CHAPTER 13: Devouring Fate

A slow, deliberate clap echoed through the broken chamber, shattering the heavy silence.

“Congratulations.”

The Warden stepped forward, his expression cold and distant, yet his eyes gleamed with twisted desire. His gaze locked onto Maika as if she were a prize finally within his grasp.

“You’ve eaten her.”

Renwick’s fists clenched at his sides as anger surged through him. “What the hell do you mean eaten?! What have you done?!”

The Warden's eyebrows lifted, though his gaze remained dark and cold. "I've done nothing but help you reach your potential. I added a special compound to the food you ate, Maika—one derived from the Sapphire Heart. Its effect was simple: it awakened your hunger for the Greeds' energy. Once you consumed that power, it began fusing with your body... piece by piece."

Maika’s breath hitched, her eyes widening as the truth sank in.

“What…?”

Renwick staggered forward, fury tightening his throat. “THIS WAS NEVER PART OF OUR OBJECTIVES!”

The Warden lifted his chin, eyes cold. “It is part of our crop research. Without the Greed’s flesh, we couldn’t strengthen our crops—for both military defense and feeding Thavalrians.”

"Sorry, military defense, huh?!" Renwick shot back, his voice shaking with anger. "I doubt you care about feeding the Thalvarians—you just want all the benefits for yourself! Selfish and obsessed with power, never caring about anyone else!"

His shout echoed through the chamber. Pain shot through his injured leg, making him stumble, but Maika caught him before he could fall. Her remaining hand gripped his shoulder, steadying him as he gasped for breath.

The Warden’s gaze hardened. “What do you know about living under Thavalris’s rule? I only want control over my own fate.”

His glare shifted to Maika. Her eyes darkened, a spark of defiance breaking through the haze of pain.

“With The Sapphire Heart, it acts as a conduit to bind Greeds’ energy. By consuming them, your body starts adapting to their essence. Eventually, you would have become a perfect hybrid—neither mortal nor Greed, but something far more powerful. But E-01… was different, she was already a human and monster.”

“Etsuko…” Maika whispered as realization struck her.

The Warden's smile twisted cruelly. "Ah, yes. She was quite the fascinating experiment—an attempt to create a controllable hybrid power. But she was flawed. The energy from her Greed core overwhelmed her human side, leaving her unstable. The Sapphire Heart within her was never strong enough to maintain the balance. And when she consumed too much... she broke."

His boots echoed against the stone as he approached, cold eyes widening with obsession as Maika’s dark aura reflected in his gaze.

“But you… you’re different. You’re immortal. You won’t break like Etsuko did. Once the transformation is complete…”

Maika’s eyes flared with defiance as she clenched her fists, her breath ragged.

“I will take it all for myself…! I will—”

The words died in the Warden’s throat.

Blood splattered across the ground as the Warden staggered back, gasping in shock. His eyes dropped to the spear of blue energy piercing through his chest—the manifestation of Maika’s dark Lance. Blood bubbled from his lips as he coughed violently, but his face showed neither fear nor pain. Only cold defiance.

His knees buckled as he collapsed to the ground, struggling to breathe. His eyes darted upward, locking onto Maika’s gaze.

Her green eyes burned with fury, yet beneath the anger was something far darker. The Warden’s pulse pounded in his ears, but his limbs refused to move as if her gaze had immobilized him.

Renwick staggered back in shock, unable to tear his gaze away from the scene. “M-Maika…?”

Beyond the glass, Ryven’s voice cut through the air. “Do something!”

“We can’t!” a researcher shouted, panic rising in his voice. “Her energy levels are off the charts—if we interfere now, we’ll be killed!”

Ryven’s eyes widened in shock. “Is this… what you meant by the records…?”

The sound of bones cracking echoed as Maika raised her hand, fingers curling as if holding an invisible thread. The Warden’s body lifted into the air as if pulled by invisible chains. His limbs twisted at unnatural angles as blood seeped from his wounds, staining the stone beneath him.

Yet his face showed no fear—only cold resolve as his eyes glared down at her. Even as his body convulsed, his gaze never wavered.

“Watch out!!” Ryven shouted, warning the others.

The Warden’s body slammed into the wall with bone-crushing force. The impact sent him crashing through the glass of the observation window, shards scattering across the stone floor. Blood from the researchers and others in the room splattered against the walls as they were crushed by the collapsing stone.

She dragged him upward again, letting him hover in the air for a moment before slamming him down once more. The sound of bones shattering echoed through the chamber as his body convulsed violently. She did it again. And again. Each impact left the air thick with the sickening sound of flesh and bone breaking apart.

Shiba, crouched behind a fallen pillar, flinched as droplets of blood splattered across her face. Her eyes widened as she stared at the Warden’s broken form, her breath caught in her throat.

Ryven was frozen in place, unable to move. For the first time, he had witnessed the impossible—the Warden, the man who ruled this place with an iron fist, reduced to nothing but shattered flesh beneath Maika’s power.

The Warden’s dark chains shot from the ground in a desperate attempt to strike her—

But Maika’s eyes flared green. With a single glance, the chains shattered into fragments of black metal, falling uselessly to the ground.

Blood continued to seep from his wounds as his breath grew shallow. Yet even now, his eyes burned with cold defiance.

Maika’s hand clenched tighter, crushing the air from his lungs. His bones shifted beneath his skin with a sickening crack, but not a sound escaped his lips.

“Maika—!!” Renwick shouted. His voice cracked with fear as he staggered forward.

Her gaze snapped toward him, and for a moment, the air seemed to freeze. Renwick’s pulse pounded in his ears as her emerald eyes pierced through him, holding him in place as easily as she had the Warden.

“…That’s enough,” Renwick said, his voice shaky but firm.

Her chest heaved as her breath came in ragged gasps. The heat of her power still pulsed through her veins, but as her eyes searched his, something shifted. The green glow flickered. Her fingers trembled.

And then—she let go.

The Warden’s broken body dropped to the floor with a sickening thud. Blood pooled beneath him as his eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, unseeing and lifeless.

Silence fell over the chamber.

Renwick stepped forward cautiously, placing a hand on Maika’s shoulder. “…We should go.”

Maika blinked as if waking from a trance. Her gaze fell to her bloodied hands, trembling slightly as the adrenaline began to fade. Without a word, she helped Renwick steady himself, supporting his weight with her remaining arm. Together, they turned toward the corridor leading out of the chamber.

“…Burn this place down,” she muttered.

Renwick didn’t reply. He simply left with her.

As the sound of their footsteps faded into the distance, Shiba slowly stepped out from behind the pillar. Her eyes lingered on the Warden’s broken body, then lowered to the blood pooling across the stone floor.

“…Serves you right,” she muttered under her breath. Her gaze darkened as memories of his harsh words echoed in her mind.

Ryven staggered back in shock, his breath ragged as he clutched the wall for support. “Go after her—go after Maika!” Ryven shouted after her.

“…Go after her? Who are you to order me around like a dog?” she echoed softly. Her lips curled into a faint smile, though there was no warmth in it.

Ryven’s fists clenched at his sides, but no words came.

Without hesitation, she raised her hand. The ground beneath the Warden shifted as the stone crumbled away, swallowing his body in a wave of coarse sand. His torn limbs vanished beneath the earth, leaving nothing but bloodstains behind.

Ryven’s breath hitched as panic twisted his chest. “Wh-what are you doing..?!”

“He was mocking me like I’m a dumb bitch… Now who’s the fool with a broken body and a wasted wish?” Shiba didn’t look at him as she turned to leave. Her steps echoed through the corridor, calm and unhurried.

And then—

She was gone.