The Dark Star Awakens

Leo instantly balked at the idea of consuming a corpse with Astra

 "No I haven't, why would I do that?!"

 His expression twisted into one of horror, not wanting to imagine it at all. 

"Well you said she would evolve by consuming materials right? Only our right hand changed when it consumed the inorganic gear right? What about your left hand?" 

The snake pointed out curiously. He didn't know why he was saying this. Horo felt a chill run down his spine as he spoke yet couldn't stop himself. 

Leos expression darkened as he realized that his line of thought actually made sense. He looked at Astra who remained silent despite the dangerous implication Horos had indirectly brought to light. 

"Plus why would their bodies remain like this if they weren't considered materials? We consume the meat of animals to sustain ourselves" 

Ouroboros added as he grabbed the limp corpse of a goblin and held it up.

"Why would this be any different? We should just treat it as a material?" 

With a pit in his stomach, Leo nodded slowly, morbid curiosity slowly convincing him to attempt it. 

 "We will try one. I can't promise more than that." 

"Alright. Thats more than enough" 

Horos' expression mirrored Leos own heavy demeanor. While he tried to consider it scientific curiosity, the humanoid figure of the goblin made this feel intrinsically wrong deep down. Horo placed the goblin at Leos feet before backing up a bit. 

Closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath to stabilize himself, Leo calmed himself down as he held out his left hand

 "[Invocation of Evolution]". 

Immediately, Leo felt something was wrong as his hand immediately turned Obsidian, however there was a crimson tinge to it as the feelings of unbridled savagery coursed through his mind. 

He heard a sinister laughter as his hand turned into a maw once more reaching out to grab the goblin at his feet. Instead of the body dissolving, the monstrous mouth tossed the body into the air. 

Horos' eyes widened as he saw the body flying through the air. He winced as he heard that little girls maniacal laughter again. Had she messed with his head?! He looked around but found no one. 

 When the corpse was falling back to the ground, the monstrous mouth was wide open waiting for it. It snapped shut and loud audible crunching noises filled through the forest. 

Unlike the equipment that had dissolved, the goblin corpse was being chewed like it was actual food. The taste and texture of its flesh, bones, organs and bodily fluids were shared with Leo in full. The experience made him feel extremely nauseous and unable to hold himself back, he retched and vomited onto the forest floor. 

A blood red notification appeared in front of Leo as the Monstrous maw transformed back into a hand, blood dripping from it like it had just been drenched in wet red paint. 

-Humanoid Corpse has been detected as a Dark Material

-Dark Material has been consumed. 

-Hidden Conditions have been met. 

-Star Bracelets (Astra) (R) has undergone a mutation. Star Bracelets (Astra) (R) has split into 2 Aspects. 

-Star Bracelets have evolved into Star Bracelets of Life and Death (Unique) 

-The Original Personality of Astra has been assigned to the Bracelet of Life. 

-New Ego has been awoken as the main host for the Bracelet of Death

-Class Change will take place after the New Ego has been given a name. 

It was then that Leo heard Astra crying, his eyes widening in horror as he felt that there was another presence in his head. 

'Hehehe. A nice good meal for the First time. Lets get something more delicious next time. Lets get along Boss~

 The new voice was a heavy, dark and masculine. It was rough and savage yet Leo could sense an unbridled arrogance and pride radiating from it. 

'Leo… I'm so sorry. I tried to keep it down but I was silenced'

Astra cried with pain and sorrow evident in its voice. 

"What the Fuck?!"

 both Leo and Ouroboros shouted at the same time, but for entirely different reasons. 

The Snake shouted because he felt that the mouth that had consumed the Goblin felt like it was on par with that monster in that cave. Was this something that the mysterious girl had engineered. 

He could feel its unbridled savagery and the hunger it radiated seemed like it would devour the world if it wasn't kept in check. Guilt rose from the depths of his heart. It felt like he had been used somehow. 

Leo was horrified to see the new presence, its violent nature fully revealed to Leo as it boldly expressed itself. 

