The forest was a graveyard of whispers. Every tree leaned inward as if listening. Every branch sagged under the cold weight of mist and frost. Hina stood at the edge of the glowing clearing, her porcelain skin glimmering faintly beneath the blue haze that drifted through the air.
The Murrglin crouched in the center, its mushroom-covered body twitching. Glowing spores pulsed in and out of its damp skin. It made that sound again, a giggle that wasn't quite human, wasn't quite animal. It echoed between the trees, crawling up the spine like cold fingers.
Hina tilted her head. "So that's what you are," she whispered. "Born from rot and laughter."
The Murrglin's grin widened. Its eyes rolled backward until only white showed. Then it slammed both hands to the ground. Blue spores burst into the air, forming a dense fog that swallowed the clearing.
Hina took a step forward. Her crimson eyes narrowed. The red glow beneath her porcelain skin pulsed brighter. "You want to hide from me?"
She raised one arm. Chains slithered out from her wrist, glowing red as they cracked through the air like whips. They tore through the fog, cutting small vacuums of space that showed nothing but more glowing haze.
A giggle rippled from behind her.
Hina turned sharply. Nothing.
Then another laugh, this time right by her ear.
She spun again, chains flaring, striking through empty air. Her crimson light tore through the spores, but they only swirled and reformed.
"Hallucination spores," she muttered. "petty tricks."
Her eyes glowed brighter, the Aetherium energy flaring. Crimson light erupted from her chest and washed through the clearing like a wave. The red illumination burned through the illusion.
But even as she cleared the air, the Murrglin appeared again but this time there's three of them. All giggling, all twitching, all identical.
Hina's porcelain brow furrowed. "Illusions... or copies?"
She didn't wait to find out.
She lunged forward, faster than any human could see. Her first kick shattered the ground where the left Murrglin stood, sending debris flying. The creature dissolved into spores, an illusion.
The second one pounced from above, claws dripping blue liquid. Hina twisted midair, catching its wrist with one hand and driving her knee into its chest. The impact sent a shockwave through the ground. The creature's body popped like a balloon, exploding into glowing fungus.
The third Murrglin croaked behind her. Its claws slashed across her back, sparks flying against her undying body. Hina turned her head slowly, expression calm but her eyes burning.
"You're not funny," she said.
Chains burst from her shoulders, wrapping around the Murrglin like serpents. The creature screeched and struggled, the blue glow dimming under the crimson coils.
She tightened the chains.
The Murrglin made one last trembling croak before its chest caved in under the pressure. The light inside it dimmed then flared again.
Hina's eyes widened slightly.
The creature's body melted into the ground. In its place, small mushrooms erupted, glowing brighter by the second. Dozens of tiny versions of Murrglin began to crawl out, each one giggling in a different tone high, low, childish, broken.
Hina looked around, surrounded. Her porcelain fingers flexed. "Cute trick."
The forest floor trembled as the swarm leapt.
The first wave struck her legs, biting, clawing, trying to climb. She spun, kicking in a wide arc. Her leg blurred a scarlet flash that sent the small monsters flying like broken dolls. She didn't stop. Her chains lashed out in every direction, cutting through the crowd. Each impact sent glowing spores spraying into the air.
But the air grew thicker, heavier. Every breath tasted like damp rot and sweetness. The laughter, thousands of them now echoed in her skull.
Her hands trembled slightly. Her crimson eyes flickered.
Then her voice came out low, cold, and trembling with irritation. "Let's end carry the voice's.."
She stomped once. The ground cracked.
Chains exploded outward from her entire body, in her wrists, shoulders, knees, and spine each one glowing red-hot. The forest shuddered as the chains slashed and coiled in a deadly storm. The swarm was shredded, bursting into clouds of blue luminescence. The laughter warped, turned into screams, and then silence.
When the haze cleared, the clearing was unrecognizable. The ground was cratered and glowing faintly red from residual energy. Trees were split in half. The glowing mushrooms were crushed into faintly smoking puddles.
Hina stood at the center, breathing slowly, her porcelain skin cracked in several places. The cracks glowed red, then quickly sealed. Her crimson eyes scanned the destruction.
Then she felt it, one presence remained.
She turned her head. The real Murrglin crawled from a mound of dirt at the far edge of the clearing. Half its body was gone, its movements sluggish, its grin fading. It croaked, weakly.
Hina walked toward it. Step by step, the chains dragging faintly behind her.
The creature tried to move, to run. But the blue light in its body flickered. Its spores were spent.
She crouched in front of it, staring into its milky eyes. "When I was... alive, I was always curious about you supernaturals but never gained the chance to be a transcender. Well now... it's so fucking funny how I became a supernatural myself and gain consciousness thanks to him."
The creature only made a wet, rattling sound.
Hina's expression didn't change.
She placed her porcelain palm over its chest. Crimson light seeped from her hand, mixing with the faint blue glow inside the Murrglin. For a moment, it looked almost peaceful. Then the creature dissolved into dust.
The dust didn't scatter, it moved, twisting like a current, and flowed into her palm.
Her crimson veins pulsed violently as the dust merged with her core. The glow beneath her porcelain skin flickered between red and blue before settling back to crimson.
Then, a faint chime echoed in her head.
A holographic interface appeared before her eyes, translucent and faintly flickering.
> [System Notification]
Entity Absorbed: Murrglin, Sporeshade Trickster
Choose action:
• Absorb Essence
• Store for Later
Hina blinked. The words hung in the air, almost shimmering. She tilted her head slightly.
Her lips curved slightly in a small, wistful smile.
"Nash said I'll have to keep it," she whispered, her tone gentle but distant. "So I guess… keep."
The UI flickered, then faded away.
> [Stored supernatural: 1]
Silence reclaimed the clearing. Only the faint hum of power lingered around her.
Hina stood slowly, tilting her face toward the moonlight breaking through the trees. Her long black hair, streaked with crimson, shimmered faintly like molten silk.
For a while, she said nothing. The forest was quiet now. No laughter. No sound.
Then she turned her gaze toward the distant glow on the horizon, the city. The faint hum of neon lights could be seen even from here, glimmering faintly through the fog.
Her porcelain lips parted into a smile, not one of warmth, but of something darker.
Her voice came low, trembling with both excitement and wrath. "Those fucking bitches will definitely pay…"
The wind picked up, scattering the glowing dust across the ground. The crimson chains rattled faintly, echoing her fury.
"…along with their gang."
The red glow in her eyes burned brighter.