The fungal network had fully consumed Dimitrescu's castle. Molded by Eveline, the Dimitrescu family gathered blood from every corner, restrained Moroaică with black mold, and fused the flesh and blood into a small girl's form—unmistakably Eveline's new body. Watching through Dimitrescu's eyes, Eveline grinned wickedly.
"Getting stronger by the minute. Not bad," she purred.
Meanwhile, another Eveline trailed Ethan through the village, arriving at the Beneviento estate. Armed with new weapons, Ethan effortlessly felled even Miranda's prized giant Lycan. Eveline's excitement surged, though she craved the sight of his terrified face.
"Angie, I've been waiting for you," she said, mimicking a child's voice. "I'm a better kid than Rose. Please, be my papa forever… heheheHAHAHA!"
Angie's doll vanished from Ethan's sight. He panicked, realizing his weapons were gone, while Eveline, lounging in a chair, met Angie's gaze as she started to move, flashing a bright smile.
"Veeeee! How was it, Eveline? My performance!?" Angie squealed.
"Perfect! You nailed the horror vibe!" Eveline said. "Ethan not realizing he's caught in an illusion? Never gets old. Oh, Angie…"
"Huh? What's up, Eveline?"
Trotting back to Donna, Angie turned—only to be hoisted by the neck. Eveline, who shouldn't be able to touch anything, gripped her tightly.
"What… You can't touch—! What's your game!?" Angie shrieked.
"Just thinking I'd take the Cadou inside you," Eveline said, her real voice cold.
"Stop! Donna—!"
At the elevator, Eveline clutched Angie's neck, her mouth splitting wide like a yawning demon. Possessing a body of blood, flesh, and mold—crafted in the castle and piloted to the estate—she chomped down on the screaming doll. Chewing noisily, savoring the taste, she spat out the remnants, crushing the lifeless debris underfoot. Ignoring the wreckage, she drifted to Ethan, observing him closely.
"Giggle, you're so cute, Ethan," she said, patting his cheek. "I can finally touch, but you're too trapped in illusions to see me. The elevator works, yet you think the fuse is gone? I want that power."
Her childlike smile belied the devilish glee of devouring a friend and toying with Ethan's torment.
"Wow, Donna's got bad taste," Eveline remarked. "Siccing a Rose-mimicking monster on Ethan? Nice style!"
As Ethan fled the baby monster, Eveline rode the elevator to the first floor, spotting Donna waving her arms, orchestrating the hallucination.
"Hehehe… Get eaten by the baby and die of shock," Donna murmured. "Will Eveline like it?"
"Oh yeah, Ethan running scared is a blast!" Eveline said.
Donna beamed, her words striking true, oblivious to Eveline's new physical form.
"Welcome, Eveline," Donna said. "I'm tormenting your old enemy right now."
"Honestly, this is scarier than the kids' room I worked so hard on three years ago," Eveline replied.
"That's sweet of you," Donna said. "By the way, have you seen Angie? She was supposed to meet me after taunting Ethan."
"I know where Angie is," Eveline said.
"She's safe? Good," Donna sighed.
Waving her arms, Donna focused on the baby illusion, unaware of Eveline behind her, sprouting Dimitrescu's dragon head from her chest, jaws gaping.
"Angie's in my stomach," Eveline said.
"Huh?" Donna turned.
Crunch. Donna's upper body was gone in a single bite. Eveline devoured the lower half, chair and all, spitting out the chair and rubbing her stomach, licking her lips.
"Thanks for the meal. So tasty, Donna… Angie," she said. "Now I'm stronger. Haha, hahaha… alone again."
Even knowing her "family" was just puppets under her control, Eveline couldn't stop. Tears streamed as she laughed, frozen in place, until the baby vanished, the illusion faded, and Ethan returned to the living room. Seeing the laughing girl, he paled, raising his handgun.
"Eveline!?" he shouted. "Why are you here?"
"Hey, Ethan," she chirped. "Relax, the homeowner's dead. Rose's flask is over there—take it."
"You killed them?" Ethan growled. "Why help me, you devil!?"
"Help? Nah," Eveline said. "I'm the one who'll kill you. That's all."
"Didn't think I'd kill you again?" Ethan snapped.
A gunshot rang out, blowing Eveline's head apart. Ethan lowered his gun, exhaling, but froze. Despite missing her head, she stood upright. Black mold gathered at her feet, creaking as a new head formed. Eveline laughed.
"I'm not some flawed body anymore—I've got an immortal one," she said. "Plenty of materials in the castle."
"The castle?" Ethan realized. "You took out Dimitrescu and her daughters too!?"
"No big deal, right? You should thank me," she said.
"Who'd thank you!?" he roared.
A shotgun blast tore holes through her. Eveline regenerated instantly, Ethan's shock palpable. Watching her blown-off right hand reform, she pointed at him with her left.
"I'll kill you, Ethan, but not now. I'm not strong enough yet," she said.
"Like hell!" he shouted.
"I want to make you suffer thoroughly before I kill you," she said. "Not some quick death. Look forward to it—I'll drag you past despair's depths to a hell beyond imagining. Bye, Ethan, I'm busy."
Her body dissolved into blood, flesh, and black mold, flowing out of the Beneviento estate. Ethan moved to chase but stopped, seeing the flask, and cursed instead.
"Damn it! Why… was she crying?" he muttered.
While Ethan battled a Varcolac, a fluid form slipped through the window of Salvatore Moreau's room, where he scribbled in his diary. Forming a girl, it spoke from behind.
"Hey, wanna help with an experiment?"
"Eveline?" Moreau said, not looking up. "I'm busy. Save your silly experiments for—wait, what's with your voice?"
"What's with it?" she asked.
"It's not echoing in my head—it's coming from my ears. How?"
Moreau turned, suspicion clear, to see Eveline with Dimitrescu's dragon jaws sprouting from her chest.
"An experiment to see if your loyalty outweighs my conversion," she said.
"!?"
Chomp. Eveline devoured Moreau in one bite, reverting to her girl form. She reached into her mouth, pulled out his bone-like headpiece, and tossed it aside.
"One left," she said. "Please, Karl, listen to me. I don't want to control you."
Muttering her true feelings, Eveline's fluid form moved to leave—when a voice crackled through.
≪"Eveline, that you?"≫
A chess knight-like emblem flickered on the static-filled TV screen.
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