It could have absorbed the goblin like Astra had done with the equipment but it didn't. It CHOSE to chew, to crush and taste the Goblin, it didn't view life as sacred and everything was food to it. 

What Boss? You didn't like the taste? Pick something more delicious to eat then. The stronger they are, the tastier the meat~ 

The new Ego snickered with hunger radiating from its tone. 

Leo didn't know what to do as his left arm that had once been silver and gold began to take on a darker shade. Within moments, his left gauntlet had become an Onyx colour with a crimson tint. 

''What are you…." 

Leo couldn't quite explain it but he felt some sort of kinship with the monstrosity present in his arm as it intertwined with his very being. He knew that he shouldn't accept it but the dark temptation had taken root and he knew he couldn't turn back now. 

'Me? If my sister is the light that illuminates the world, I am the Darkness that consumes it all. A Dark Star if you will. Now Boss, you can't get rid of me, might as well name me~ 

The dark voice came across as if it was amused. 

"Astra is that true?"

He couldn't help but hope his gut feeling was wrong but the nervous and ashamed reply of Astra denied him even that faint hope. 

'Y-yeah it is… But when we were bound to you, our power was drained and the dark side of us fell into slumber. I hoped you would never meet him 

Astras voice was soft as she was ashamed of herself for failing at keeping the darkness within at bay. 

'Now Sister that is quite cold of you. Why would you try to keep me a secret. Where there is Life, Death must also be present! Besides, I only fell asleep because I consumed the Death within Boss'

The other voice sneered, displeased about its sisters attempts to stifle it and keep it in slumber while at the same time revealing that it in fact had always been there beneath the surface. 

"So I have to name you? Fine! Your name shall be [Mors]...But I'll make myself clear here and now! I do not enjoy nor will I ever enjoy cruelty like you have just shown. If you ever do that again without my express approval, I will cut off my own fucking arm if that means I get rid of you!" 

Leos expression was fierce as he glared at his left wrist. Even if this Beastlike Ego had a role in his survival, he didn't like the idea of his life coming at the cost of something dark and horrible. 

'Hahahaha! As you wish Boss~! I will listen to you. I will help as best as I can… You will need me for what I am good at one day soon~

Mors chuckled with delight as it alluded to knowing that there was something dark looming in the future of the young man. 

Bracelet of Death (Unique) Name has been set as 'Mors'

Compatibility: 100% 

Bonuses Being applied. Please wait…

Ouroboros roused himself from his guilty stupor as he felt a terrifying presence suddenly appearing not even 50 meters away from them. He dashed towards Leo the moment he sensed that presence approaching them while Leo was fully absorbed in the evolution of his bracelets. 

"Leo….something's not right here. We need to leave. NO-AHHHH!" 

[-188!]

Before he could reach Leo, a massive spear flew out from the forest, skewering Ouroboros at the waist, pinning him to a tree. The force of the blow was so strong that the Snake instantly lost consciousness. He was on the verge of death and completely unable to move, let alone fight. 

Leos eyes shook when he saw his friend practically disappear in front of his eyes, he saw a green skinned monster slowly step out from the cover of the trees. It was a staggering 2m tall and held a Greatsword that was bigger than Leos whole body in one hand. 

Quest: Goblin Extermination

Quest Details: News of a goblin settlement has been spotted too close to the village. Form a party and wipe them out within 24h. 

Difficulty: B→S 

Completion Reward(s): 1 gold. 10 Free Points, 3000 exp

Requirements: Party of 4. (Current Party 4/4)

Quest Failure: Village Destruction

Additional information: If the village is destroyed, all players within the village will have their characters deleted. 

Status: 0 Squadrons of the Goblin Leader remain. The Boss has descended. 

Defeat the Boss: Goblin Weapon Master

Leo felt his scalp tingle, almost forgetting about the changes to Astra and Mors. Unless he got back up from Lily and Luna soon, he would have to face this BOSS monster alone.