Eden stands alone in the rubble of a ruined estate, a forgotten monument to a family that no longer exists. His blond hair stirs in the wind, and his blue eyes carry the same emptiness as the dark ocean he remembers from childhood. Fragments of the past return to him: a terrified boy hiding in a closet, peering through the slits in the door while his relatives tore into one another like wild beasts.
The memory fades.
Before him, crimson markings lie embedded in the soil, glowing faintly against the dried gravel.
"Will this ever end?" Eden whispers. "The suffering, the torment, all of it just for the amusement of monsters."
He approaches the ruined noble house. A heavy, putrid smell of rot fills the air. Eden kneels beside a corpse, noticing the dull gray tinge of the skin.
"Dead a few days at least," he mutters. "The rot makes that clear."
Armored guards lie scattered around the property, deep claw marks ripped through their chest plates. Whatever killed them had been precise. Deliberate.
"This wasn't random," Eden says quietly, rising to his feet. "Too neat for monsters. Someone planned this."
Inside the house, half-eaten limbs are strewn across the floor, some hanging grotesquely from the staircase. The lights flicker in an endless, unsteady rhythm. From above comes a steady sound of crunching.
Eden unsheathes his sword.
"It's coming from upstairs," he breathes. "The thing is still here."
A shape shifts in the darkness beyond the stairs. The violent flickering hides its true form, leaving only two crimson dots burning through the gloom. The shadow stretches taller than any man, limbs bending at impossible angles as it slides downward, claws scraping softly against the wooden steps.
The creature suddenly rushes him.
It slams Eden through an already-weakened wall. Dust and shattered wood explode outward as he crashes to the ground outside.Eden's vision fractures as his body skids across the rubble. Air is ripped from his lungs, leaving him gasping soundlessly while the world rings in his ears. He tries to rise, but his arms refuse to answer, trembling under his weight. Fine debris coats his tongue, bitter and dry, and every breath sends a sharp ache through his ribs.
Something warm trickles down his temple. Blood.
The realization comes slowly, dulled by the impact.
Move, he commands himself. If you stay down, you die.
His fingers curl around his sword's hilt, knuckles whitening as he forces his body to respond. The pain does not fade. It compounds, stacking deeper with every attempt to stand, as if his own body is warning him how close he already is to the edge. The monster steps through the opening and stands over him, the air warping with every movement it makes.
"A little trespasser walked into my meal," it growls.
Eden forces himself upright, blade raised.
"You've got it wrong," Eden replies coldly. "You're the intruder here. Undesirable filth."
Jagged yellow teeth shine as the creature grins.
"Bold for a human," Desire sneers. "I can see that little flame in you. You really think you're different?"
Eden lunges, aiming for its neck. At the last instant his strike slows, and the blade swings harmlessly past the creature. He stumbles and hits the hard wooden floor.
"You slowed down back there," Desire mocks. "Why? Finally afraid?"
Eden clenches his jaw.
"No," Eden whispers. "Something stopped me."
Before he can react further, Desire strikes from behind. Four crushing blows land across Eden's back and shoulders.
"Eyes on me, boy," the creature laughs. "Daydreaming gets people killed."
Eden scrambles toward the nearest room where a steady light glows through the doorway. He bursts inside and finds himself in what once was an elegant ballroom. The polished wooden floor is cracked and dusty, but the chandeliers still burn.
Eden plants himself in the center of the room, sword lifted between him and the advancing monster.
"I am ending you right here," Eden says.
"Pity," Desire replies. "I expected more fun before I finished you."
The creature lunges again with lightning speed. Eden meets the attack with his sword, the clash ringing like thunder through the hall. Pain flashes inside his mind—not physical, but psychic backlash that reveals the monster's cruel intention.
Eden refuses to hesitate.
He counters, slicing deep across the creature's chest. Dark blood spills onto the floor. Every other wound Eden had inflicted begins to seal and heal before his eyes. Yet the cut near its heart remains open and bleeding.
Desire recoils, claws scraping across the boards as it shields its chest.
"There," Eden whispers.
That's the rule. The heart is the core. Destroy it, and the desire dies.
The creature hardens its body with jagged scales and charges once more, striking Eden square in the chest. He skids backward across the floorboards, dizziness clawing at his skull. Blow after blow follows. The hall distorts under the violence, wood splintering in all directions.
Through the chaos Eden understands at last.
"This is the desire of power," he breathes, feeling the heavy psychic weight behind every strike.
A final opening appears. Eden slashes upward, cutting across both of the creature's eyes. The monster staggers blindly, roaring in fury.
Eden raises his blade and aims straight for its heart.
He thrusts.
Steel sinks deep into the creature's chest, pinning it in place.The moment the blade pierces its heart, Eden's mind is flooded.
Not with memories, but with hunger. Endless craving. The Desire's will crashes into him, pressing down like a crushing tide, trying to force his hands to loosen, his resolve to fracture. His vision blurs as a voice claws at his thoughts, whispering promises of strength, of domination, of never being powerless again.
His knees threaten to buckle.
This is what it is, Eden realizes through clenched teeth. Power without restraint.
He roars and leans into the sword, muscles screaming as he pushes past the mental assault. Blood pours over his hands, slick and hot, but he does not let go. He cannot. A storm of mental agony explodes through Eden's consciousness, but he grips the hilt tighter and drives the sword even further.
"Pity," Eden snarls. "Your game ends here."
"YOU STUBBORN LITTLE INSECT!" Desire roars. "You don't get to beat me!"
Eden's arms tremble. Blood runs down his face, and pain burns through both chest and mind.
"Just die!" Eden yells.
With one final, ear-splitting shriek, the creature collapses onto the shattered ballroom floor. Eden falls to his knees beside it, exhaustion dragging him down into darkness.The creature's body finally goes slack, its weight sagging against the blade. Eden stumbles backward, barely catching himself before collapsing. His heart pounds erratically, each beat weaker than the last. His limbs feel distant, as though they no longer belong to him.
I pushed too far, he thinks dimly.
The chandeliers above blur into streaks of gold as his vision tunnels. He tries to steady his breathing, but even that feels like too much effort. The world tilts, sound fading into a dull echo, and the last thing Eden feels is the cold floor against his palms.
When he wakes, the hall is silent.
Shattered boards beneath him catch the soft glow of the chandeliers. A familiar face stands over him, smiling calmly amid the wreckage.
"Looks like I arrived a bit late, old friend," the figure chuckles.