Void Devouring System

Chapter 4

The first sense was hunger, not pain.

It gnawed at the edges of Kael's consciousness—a deep, ancient emptiness that demanded to be filled. He gasped, his lungs inflating with a rush of cold air that tasted of disinfectant and decay. When his eyes opened, he saw swirling patterns of energy dancing in the darkness above him, rather than the sterile white ceiling of a hospital.

When he tried to sit up, his hand slammed against the metal, and the sheet covering him slid away, revealing naked skin that looked wrong. The bruises from the fall were gone, and the broken bones Darius had shattered were whole again. But beneath his pale skin, faint veins of violet light pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.

"Impossible," a voice whispered from the corner.

Kael gently turned his head to see a man in green scrubs crushed against the far wall, his face drained of blood. He was a mortician, and his hands were shaking so fiercely that he dropped his tablet, shattering on the tile floor.

"The corpse," the mortician stuttered, pointing a quivering finger. "You... You were dead. Massive internal trauma. The spine was severed. You were dead!"

Kael stretched his fingers, feeling strength coil in his muscles like tensioned steel, and clutched the edge of the stainless steel autopsy table, which whined and crumpled like aluminum foil beneath his fingers.

"I was," Kael answered, his voice louder, with a peculiar resonance that seemed to vibrate the air itself. "But death didn't want me."

He swung his legs over the side of the table and stood up, the cold floor feeling distant and muted. He looked around the room, but he didn't just see physical objects anymore; he saw the mortician's fear as a sickly yellow aura radiating from his chest, the latent mana in the air currents, and the life force pulsing in the man's veins, bright and tantalizing.

The hunger intensified.

"Stay back!""the mortician shrieked, scrambling toward the emergency alarm on the wall." Security! I need security at the morgue! The Ashworth body. It's moving!"

Kael observed him with dispassionate fascination; in his previous life, he would have been horrified, asking for help and explaining that it was a mistake, but now he felt like a predator assessing prey.

"Call them," Kael murmured softly. "I'm starving."

The mortician slapped his hand into the red button, and sirens wailed throughout the facility, echoing throughout the tiled room.

Kael stepped to the mirror above the sink; the reflection staring back was him, but sharper; his jawline was more defined, his shoulders larger, and his eyes... his irises were no longer brown, but a swirling abyss of violet and black, with pupils slitted like a reptile's.

"I died as Kael the worthless," he said to his reflection. "I'm reborn as something else entirely."

The huge double doors burst open, and two men in Ashworth private security uniforms surged in, weapons leveled. The first guard was a burly guy Kael recognized: Captain Vance, a C-rank Earth Awakener who had loved knocking Kael around whenever Darius gave the order.

"Why is there such a panic?"Vance barked, scanning the room. His eyes landed on Kael, and his jaw dropped." What the hell? Is the trash walking?"

The second guard, younger and apprehensive, raised his stun baton: "Sir, is that... Is that the youthful Master?"

"Ex-young master," Vance corrected with a sneer, lowering his weapon slightly, confidence returning. "It appears that the fall did not do the job. Darius will be annoyed. This time, we'll have to thoroughly clean up the mess.

Kael gently turned to face them, exposing his nakedness; he felt no shame, only strength. "Captain Vance. You were the one who hauled me offstage yesterday."

Vance laughed, a loud, grating sound. "And I loved every minute of it." You embarrassed your family, youngster. You should have remained dead. "It would have been cleaner for everybody."

"Cleaner," Kael said, savoring the word. "You are correct. "Let's make this clean."

He stepped forward.

"Stay back!""The younger guard roared, lightning sizzling along his baton. "I said stay back!""

He lunged, swinging his weapon at Kael's skull.

Kael did not avoid; he simply grasped the baton in mid-swing. The lightning discharged into his hand, but instead of pain, he felt a pleasurable tingle as his body absorbed the energy.

The guard looked, stunned by shock: "How..."

Kael wrenched his wrist, and the bone snapped with a wet crunch. The guard screamed and collapsed to his knees, grasping his broken arm.

Vance's gaze furrowed. "So you awoke something after all?" A little strength boost? Don't be conceited, child. "You're still garbage in comparison to a true awakener."

Vance stomped his foot, and the concrete floor shook, launching a sharp spike of stone at Kael's chest.

Kael sidestepped with uncanny quickness, the stone brushing his ribs, and the hunger roared inside him, demanding food. The Nexus murmured in his head, a voice like grinding tectonic plates.

Feed.

Kael responded quickly, ramming his hand into Vance's chest before the captain could unleash another punch.

"Waste?"Let me show you what waste can do," Kael muttered, peering into Vance's horrified eyes.

He activated [DEVOUR].

Vance opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Violet tendrils of energy erupted from Kael's palm, burrowing into the guard's chest without breaking skin, latching into the captain's core.

Vance convulsed, his skin turned gray as his life force was forcibly extracted, and Kael felt a rush of power flood his system—heavy, solid, and enduring, with a taste of soil and stone. He could feel the earth beneath the building, the vibrations of footsteps three floors up, and the structural integrity of the walls.

"Please," Vance wheezed, rolling his eyes back, "stop..."

"Did you stop while you were dragging me?"Kael inquired, his voice devoid of mercy. "Did you stop when Darius laughed? No. "You enjoyed it."

Vance wilted, his muscles shrank, his skin sagged as if he had aged fifty years in seconds, and dropped into a heap of dry husk on the floor.

[DEVOUR SUCCESSFUL]

The words flashed in Kael's vision, filled with emptiness light.

Ability: Earth Manipulation (C-Rank)

Host Level: Nascent to Awakened.

Void Corruption: 5%.

When Kael released the corpse, he felt incredible; the frailty that had afflicted him since birth had vanished, replaced with the strong vitality of an Earth Awakener. He flexed his hand, and the stone floor responded, rippling like water to disguise the traces of his aggression.

The younger guard was hunched in the corner, sobbing and clutching his shattered arm, while the mortician had fainted.

Kael stepped over to the guard, who looked up, terrified.

"Please," the guard whined, "I was only following orders. "I've got a family."

Kael peered down at him, his hunger satisfied for the time being, but his fury was just growing.

"Then go home to them," Kael ordered coldly, "and tell Darius what you witnessed. Tell him that his sibling is not dead.

He leaned in, his violet eyes ablaze.

"Tell him I'm coming for everything."

Kael turned and headed toward the exit, snatching a lab coat from a hanger to cover himself. At the door, he paused and looked at the system timer that was floating in his vision.

Time remaining: 6 months and 2 days.

It took six months to save Luna, six months to destroy the Ashworth legacy, and six months for the emptiness to absorb him entirely.

"Plenty of time," Kael said quietly.

He strode out into the corridor, leaving the dead and shattered behind him; the hunt had officially begun.