, laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe. I even sat through an entire tea party where a headless doll insisted I apologize for offending a stuffed rabbit.
By the time we returned to the house, Petal had completely forgotten about Bramble.
Or maybe... she simply assumed he’d turn up eventually.
As we stepped inside, Thorn was already waiting.
Her sharp eyes swept over Petal first, checking for scrapes, before settling on me.
"You’ve been gone a while."
I shrugged.
"Petal wanted to play."
Petal immediately hugged my arm.
"We played everything!"
Thorn’s expression softened for a fraction of a second before she sighed.
"As long as you didn’t drag Bramble away from his post again."
My heart skipped once.
Petal opened her mouth.
"He—"
I gently squeezed her hand.
"He only stayed for a few minutes."
Petal nodded enthusiastically.
"Then he left!"
Thorn frowned, but only for a moment.
"...I see."
She looked down the hallway toward Mother’s office before speaking almost absentmindedly.
"Mother won’t be back for another four days."
"Until then, stay out of trouble."
The words echoed in my mind long after Thorn walked away.
Only four days were left. The result no longer mattered all that remained was to finish what I had started.
By the time the Broodmother came home, every one of her children would be dead.
I wanted her to walk through that door and realize, all at once, that there was nobody left to come back to.
I wanted her to experience despair.
After everything I’d seen, I couldn’t think of a better way to bring down the Broodmother. At my current level, I wasn’t strong enough to face her head-on.
So I’d tear away the one thing that made her strong before I ever laid a hand on her.
Her distorted love for her children.