As the beast closed in, it leapt into the air, its massive maw opening wide, revealing rows of jagged, bloodstained teeth. It came down on Kaden like a falling boulder, intending to devour him whole.
But Kaden was ready. As the gaping jaws neared him, he thrust his hands upward, gripping the maxilla and mandible with all his might. His black-veined arms trembled under the beast's immense jaw strength as it tried to clamp down, saliva and blood dripping onto his face.
"No way... am I... dying here!" Kaden yelled through gritted teeth, the black veins on his arms pulsating wildly.
The beast roared, doubling its effort to crush him, but Kaden roared back, his voice fueled by desperation and rage. With a final yell, he summoned every ounce of his strength and yanked the beast's jaws apart.
A sickening crack echoed through the forest as the mandible separated from the maxilla, ripping the beast's mouth wide open. Black blood gushed from its maw, drenching Kaden from head to toe.
He threw the beast's twitching body to the ground, watching it convulse before finally falling still.
Panting heavily, Kaden looked down at the corpse. "So the red information was right after all," he thought. "The hide might be tough, but the insides... not so much."
The adrenaline drained from his body, leaving his limbs weak and his head spinning. He staggered back, his legs giving out beneath him. He slumped against a tree, breathing heavily, black blood dripping off his clothes and face.
He glanced at his arms, the black veins slowly receding. With a groan, he wiped some of the beast's blood from his face.
"Well," he muttered, "at least I'm not on the menu anymore"
He let his head fall back against the tree trunk, a weak chuckle escaping his lips despite the pain coursing through his body.
__________________________
Kaden opened his eyes slowly, his eyelids heavy as if weights were tied to them. He must have slept, though he had no idea for how long. Not that it mattered. His entire body was sore, every muscle aching, and the stench of beast blood clung to him like a curse. He winced as he checked his stomach, his fingers running over the wound that should have been there. But it was gone. He wasn't surprised—he'd seen this happen before.
The night of the portal break, his chest wound had mysteriously healed too. He didn't know why, and right now, he didn't care. The pain was gone, but the gnawing hunger remained, twisting his stomach like an angry snake. Whatever was healing him clearly wasn't in the business of curing hunger.
He looked at the beast body and thought that "At least I won't have to worry about food anytime soon".
Pushing himself to his feet, he staggered to the beast's corpse. A few vultures had already gathered, pecking at the hide, but their beaks weren't strong enough to pierce through it. Frustrated, they soon gave up and flew off. Kaden glanced around and began gathering dry branches, arranging them into a crude fire pit.
With his bare hands, the black veins returning, he reached into the beast's torn mouth, gripping a chunk of its insides. It was disgusting work, but he didn't have a choice. He dragged the meat to a nearby stream, scrubbing it clean before skewering it onto a stick and placing it over the fire.
The grilling process took forever. Beast meat was clearly tougher than any normal animal's. When it was finally done, he grabbed the stick and bit into it without hesitation.
"What a delicious piece of crap."
The first bite nearly made him gag. The taste was indescribably awful, bitter and metallic, with a texture like chewing on rubber. He chewed slowly, forcing it down his throat.
The meat was horrendous, but his hunger wouldn't let him stop. Bite after bite, he swallowed the vile food until he felt the edge of his hunger dull. Washing it down with water from the stream, he sprawled out on the forest floor, groaning.
"Now what the hell was that?" he mumbled, staring at the canopy above.
His mind wandered back to everything that had happened. The miraculous healing, the strange red information, the black veins giving him unnatural strength—there was only one explanation. A flower.
But how could that be? He didn't get any flower in the Grave Garden. And even if this ability was from a flower, it doesn't make sense because his wound healed on the night of the portal break. He furrowed his brow, trying to remember. "It must be that night," he thought.
The broken image of Lira's body flashed in his mind, and his heart sank. He remembered losing consciousness, the pain of his heart being ripped away. That's all there was—or so he thought.
Digging deeper into his memory, fragments emerged that didn't make sense. A feeling of being carried, his body cold and pressed against the rough bark of a tree. His eyes had fluttered open briefly, his vision blurred and hazy.
A man with an eyepatch.
The figure was faint in his memory, but the presence felt oddly familiar. He couldn't place it. Then he remembered seeing a flower—a dark flower, unlike any he'd ever seen. It wasn't a sunflower. It looked more like a moonflower, its petals as black as the abyss.
That was all he could recall. He sat up, troubled, the pieces refusing to fit together. No Lord Bloom looked like that—sinister, unnatural. And even if one did, what was it doing in the outskirts? Flowers couldn't be removed from Grave Gardens. He knew this firsthand after trying to force one himself.
He clenched his fists, his black-veined hands tightening. Was it some kind of strength ability? "What are you?" he muttered, staring at the veins crawling under his skin.
A voice answered, echoing in his head.
"That would be the demon's blood flowing in your veins."
Kaden shot to his feet, spinning around. "Who's there? Where are you? Show yourself!"
The voice spoke again, calm and mechanical. "I am the AI meant to guide you in starting with the system."
He froze. The voice wasn't coming from anywhere around him—it was in his head. No flower had ever done anything like this.
"What... what are you?" he asked again, his voice trembling.
"I am the Demon System."
Kaden blinked in disbelief, letting out a bitter laugh. "Demon? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. The demons are dead. You'll have to try harder than that to scare me."
"And yet, here I am, within your mind," the voice replied coolly.
"Why are you in my head?" Kaden demanded, his hands trembling as he rubbed his temples, trying to make sense of it all.