CHAPTER 5: Beneath Hollow Eyes

By morning, the sky brightened as the shirtless guard, his brown hair lay disheveled. At a glance, he looked like nothing more than an ordinary drunkard discarded among the garbage. He was slowly stirred awake as his blurry vision clearer, revealing the amused faces of his fellow guards laughing at him. He bolted upright, realizing his state and the bottle clutched in his hand.

"Bro... didn't expect you to drink so hard last night. Did you have fun with the girls?" one guard teased.

"Huh?! No, I didn’t do anything! I was on duty!" the stripped guard protested, his face burning with frustration.

"Then what’s that bottle in your hand?" another guard asked, smirking.

Murasaki, Yami, and the other girls chuckled teasingly at him as they passed by, continuing with their daily duties.

The guard stared at the bottle in confusion. "Wait... I didn’t drink last night! I was—"

A shadow fell over him, silencing his protests. Ryven, the Warden's assistant, loomed before him, his gaze cold and unwavering. One of the other guards whispered, "You're in deep trouble, buddy," before they bowed respectfully and backed away.

"W-wait... I can explain!" the guard stammered.

The Warden approached silently, his posture commanding as his dark eyes pinned the guard in place. Ryven crossed his arms, his expression stern.

"So, you’re saying you drank so much that you forgot what happened last night?" Ryven asked.

"No! I told you—I wasn’t drunk! I don’t drink when I’m on night duty!"

Ryven sighed. "Enough. I’m assigning you heavier tasks from now on. Maybe that’ll help you remember your responsibilities."

"W-wait—"

The Warden raised a hand, silencing the guard. "We’ll need another guard to monitor them more closely," he said, his gaze drifting toward the fields where the girls worked.

Ryven looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean, Commander?"

The Warden's eyes narrowed as he focused on Etsuko and Maika. Etsuko laughed beside Himeji, her golden hair catching the sunlight.

"The pink-haired girl can almost fully use her Elyssence now," he mused. "We may need to adjust her collar's limitations... Meanwhile that golden-haired girl..."

The guard and Ryven exchanged glances.

"Um, Commander, I remember the pink-haired girl is named Maika, and the elf one is Etsuko."

"Oh..." the Warden paused.

"I have a hard time remembering everyone's names."

The guard chuckled, "Don't tell me you forgot your assistant's name! Haha—"

Suddenly, Ryven slapped the back of the guard's head, making him straighten attentively.

"We will make sure to keep an eye on Etsuko as well," Ryven said with a bow, while grabbing the guard's head to bow down as well."

Down in the fields, Himeji knelt beside a patch of soil, her hands trembling as she tried to summon her Elyssence.

"Steady... you can do this," Maika encouraged.

"It takes time! You’ve got this!" Etsuko added, pumping her fists against her chest.

A tiny green sprout broke through the soil.

"I did it!" Himeji gasped, her eyes wide with joy.

Maika and Etsuko clapped their hands. "Yay!"

Other girls began to gather around, drawn by the success.

"C-can you teach us, too?" one girl asked hesitantly.

"Me too, please, Maika-sensei!" another added.

"W-wait... sensei?" Maika stammered.

"Yes, you’re our teacher now! Maika-sensei!" Etsuko teased with a grin.

"N-no, I’m not—"

"Maika-sensei, please help us!" the girls chorused eagerly.

Maika sighed, her smile wry. "Alright"

She said, noticing Murasaki watching from afar, though she did not approach or join in.

"Pay attention okay?,"
Some of the girls crouched while others knelt, all trying to follow the demonstration as Maika patiently guided them through each step.

"Focus your Elyssence, channel it into your hands, and feel the energy connect with the soil," she said, her voice calm and encouraging as she explained each phase. One girl frowned at her unresponsive seed.

"I tried that, it’s still not growing..."

"Let me see," Maika said, crouching beside her. "Hm... that's weird. I couldn't see any problem with your seed... Maybe something else is affecting it."

"This is how it's supposed to be," Murasaki interjected, startling Maika with her sudden presence. "You need to focus your Elyssence a little deeper into the soil—just beneath the seed. Imagine wrapping it in warmth, like gently waking it from sleep. That should help it grow."

The seedling sprang to life in the soil beneath the girl's hands, its tiny green leaves pushing through the earth. She gasped, "I did it!"

"How did you do that?" Maika asked, with surprised.

Murasaki stood up, rested her hand on her hip as she rolled her eyes. "I’m a skilled Elyssence user. Don’t act like you’re better than me."

Instead of replying, Maika simply smiled, watching Murasaki walked away, flustered, as she guided another girl with surprising patience. "Here. Watch closely," she said, demonstrating with care.

"She finds you an interesting rival," Yami whispered beside Maika. "Don’t take it personally~"

Maika watched Murasaki work, her smile softening.

After a while, the girls managed to grow some plants more efficiently. Suddenly, a guard stormed in, his heavy boots crushing one of the plants they had painstakingly nurtured.

'What brings him here?'

The girls froze in place, some anticipating the worst. The guard’s gaze swept across the room before locking onto Maika.

“You’re not making a mess, are you?” he snarled, striding forward and seizing the collar around Maika’s neck. She gasped as his grip tightened.

“We’ve placed a spell on you. Your Elyssence has been adjusted to its limit,” he sneered before shoving her harshly to the ground. Maika hit the cold ground with a thud, her breath catching as she clutched her collar. Did they find out…? Her fingers trembled against the metal ring encasing her neck.

The guard's attention shifted abruptly.

“You.” His finger jabbed toward Etsuko.

Etsuko stood still, fear flickering in her eyes, but she clenched her fists to stop herself from trembling.

