Dread.

Was all Nox could feel as he faced the creature before him. His previous anger was nowhere to be found, replaced completely by fear.

He knew that she was only toying with him, and yet, his entire right arm was gone and now in her hand.

"I wonder if just a part of you can also grant me that power," she muttered to herself before adding with a smile, "let's find out shall we."

With her words, she tossed his entire arm into her mouth and Nox, laying on the forest floor completely broken, watched the creature swallow it whole.

For a few seconds nothing seemed to happen but she soon started trembling, almost convulsing as she clutched her stomach with all four arms.

The creature.. previously Lorenne, took a prostrating position and Nox, even though felt pain with every movement he made, saw this as an opportunity.

He pushed himself up with his remaining arm and dragged his body towards morphos which lay a small distance away.

His SE was working overtime to make sure he stayed alive even after losing that much blood, but even he knew that he was only a push away from passing out.

Breathing heavily, Nox let both adrenaline and his SE fill him before teleporting towards the prostrating Eclipsed.

He reappeared, standing just above her, and without hesitation lifted his katana for an attack, but before it could connect, a sudden shockwave sent him flying backwards.

The wind was knocked out of his lungs and he vomited a mouthful of blood when his back crashed into a tree.

The creature suddenly started laughing, one that started low at first before it became a full blown maniacal laughter.

Slowly, she stood up, still laughing as she looked up in the dark skies, "so this is how the feels devouring one of them."

"If just a single arm was able to fill me up with this much of your energy," she said 'looking' at him, thought she had no eyes, "I wonder how much breakthrough I can undergo from eating you whole."

She meant that literally.

"The Master was right," she continued, "I can gain their power if I eat you whole."

Nox, on the other hand, heard nothing of what she said, all he could hear was ringing in his ears.

He knew he would pass out if he didn't maintain his focus, which was getting harder to do by the second.

"As thanks, I'll make your death quick," She said and dashed forward.

Before Nox had the chance to fully register her words, she was already upon him and the next thing he felt was her claws going through his chest and then his heart.

Slowly, he looked down at the claw digging deep into his chest before looking back up at the creature.

"Don't look at me like that," she said, "the master couldn't allow you to fully awaken, after all, that'll just be a headache."

With that, she ripped her hand out of his chest and Nox fell forward, reaching the forest floor with a thud.

The light in his golden eyes slowly faded and they soon went completely blank.

And just like that, three of the four students who entered the rift lay dead on the forest floor and the fourth stood above them with a smile on her face.

"Meal time."

***

Cold.

That was the first sensation Nox felt when his consciousness returned. He felt his body moving.

No, rather than just normally moving, it felt like he was running.

He opened his eyes to a very familiar scene, meadows, he turned back to see a man mock running towards him and with a childish chuckle he continued upwards faster.

Nox was the first to reach the meadow filled hill before he stopped, letting the two catch up.

"Is this death?" He said, or at least tried to only to realize that he had no control this body.

He watched a repeat of his dream happen, but this time, just before disappearing, they muttered something which he didn't quite catch...

"....heart."

Before he had the chance to figure out what that meant, the sky soon cracked open and from it, rained an endless amount of Eclipsed.

The ground opened and he fell inside again.

But this time, he didn't wake up.... After falling for what seemed like forever, the darkness suddenly started shifting and Nox went from feeling extremely cold to unimaginably hot.

Thud!

He soon slammed into what felt like burning stone, but it didn't actually burn him, just that he was feeling uncomfortably hot.

Nox stood up, realizing that his body was finally in his control again. Looking around, he noticed the source of the uncomfortable heat he felt… flames.

They rose around him in a wide circle, not in a wild or consuming way, but unnaturally still, like frozen fire.

His attention snapped away from the flames when a sound finally registered.

Clang! Clang!

It sounded like someone was hitting metal and he soon turned to it only for his eyes to widen.

Standing before him was a being so high that Nox felt like he was looking up at a mountain from the bottom.

And it wasn't just because he was short...

The being was in the shape of a man and from the movement of his muscles and the rhythm of the clanging, Nox could tell he was the one responsible for the sound.

Though, he still couldn't tell what the being was doing.

And with that thought he suddenly started floating towards the being.

It felt like he was being pulled upwards but he didn't fight it, well not that he could.

The closer he drew, the more intense the heat got and the louder the sound got. Soon enough, he was able to make out what the being was doing.

Like a blacksmith, he swung his hammer at an anvil, and Nox finally saw what was on the anvil.

A heart.

It wasn't one made of flesh, well...not entirely anyway.

It seemed metallic, with some golden lines on it and with each strike, it seemed to beat a little.

«καρδίαν 3ντίθημι τ* ¢ψύχ& α@τομάτ.»

The being spoke and without realizing, Nox's eyes, nose and ears started bleeding.

"Huh?" Was the last thing he managed to let out before everything faded to black and he fell.... again.

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