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Avarice sat on his throne, lost in his thoughts, after learning about being a klevonian. He'd been keeping an eye on the human for the past few days as she gathered her allies and shared with them the knowledge of her being the only descendant of his creator and the only one to awaken Viraa's powerful cintracy. This was an unforeseen yet pleasant new detail about the human.
"So you were right about her being able to see the future somehow," Verin admitted, her voice breaking him out of his thoughts, returning him to reality.
"Hm...yes, I suspected it due to how she dodged Junichiro and Wren's attacks," he responded dismissively, his thoughts now fixated on a new precious collectible.
"You want her even more now, don't you," Verin stated, reading the fascinated expression on his face. "I must agree: that ability would be invaluable for us. And should she learn how to use it, it could threaten our goals."
"So we'll take her," Avarice said imposingly, his conviction clear and unmistakable. He'd just discovered the rarest thing on the planet and would ensure it ended up in his possession.
"The Holders will be ready to be deployed tomorrow, and Junichiro and the others will be on standby in case the Primordials interfere–"
"They will," Avarice interjected. "I haven't decided whether it's worth keeping them alive or capturing them yet, but we can be certain that they will intervene. Ensure that Junichiro keeps an eye on the human once everything begins. There's something I must find, then I'll collect my prize from him personally."
"You're going on the battlefield?" Verin asked, surprised.
Avarice smirked devilishly.
"What better way to douse the rebellious spirits of the weak than to show them the presence of God."
****
Claeg sat quietly on top of the lab as he tracked the human and Primordials' movements through their c-chips. He had been listening earlier to Avarice and Verin's plot to take down the humans and Primordials. He decided that was his chance to help – to make up for nearly killing the fox before getting permission. If he could capture the human and bring her to Avarice...
But Claeg wasn't dumb enough to believe he could face each Primordial there alone and win, so he adopted a more stealthy approach even though it went against his nature. As he sat there waiting for the perfect moment, his body gradually became unbearably hungry and itched for some action. Even his mental focus had started slipping.
Already, the desire for blood and battle was getting so strong he was starting to forget why he was searching for the human in the first place.
His hunger pangs were surfacing again. When he was human, it always occurred when he came across a new beast to hunt and wouldn't fade until he'd pursued it. But this was the first time it happened since wakening – it felt different. More intense. Consuming. An image of Naomi flashed in his head.
Stay focused, he told himself.
When the dots on the screen he tracked them with showed that only the robot and Alissia were in the direct vicinity of each other, he took that as his window of opportunity, leaped off the rooftop, and sprinted toward there with a big, razor-sharp grin on his face.
Without realizing what was happening, Claeg's mind became clouded in his hunger. It had shifted into hunting mode, causing him to forget why he sought out the human entirely. His mind rationalized it by convincing himself to use her as bait to lure out the sustenance he was craving: Tymon.
As he ran, he remembered the scent of Naomi's blood as it splattered onto the ground that night and salivated, imagining how much more enticing Tymon's would taste – one of the most glorious hunts he'd likely ever experience...
When he approached Alissia and Trik outside in a forest, walking together, he didn't stop. In his slowed perception, he saw them moving with alert expressions on their faces as if they had detected him approaching.
Claeg quickly gathered Alissia, wrote a sloppy message into the dirt, and rushed to an abandoned area he'd found in a small city half a state away.
When they arrived at the top of a tall building that was being rebuilt, he set the human down roughly as she squirmed for him to let her go.
Alissia winced at the pain of being dropped as she got to her feet, keeping her view locked onto Claeg.
"Why'd you take me," she asked in rapid breath as she slowly stepped away from him, her body covered with spirit enhancement. "Are you planning to eat me?"
Claeg stared at her face silently as he contemplated the idea, but though his hunger was steadily increasing, he didn't find her appetizing. His stomach was aching for a higher class of cuisine.
"To draw out Tymon. From what I hear, he's often with you, so I left a note for him to come here within an hour."
"You're going to be disappointed. Tymon's not with us right now, so there's no way he'll find the note," Alissia informed him as she continued to move away.
Claeg suddenly appeared behind her, locking her in an inescapable grip as his shimmering, white-filled eyes peered down at her.
"For your sake, I hope you're wrong."
Claeg stood there holding Alissia by the arm for the next hour as he imagined fighting Tymon. His mouth continued to salivate at the thought of taking a bite out of his arm or leg during the battle – the blood dripping down his throat as his powerful jaws chewed through invulnerable meat. Meat infused with the flavor of darkness. He wondered what that flavor would taste like... Multiple times, he thought about how giving it an hour might've been too long, but he stuck through it, confident that he'd get his prize. However, to his great disappointment, Tymon never showed.
Claeg became furious that Tymon didn't take the bait and began to drag Alissia to the edge of the building.
"Fine, since he doesn't care enough to show himself, then he can find your dead body buried beneath concrete," he growled as he held Alissia over the edge of the building, the ground fifty stories below.
"You're insane! I told you he's not with us!" Alissia cried out as she tried to get a good grip on Claeg's arm, but it was too large for her hands to close around.
Claeg grabbed Alissia's spatial bag from her waist to ensure she couldn't use the flying board he'd heard about.
"And I told you that, for your sake, you'd better be wrong," he retorted as he let go.
Claeg watched with cruel satisfaction as Alissia plummeted toward her death, her face twisted in fear as he contemplated jumping down and landing on top of her with enough impact to shatter the concrete, but before he could, a loud crackle of thunder coming from somewhere to his right made him look out in the distance.
He looked up at the afternoon sky, which had no dark clouds in sight and smiled maniacally.
"This'll do," he said as his body tensed in anticipation.
------
Fun fact: Claeg's mythical creature is that of a wendigo which, fittingly, lets him excel at his sanguineous and cannibalistic activities.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLsu8Fy4PY
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