Chapter 16 — Roots of Hunger

The instant Yuzu's palm struck the First Rotborne's chest, time fractured.

Not shattered — fractured. Cracks spread through everything: the air, the ground, the orchard inside him. Flavor split like glass under pressure. One part of him stood in Ashroot's mud-soaked square; another part spiraled down, deep beneath the roots, where no orchard had ever grown.

The creature wasn't flesh. It wasn't even spirit in the way Yuzu understood. It was absence wrapped in hunger. It didn't taste like rot. It tasted like what came after rot — the hollow where memory crumbled and no seeds dared take root.

It devours everything, Yuzu realized, blinking sweat and ash from his eyes. It doesn't kill to consume. It consumes to erase.

The First Rotborne's gaping maw stretched wider, black sap dripping from its twisted roots. The fruit inside its mouth pulsed once — slow and steady — like the heartbeat of something ancient and starved. Without thinking, Yuzu's orchard flared in response. His Thornfruit pact blazed sharp under his ribs, threads of crimson light spiraling up his arm and into his palm.

Their auras collided.

For a breath, no one moved.

The battle around them dissolved into distant echoes — villagers, Rotborne, Mira's shout carried by wind. None of it mattered here. There was only Yuzu. The creature. And the crackling line where their hungers met.

"You are not enough," a voice hissed.

Not spoken aloud. Spoken into him.

Yuzu clenched his jaw. His sigil flared, pulsing faster. Beneath his skin, the skills he'd harvested — Vesca's citrus bite, Saro's shadowed threads, the Thornfruit pact's stubborn weight — all surged together.

"I don't need to be enough," Yuzu whispered.

He dug deeper.

[Skill: Flavor Rend — Overclocked]Tear through layered auras at the cost of spiritual backlash.

He didn't hesitate.

Light exploded between them — not golden, not white. Something darker. Wine-red and deep orange, tangled together like roots soaked in blood and sunset. It wasn't beautiful. It was real.

The First Rotborne staggered.

Its chest split — not with a wound, but with a shudder.As if, for the first time in centuries, something inside it had tasted fear.

Yuzu didn't relent.

He stepped forward, foot planting firm in the mud, and shoved both hands into the split aura. His orchard roared inside him. Branches strained. Roots curled. The Thornfruit pact wound tighter around his ribs, pressing like a vice.

He was devouring something too big, too old, too alien. And still —He pushed.

The creature convulsed.

Cracks spidered through its wooden limbs. The fruit inside its mouth pulsed faster, veins of crimson splitting wider.

Behind him, Mira's voice pierced through the haze.

"Yuzu! Pull back — that thing'll hollow you out!"

He didn't move.

Couldn't move.

Inside the fracture, something blinked open.

Not an eye. A seed.

A perfect, black seed, veined faintly with gold. It pulsed once — and Yuzu's orchard howled.

His tree bent toward it, roots tearing through the soil of his soulscape, branches reaching hungrily.

Yuzu's breath caught. His knees buckled.Pain lanced through his spine like biting into an overripe lime laced with knives.

[Warning: Spiritual Overload — Stability compromised]

He gritted his teeth.

Not yet.

He knew what he had to do. He didn't have to devour the First Rotborne whole.He just had to take its root.

Yuzu surged forward one last time.

His fingers closed around the black seed.

The creature screamed. A raw, jagged screech that tore through the village and up into the ash-thick sky. Its limbs snapped backward, roots twisting violently as cracks raced across its frame.

Yuzu pulled.

The seed tore free.

And the First Rotborne collapsed.

It didn't fall. It disintegrated — crumbling into shards of dead bark, collapsing into spirals of grey ash that scattered on the wind like forgotten prayers.Silence followed.

A deep, ringing silence that settled over Ashroot like dust after a long harvest.

Yuzu dropped to his knees.

The seed burned in his hand — hot, heavy, vibrating against his palm like it wanted to root into his flesh. His sigil flickered wildly, patterns stuttering, aura warping as it struggled to process what he held.

"Yuzu!"

Mira's boots splashed through the mud as she skidded to his side, catching his shoulder before he could pitch forward. Her fingers dug hard, anchoring him."Let go of it—" she hissed. "Before it roots in you!"

He looked up at her, sweat trailing down his jaw. His lips parted — and he almost laughed."I can't."

Her eyes narrowed. "Then eat it. Before it eats you."

He blinked.

Of course.

His orchard shuddered again, beckoning, hungering. The Thornfruit pact pulsed hard under his ribs, demanding an answer.Yuzu didn't hesitate.

He raised the seed to his lips.And bit.

Flavor exploded down his throat — black sap and burning citrus, molten honey and frozen smoke. His body jerked as aura surged through him, his orchard convulsing violently.

Branches snapped. Roots split. Leaves burst into flame.

And when it was done —Silence.

The seed was gone.

Mira crouched in front of him, breathing hard, hand still braced on his shoulder.

He exhaled — slow, unsteady — and raised his palm.

A new sigil shimmered there.

No longer just shifting fruits.

It was a tree now.Its roots curled deep, its branches wide. Fruits of every flavor shimmered along it — and at the center, coiled tightly, was a dark seed, veined gold and crimson.

[New Passive: Root of Hunger — Rank E]When facing devouring-type spirits, gain immunity to rot effects. You may consume corrupted auras to restore spirit.

He closed his hand slowly, feeling the weight of it settle into his bones.

Around them, Ashroot stirred.

The last of the Rotborne had scattered — disintegrated under the collapse of the First. The villagers rose shakily, bruised but breathing. Some stared at Yuzu in awe. Others, in wariness. Saro stood at the edge of the square, eyes narrowed, unreadable.

Mira let out a breath and rose to her feet.

"You're not Zero-Flavor anymore," she said quietly.

Yuzu slowly climbed to his feet. His legs trembled. His mouth still tingled with the aftertaste of old grief and hollow roots.

"No," he murmured."I'm something else."

He glanced toward the horizon. Far off, beyond the Thornlands, clouds were shifting. Dark shapes moved along distant ridges. Watchers. Council. Worse.

Mira followed his gaze, jaw tightening.

"They won't stop coming, you know," she said.

Yuzu nodded once.

"Then neither will I."

Behind him, in the soil of Ashroot, unseen roots stirred — and spread.