The throne of Devilukean power trembled not from weapons but from words.
Sephie and Gid faced one another in the courtyard, their voices clashing like blades.
"You would endanger a world for paranoia!" Sephie hissed."You would let a parasite grow unchecked!" Gid roared back.
The air between them pulsed with force enough to crush stone. Soldiers stood frozen, terrified not of battle but of becoming collateral to their rulers' rage.
And I?
I stood silent inside Lala. Watching. Listening. Feeding.
But then—
[Why hesitate?]
A whisper threaded through me. Female. Soft. Familiar.
Aiko.
[This isn't your fight. Don't let them twist you. Remember—your mission is to love, not destroy.]
Her voice steadied me, the echo of the girl I had consumed yet who still lingered in the System. The one who had given me… doubt.
But before I could answer—
Another voice tore through me.
Male. Low. Violent.
[Pathetic. Look at them.]
I felt it coil in my chest like molten iron.
[An army before you. A King distracted. A Queen focused elsewhere. Do you not see the opportunity? One spark, and the courtyard drowns in blood. Feed. Grow. Become their god.]
The tone was intoxicating. Savage. Unlike Aiko's, it pressed on my hunger, stoking it into a sharp edge.
Sephie's shout echoed outside. Gid's snarl followed. But inside me, the storm was louder.
Two voices.
One urging restraint. Connection. Purpose.
The other whispering slaughter. Domination. Massacre.
And I stood at the fulcrum.
Lala shifted slightly, her hand brushing against her chest as though she could feel my turmoil.
But she couldn't hear the war.
Not yet.
[Choose,] the male voice growled. [Grow through love… or through carnage. But know this: one day, you'll have no choice. And when that day comes—weakness will kill you.]
I tried to demand answers, but the voice only laughed.
Dark. Knowing.
[You think you're the first to carry the System?]
My core froze.
[You are just the latest shell. The latest gamble. The System has been here long before you. It will be here long after.]
And then, softer, almost intimate:
[When you're ready to learn why you exist… find me.]
The presence faded, leaving only silence.
Aiko's whisper remained, trembling like a candle.
[Don't listen to him… Please, don't…]
But my hunger twisted. My thoughts spiraled.
The King and Queen raged outside.
But inside me—
Another war had just begun.