The courtyard was empty now.The Queen's footsteps had faded into the palace corridors, but her words still clung to me.
"If you lose that fight inside you… I'll end you myself."
Her warning wasn't hollow.Sephie Michaela Deviluke meant every word.
I should have felt threatened.Instead, I felt… intrigued.
And then—
[Why hesitate again?]
The male voice returned, deep and venomous, rumbling through my core like molten iron.
[She gave you the terms herself. If you fall, she kills you. So why not kill her first?]
The image struck me—Sephie, radiant and furious, cut down by my shadow. Her aura snuffed out. Her bloodline weakened. Her throne empty.
[Think. The King is brute force. Predictable. But she? She's the mind. The heart of Deviluke's empire. Tear her down, and everything collapses.]
My mass rippled involuntarily, the hunger coiling at the thought.But then—another whisper.
Aiko's voice.
[No. Not her. You felt her, didn't you? She isn't your enemy. She sees you. If you kill her, you'll destroy any chance of becoming more than a monster.]
The two voices collided, tearing at me like claws.One urging slaughter.The other pleading restraint.
I clenched my new-formed hands, forcing the crimson system window to the edge of my sight.It still pulsed:
Mission: Cull the Threats.Optional target: Royal Figures.
The male voice laughed, low and cruel.
[Face it. You're not bound to "love." That's weakness the system dangles to keep you soft. You were made for one thing: to consume. Stop denying it.]
I whispered back, my voice barely a breath in the empty courtyard:"…If that were true, why do I hesitate?"
For once, the voice didn't answer.
But the hunger inside me did.
[System Log – Internal Conflict Escalating]Massacre Path: 1%"To Love" Path: 1%
Warning: Divergence Detected.
And for the first time, I realized—this wasn't just a mission.
It was a fork in destiny.