Chapter 24: Cradle
Chapter 24: Cradle
He didn't notice it happening, too caught in the scent, too buried in desire. His thoughts were clouded and dulled. He didn't even see the system's alerts.
[!! WARNING !!]
[Status Effect // Charm // Active]
[!! WARNING !!]
It had come on the wind, quiet and inescapable. The smell hadn't just stirred his hunger; it had sunk into his mind like rot in a wound. Charm. A status effect he had no resistance against.
And one of the most dangerous.
Charm wasn't domination, it was suggestion, subtle and corrosive. It didn't force the body to obey, it convinced the mind it wanted to. With no resistance, the user had no say. So long as the command didn't directly contradict instinct, it could make you do anything.
Even sleep.
He didn't know the only reason he was still on his feet was that overwhelming desire to possess it. To take it. His greed alone kept his eyes cracked open, even as each step got heavier, each breath shallower.
He was feet away now. Still crawling. Still chasing. And as he got closer, the worse it became.
The flower stood alone in the center of a small clearing, surrounded by scorched bone and melted stone. Five inches tall. Golden stalk. Two teardrop-shaped leaves. The bud itself, closed tight, was the size of a clenched fist. Velvet petals, deep purple, and cracked with glowing gold veins.
It beckoned. It breathed.
"Mine..."
The word whispered without force, a croak from a dry throat. His body fought, unconsciously pulling on every scrap of hunger, every trace of greed to stay awake. But it wasn't enough.
He dropped to a knee. His eyelids buckled as his vision swam. And then, just as everything dimmed, he saw them. Corpse Worms, dozens of them slithering out from the cracked ridge. Drawn by the scent.
Drawn to his flower.
His greed hadn't been enough. But now, mixed with something else...something just as black, just as deep. His wrath snapped the haze.
"SKREEEE!"
Ash burst under his claws as he launched forward. Fangs bared, eyes burning. The charm shattered under the weight of something meaner as he charged like a rabid animal. Like a spoiled, beastial child who refused to share.
The first worm reached him, and he slammed into it without thought. Flesh and bone met claw. He didn't register how deep he tore, only that it moved, then stopped.
Another came from the side. He ducked. Something scraped his back. He turned, grabbed and bit, heat spilling over his tongue.
Everything blurred. His body did the work. Muscle and teeth on autopilot.
A brutal hit snapped across his ribs. He stumbled, hit hard, rolled, and came up moving. A second impact hit his shoulder. He ignored it. Drove a fist through the underside of a jaw. Felt bone break.
He wasn't thinking, only moving. Kill, move, kill again. Until something shifted. A row of mismatched teeth missed his throat by an inch, and that one inch brought a single thought that struck him like a bucket of cold water.
'Too close!'
His vision cleared for half a breath, then another notification flashed.
[Status Effect // Charm // Ended]
[Demonic Will // Stack 5 // +25% Pain Reduction/+5% Health Regen]
[Feed // +1HP/5 seconds]
He froze mid-step.
'The flower!'
His heart slammed.
He twisted away from the last worm as it dove for him, ducking low, he drove his claws into its gut as it passed.
Landing hard, it writhed, but he didn't stop. He tore through it with the same savage pace, but now he was conscious. Breathing. Awake. When it stopped twitching, he grabbed its corpse and backed up. Fast. Breath ragged. Legs twitching and health regenerating.
He didn't stop until he could no longer smell it.
"System, any idea what that is?!"
He asked while eating the rest of the corpse. The system stayed quiet, it looked like it was waiting for him to finish, so he ate faster.
[Level // 8]
[Exp // 835/949]
[HP // 62/70]
[SM // 15/15]
"So any—?"
[Searching Database...]
He wiped his mouth clean as he stared at the flower. It didn't move. Didn't glow. Just sat there, like it had nothing to fear.
[Entry found: Cradlebloom.]
The imp blinked. The name felt important for some reason.
[An extremely rare and moderately dangerous resource native only to the Maw.]
"But it's just a plant."
[Negative. It is not just a plant. It is a birthing mechanism. Cradleblooms are natural relics. Their origin unknown, they are said to hold the unique potential to seed new demon species into the Maw.]
"It can make demons?"