“You have a task apart from this,” the guard barked. “Go feed The Greeds. RIGHT NOW.”

Feeding The Greeds—a task no one dared to face. One wrong move meant becoming the creature’s next meal.

Maika intervened, "But I thought our tasks were only tending the plants? We made no deal about separating tasks—"

The guard looked angered. "Enough talking, outsider..! This is an order from the Warden. You've got no place to speak."

Maika, suddenly went speechless, catching her breath.

The Warden…? What is he planning to do…?

She could feel the air tighten with dread.

“No… Etsuko…” Himeji whispered, clutching Etsuko's sleeve.

“Okay,” Etsuko replied, her voice trembling but resolute. She gently freed her arm from Himeji’s grasp and followed the guard without hesitation.

“Etsuko…” Maika called out, but the girl had already vanished beyond the heavy door.

Murmurs filled the room, and tension weighed like a suffocating fog. Sae, Yuzuki’s closest friend, began to shake, her breaths shallow as cold memories clawed their way to the surface.

“I… I saw it… I was sneaking in… I wanted to see Yuzuki-chan one last time…” Sae stammered, hands clutched tightly near her mouth. Her eyes widened as the memory gripped her mind with unrelenting terror.

Through the iron-barred window of the isolated chamber, she had witnessed Yuzuki’s final moments—the Greed Creature emerging from the shadows, wrapped in a swirling fog of darkness. Its hollow, gleaming eyes glowed ominously, freezing hearts with a single gaze. Its twisted, towering form loomed like a nightmare, with jagged claws scraping the ground. The creature's roar was a screeching wail that echoed through the air, with shadows writhing around its body.

“No… No…” Sae whispered through ragged breaths. She saw Yuzuki's dead body devoured by the Greed Creature. The sickening crunch of bone echoed in the air. Blood splattered against the walls—and onto her face as she peeked through the window, trembling with fear. Staining the cold stone floor as flesh was torn apart. Even the guard who had thrown Yuzuki inside hadn’t escaped—the beast’s tendrils lashed out, dragging him into its abyssal jaws as his spear clattered uselessly to the ground.

Hearing it made Maika stagger back, her hand clamping over her mouth as chills raced down her spine.

“E-Etsuko…” she whispered, dread pooling in her chest.

“She’ll be fine.” Murasaki’s voice cut through the whispers.

“Wh-what do you mean..?” Maika turned to her, eyes wide with disbelief.

“Because her family has ties with The Greeds,” Murasaki replied, her gaze steady.

“…You mean…?”

Etsuko approached the confinement chamber—a heavy iron door marked with deep, carved runes. Faint shadows shifted behind the barred window. The air smelled of rot and something wild.

Murasaki’s voice lowered, her words carrying the weight of forbidden knowledge. “Etsuko’s possessed ancient magic that could suppress the creatures' hunger—offering them sacrifices of beasts and sometimes… humans. ”

Etsuko's hands trembled as she carried the carcass of a beast hunted days ago, its blood thick and bones slick with decay. The smell clung to her skin, nauseating and suffocating.

"Move!" The guard barked, jabbing the blunt end of his spear into her back, shoving her forward. "Quit wasting our time, you worthless creature!"

Her breath hitched as she reached for the iron handle. With a heavy grind of metal, the door swung open, revealing a dim chamber with damp stone walls. Cold, heavy air seeped through the space, draining the warmth from her bones.

At the center crouched the small beast—an ever-shifting mass of shadows, flickering between solid limbs and twisting mist. Hollow eyes, cold and unblinking, fixed on her with a hunger that chilled her bones. Beneath it, a sapphire heart embedded in the floor pulsed faintly, its fading light the only barrier holding the creature back. Yet, the weak flicker hinted that the beast's strength was close to breaking free.

She took a cautious step forward, clutching the bundle of flesh tightly in both hands. Sweat slicked her palms as she approached the beast, its ragged breaths rasping like whispers from unseen mouths. The air burned her throat with the stench of rot, making her eyes sting.

As she extended the offering, the creature lunged the flesh.

"Ahh—!" Etsuko gasped, stumbled and sprinting back as the shadowy limbs chased after her. Her breath hitched as she stumbled near the far wall, heart pounding in her chest.

'I'm gonna die'

Her breath hitched. To her notice, the limbs struck the air just inches from her face. It was thick with tension, as the sapphire heart’s glow flickered, dangerously low.

The Greed Creature's hollow eyes burned with hunger—cold, piercing, and unrelenting. Its shape twisted between half-solid limbs and writhing tendrils of darkness. When it screeched, the sound cut through the air, sharp enough to send chills down her spine.

Etsuko scrambled backward, slipping against the slick floor as panic clawed at her chest. Shadows poured from the creature’s form like ink dissolving in water. Its size doubled within seconds, the air growing thick and suffocating with its presence.

It was growing bigger than her size—!

Her back hit the wall. Breathless and trembling, she could only watch as the beast's jaws snapping.

“Get up!” The guard barked from the iron door, but Etsuko could only clutch her arms tightly around herself, shaking uncontrollably.

The creature’s screech reverberated in her chest, stealing the air from her lungs as its eyes bore into her—eyes that promised only one thing:

'Devour all, except those of your blood.'

Suddenly, the guard was dragged into the shadows and devoured before her eyes, his screams cut short as blood splattered across her. Etsuko trembled, frozen in place, her mind overwhelmed with shock and terror as the beast feasted upon its new prey.

The beast would never harm her—its kind recognized the energy within her bloodline. Yet, that bond brought no comfort. Their hollow eyes and twisted forms still filled her with fear, a reminder of the power her family had once touched.