The crib didn't feel like wood or stone.
It felt like regret that had grown ribs.
Kael's tiny infant body lay on a mattress of compressed ash that still remembered screams. Every breath pulled flecks of grey into his lungs — not choking him, but tasting him, deciding whether he was worth keeping.
Above him, the six-winged woman hovered. Her name hadn't been given yet, but the title burned itself into his newborn mind anyway:
[Ash Matron — Lirien Vael'thar]
True Name: Concealed
Threat Level: ☠️×11 (Current Floor Adjusted)
She wore armor that looked like frozen midnight oil, cracked in places to reveal veins of molten silver. Her wings weren't feathered — they were blades of shadow that folded and unfolded like breathing knives. And her smile…
Her smile said she'd eaten happier things than him for breakfast every day for the last ten thousand years.
"Look at you," she cooed, voice like silk dragged over broken glass. "So small. So fragile. Sovereign Candidate with the compatibility of a glitch. The Throne must be desperate."
Kael couldn't speak. His vocal cords were still forming. But rage didn't need words.
His infant eyes — already too old, too sharp — locked onto hers. Inside his skull, the cold system voice returned, calm as a guillotine:
[Soul Devouring Gluttony (EX) — Passive]
Stage 0: Starvation
Current Devour Capacity: 0.0004 souls / second
Hunger Meter: 99.7% (Critical)
Warning: If Hunger reaches 100%, forced berserk state → instant soul collapse
A timer appeared in the corner of his vision.
[00:04:59 until Critical Hunger]
Four minutes.
He had four minutes before his own soul ate itself out of existence.
Lirien noticed the tiny clench of his fists. She laughed — a sound that made the rib-crib vibrate.
"Already fighting? Adorable. But you're not even weaned yet, little king. And the first meal is already coming."
She gestured lazily.
The grey void beyond the crib rippled.
Then they came.
Ash-eaters.
Not one.
Not ten.
A writhing tide of them.
They looked like starved wolves that had been turned inside out — translucent skin stretched over too many mouths, too many eyes, too many limbs that ended in hooks of blackened bone. Grey tendrils leaked from every orifice, tasting the air for sovereign scent.
The closest one lunged.
Kael's body reacted before his mind could catch up.
His mouth opened — wider than any infant's should — and something primal tore free.
A thread of black hunger lashed out like a whip made of void.
It struck the ash-eater mid-leap.
The creature didn't scream.
It unraveled.
Flesh, bone, hunger, memory — all of it collapsed into fine grey motes that spiraled toward Kael's open mouth.
He swallowed.
And tasted god marrow.
It wasn't flavor.
It was memory.
Flashes:
• A golden-winged seraphim falling forever through collapsing skies
• The last heartbeat of a dying world-tree
• The flavor of betrayal so old it had its own gravity
[Devoured: Lesser Ash-Eater (F-)]
+0.0007 Authority
+Hunger Reduction: -12.4%
+Fragment Memory Acquired: "How to Unmake Bone" (Passive Skill Fragment)
Soul Mass Increased: +0.0004%
The hunger meter dropped.
[Hunger: 87.3%]
But one wasn't enough.
The rest of the pack smelled the death — and went feral.
They swarmed.
Lirien watched, wings half-spread, doing absolutely nothing to help.
"Survive the first wave," she murmured, almost tenderly. "Or become breakfast. Either way, the Throne gets fed."
Kael's infant body couldn't move fast.
Couldn't run.
Couldn't even crawl properly.
But he didn't need to.
Every time an ash-eater got close enough to bite, that black thread lashed again.
And again.
And again.
Each swallow burned.
Each memory fragment felt like swallowing razor-edged history.
By the tenth devour:
[Milestone Reached]
Soul Devouring Gluttony — Stage 1 Unlocked: Ravenous Sip
New Passive: Devour on Contact (0.1m radius)
Authority Rank Increased: 0.0001% → 0.0009%
His skin began to grey at the edges, like frost made of ash.
His eyes glowed faintly red — not dramatic, just enough to make the ash-eaters hesitate for half a heartbeat.
Half a heartbeat was all he needed.
The last ash-eater tried to flee.
Kael's hunger didn't allow escape.
The black thread hooked its spine and yanked.
One final swallow.
Silence.
The crib was empty except for drifting ash and one very small, very exhausted infant.
Hunger Meter: 41.2%
Lirien clapped slowly.
"Thirteen seconds. Impressive for a negative-age newborn." She leaned down until her face was inches from his. "But you only ate the appetizers, little calamity."
She pointed behind him.
The void rippled again — much larger this time.
Something enormous stirred.
A silhouette taller than skyscrapers, composed entirely of compacted corpses fused by ash and regret. Thousands of mouths opened in unison across its body.
[Greater Ash-Womb (Floor Boss — ☠️×7)]
Devour Count Required to Pass: 1
Lirien's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Eat the thing that eats worlds… or it eats you.
Choose wisely, Sovereign."
Kael's tiny chest rose and fell.
He looked up at the towering nightmare.
Then — impossibly — the corners of his infant mouth curled.
Not a smile.
A promise.
Because deep in his stolen memories, he now knew one very important thing:
God marrow tasted like victory.
And he was still hungry.
[First Boss Encounter Initiated]
No checkpoints. No allies. No mercy.
Begin.]