He sounded skeptical, wiping blood from his face as he eyed the little plant thing.
[Potentially. Very slowly. Only after sitting for hundreds of millennia, absorbing unclaimed souls, can it generate a viable species.]
"How would it last that long? If they're that special, some demon would eventually find it."
[Dormant ones are said to be indistinguishable from background rot, but only legends mention them ever blooming. Potential odds of surviving are extremely low. Ability to birth entire species: Undetermined.]
He stepped closer again, cautiously this time. The scent had faded, but the memory of it still tugged at the edges of his brain.
[Only confirmed ability is emission of passive charm: Soul-Sleep. Calms nearby demons while lulling them to rest. They stop resisting. Eventually, they fall asleep near the roots, starve and die. The Cradlebloom digests them slowly.]
The imp wiped his face again, expression hard. He couldn't stand it anymore, he had to know.
"How do I take it?"
[Cultivating method unknown. However, User now understands the passive effect. As long as vigilance is maintained, Charm should no longer take hold.]
"Should..."
He stepped closer, slow and steady, nerves sharpened. His muscles twitched at every change in scent.
"Not that it matters... But is it useful for anything? You did call it a resource."
[Affirmative. Cradlebloom have the potential to alter a Demons Evolutionary Pathway upon acquisition.]
He froze.
"Evolution..."
He said it like a secret, like something he wasn't supposed to know. The word melted in his mouth, hot and right as an intense hunger coiled up behind his teeth.
If nothing stronger showed up, this thing was his.
He moved again. Faster now. He opened his mouth to ask something else, then the scent hit him. Sweet and heavy, almost too much. It sank past his nose and into his brain as his legs slowed.
He quickly bit into his own arm.
[-17 HP]
[HP // 53/70]
Pain cut through the haze. His blood was sweet. Too sweet. The flower's scent mixed with it, thick in his throat.
"Do I eat it?"
He liked how the blood felt, how the pain made him alert. For a second, he began to sway, then the system's response cut through.
[Unknown. Once acquired, deeper analysis possible. Current records do not confirm consumption method.]
He nodded to no one, dragging air through his teeth. Each step closer made the fight harder. The charm effect pushed back, growing thicker, heavier. But he could manage it, just barely.
Now standing over his prize, he felt it. More than the charm, more than the scent, he felt its presence now. Not passive. Not calm.
It was afraid.
But that wasn't what got to him.
"...Disgust?"
He blinked. The sensation was sharp, unmistakable. It wasn't just afraid of dying...it was revolted by him.
"Is it looking down on me?"
[User is an imp.]
He ignored the system. The Cradlebloom barely moved, its stalk still golden, petals shut tight. But the aura was clear. It knew. It knew what he was, and it hated that he was the one to kill it.
His claws curled.
"Too bad. Looks like this disgusting imp is gonna be your end. How sad."
His grin didn't match his words. The flower reacted instantly. Its charm effect surged, lashing out like a warning. The aura around it twisted, no longer desperate. It was angry now.
And the imp liked that. It's charm couldn't touch him, not anymore. Not with his intent set.
"Die."
He dropped to a crouch and tore it from the ground. The aura blew open, pressure slamming into his face, but the roots came free with a wet rip. A scream echoed up the trench walls, shrill, piercing, and unnatural. He panicked. The sound didn't last long, but it was loud enough that he didn't wait to see who heard it.
Clutching the flower, he bolted.
"Can you analyze it now?!"
[Analysis began upon contact. Based on User's current abilities, User must consume the Cradlebloom—]
"Got it!"
Without hesitation, he shoved it in his mouth and bit down. He couldn't risk waiting for something to take it from him. The moment it hit his tongue, it screamed again, this time inside his head, then fading down his throat.
[User should have waited for full explanation. Absorption protocol not complete. Warning: High failure rate. Possible side effects include irreversible soul degradation and loss of Evolutionary Pathway.]
As if summoned by the system's words, his body locked as his stomach felt like it tore open from the inside. He hit the ground hard, twitching and choking. System panels flooded his vision. Blurred, overlapping, unreadable.
[Bonding Process Initiated...]
[!! WARNING !! // Absorption instability detected // Estimated failure rate: 88%...]
[Do not lose consciousness.]