I walked toward the exit, each step a mockery of physics. My feet hovered just above the ground, like some twisted parody of levitation, with my scythe in hand, the weapon that they had given me.
The darkness etched into my skin pulsed with a life of its own, rivers of shadowy energy flowing beneath my new slightly translucent flesh.
Great. This is what meant to become a devourer of specters.
The doorway opened to a blinding light, revealing the hallway which had brought me tl my beast.
Figures in pristine white robes lined the corridor, their faces hidden beneath low hoods, all clapping endlessly as I made my way out, even when I couldn't see their faces I knew what they were feeling not because of my power but through sheer instinct, every single person in this room was ecstatic.
Each robe bore Ragnarok's sigil—a ghoul's face that matched the beast I'd just consumed. Some near the entrance sported two or three of these charming accessories, while the weak at the back made do with just one.
A woman with hair the color of a poisonous frog stepped forward. Her eyes glowed the same toxic blue, and she moved with the grace of a cat stalking its prey.
But I could see through her calm facade, after all I had seen her true self already. She was practically vibrating with excitement, her exhilaration, just like she was when she had talked to the ghoul... it was disgusting.
"Baldür," she said, using that name again— that accursed name. She held out a chunk of beast meat. It was dark, dripping, and looked about as appetizing as week-old roadkill. "Here is a piece of beast meat to satisfy your hunger."
My body betrayed me. My hand shot out, snatching the meat before I could stop myself. My jaw unhinged like a snake's, and I swallowed the thing whole.
The taste was amazing like all beast meat, though it barely took the edge off the gnawing hunger in my gut, the constant hunger I would feel now and till the end of my days.
Blue-hair tilted her head, studying me like I was some fascinating science experiment.
"So, Baldür, what powers did you receive from the specter class, feral rank beast, the Ghoul?"
I felt the change within me, a surge of energy that threatened to rip me apart from the inside. The black lines spread across my body, writhing like live wires beneath my skin. With a thought, I let the power loose.
My body shifted, becoming less solid and more... well, ghostly. The black lines pulsed and twisted, granting me a kind of fluid grace that made me disoriented for a second. I floated a few feet off the ground, my movements as smooth as silk in a breeze.
But that wasn't all. I concentrated, and suddenly my eyes were slip-sliding along those dark lines, detaching from their sockets to view the world from impossible angles.
Blue-hair's eyes widened, her breath catching in her throat. She looked like she was about to pass out from sheer ecstasy. "A full consumption," she whispered, her voice dripping with reverence. "You truly are Baldür... the child of the end."
I stared at her, feeling as cold and detached as my new form suggested. Her belief in me—or rather, in what they'd trained me.. no what they turned me into—made my stomach churn.
But it would be worth it. It had to be.
I scanned the room, taking in the sea of white robes and ghoulish faces. They watched me with a mixture of awe and reverence, like I was their long-awaited messiah.
I turned back to Blue-hair, who was still gawking at me, her face disgusting me to no end. "What's next?" I asked, my voice as sharp and cold as an icicle.
She smiled, savoring the moment like a gourmet meal. "Next, Baldür, you will embrace your destiny," she said, her tone carrying a chilling certainty. "The world will tremble, and the end will come, just as foretold, by Him. You will consume it all."
Her words hung in the air like a promise—or a death sentence. The black lines tightened around me, pulling me deeper into this twisted fate. There was no going back now. No undoing the choices that led me here.
I thought of my sister, her voice echoing in the dark corners of my mind. She was the reason I endured this, the reason I accepted this monstrous power. I couldn't lose focus. Not now.
Blue-hair rambled on about prophecies and the end of days, but I tuned her out. I was too busy wrestling with the ghoul's influence in my mind, a persistent hunger that gnawed at my sanity. The black lines whispered to me, urging me to let go, to surrender to the beast within.
But I wouldn't. I couldn't.
"Stop calling me that," I cut through her monologue. "I'm not Baldür. I'm Shane Zorn."
Her smile faltered, confusion and anger warring on her face, for just a moment. "You are who you were meant to be, whom He said you would be," she insisted. "Shane Zorn died when you consumed the first beast. You are Baldür now, the child of the end."
I felt the cold detachment seeping further into my thoughts. Her belief in me—or rather, in the idea of me—was sickening. It was like looking into a funhouse mirror, only the reflection was warped into something monstrous.
I wanted to snap at her, to yell at her. What did she know about destiny, she was clinging to His verdict like it would always come to pass, but I couldn't say that otherwise I wouldn't know what He would do if I snapped, let loose from their reins, and if that happened I would break my promise something unforgivable.
Blue-hair's eyes glistened with a mix of admiration and something darker. "Ah, from now, ha," she breathed. "You are the future, and I Liv, am and always be your Valkyrie, your protector."
I hovered above her, my disembodied eyes watching from every angle. Her devotion reeked of madness. To her, I wasn't a person—I was a symbol, a means to an end.
I turned away, floating down the corridor. The black lines tugged at me, my hunger steadily growing once more. The hallway seemed endless, the light dimming as if even the walls feared my presence.
Behind me, Liv's voice echoed. "Remember, Baldür... when the end comes, we'll be there, watching as you consume the world."
I didn't respond. Her words faded into white noise, drowned out by my own thoughts. I knew what I had to do. The path ahead was clear, no matter how twisted.
I was Shane Zorn. I wouldn't be theirs to control, and their child would one day become their nightmare, of that I was sure.