When Nikola woke up, Rin's corpse had already begun to stink. He looked at his old heart, the organ was still beating around the sword. He looked at Ryota, who was still in his childish form, and he stood up.
The barrier had fallen. Nikola looked around to see legs and arms scattered around the cave. His robes were torn.
Ryota must have bitten all his limbs off and then scattered them in the cave when they kept growing back up. The boy's ears twitched, and he looked up to see Nikola cutting up the two hearts. He had taken a bowl out to place them in.
"I have something for you, Ryota," he said in the gentlest voice he could manage as he finished cutting up the hearts. "Something tasty. A treat, just for you."
Nikola groaned as he tried to stand up. His right foot had a particularly nasty bite on it that refused to heal. Ryota showed him his teeth. This boy must have eaten from his flesh.
