Chapter 7A: Eat Your Meal

Chapter 7A: Eat Your Meal

Three Weeks Since the Battle of the Grey…

Abel cocked his head to the side, stroking his chin as he inspected the invisible barrier that surrounded the premises of their safehouse.

It was faint, but there, not that he could see it, but he could feel the sphere composed of an intricate weave of mana codes that kept his and Kane’s presence hidden from the ephemeral overlords that ruled this world.

“Inspect…” Abel muttered, the system ability flaring up for a moment only to cease. “Well, it's a good thing I'm not reliant on system magic.”

If he tried, he could probably break it if he wanted to, but Abel had a less destructive plan in mind as he watched a horned rabbit look up at him from the other side of the barrier before hopping off.

Abel licked his lips.

There had been dozens of guests that had come and gone at the boundary, creatures ranging from the aforementioned horned rabbits to roaming orcs but none dared to cross the threshold that would put them in Abel's hungry hands.

“I'm so sick of squashes…” Abel muttered as his stomach growled, his eyes glancing over to the fields of vegetables nearly in bloom thanks to his nature magic. Then, his gaze shifted, observing a group of grey-skinned orcs skulking next to the barrier.

Abel wiped the drool from his mouth, wondering what Orc would taste like.

“My stomach could become your graveyard…” Abel muttered before narrowing his hungry and sleep deprived eyes. “Wait. It's not cannibalism… or is it?”

“What are you doing?”

“Guh?!” Abel jolted, turning to face the dirt-covered Kane wearing a black shirt with the sleeves ripped off and shorts cut to her thighs. “N-nothing! Wait, how much of that did you hear?”

“Enough to know you were considering eating another sentient thing,” Kane said flatly.

“What? I’d! Never! I was just… ya know… evaluating the security of the boundary. Yeah! Haha, that's all!” Abel said, putting on a smile.

“Uh huh, well if you're done evaluating, you'll be happy to learn our first harvest of meat is ready,” Kane said, “Come on, I need your… you to frost the edges of the container.”

“Ah, right right,” Abel winced, cringing as he walked in tow with Kane towards the rows of glass chests.

****

Abel's eye twitched, observing with a disgusted expression as Kane bent over and reached down into the large glass container.

It wasn't that the view from behind was bad per se, but the swarming cockroaches the demoness was reaching into sucked his mirth out of the air.

“That's… absolutely vile,” Abel said, wincing while the horde of bugs that easily numbered in the thousands desperately attempted to escape, only to slide down the edges of the box thanks to his ice magic.

“Man up, just be thankful they aren't flying,” Kane said, snatching a bug and sticking the roach directly into her mouth. “Mhm. Yep. That's disgusting.”

“Ah…” Abel cringed, the sound of the loud crunch making his face twist.

Kane looked over her shoulder, raising a brow at the man.

“How is it you're capable of fighting through hordes of demon soldiers but turn green at the thought of eating bugs?” Kane said while munching loudly in the process.

“Well, when I'm distracted, it's a lot easier to ignore the compulsions. Plus, the faster I get done fighting, the sooner I wash,” Abel shrugged.

“I dislike how casually you speak about butchering my soldiers,” Kane mumbled through her mouth full of bugs, “Here, have some, they're actually not that bad when you get past the leg twitches. Just make sure to crunch down hard otherwise they’ll start skittering everywhere.”

Kane turned, her brow raising as she eyed the paralyzed Hero of Order on the verge of vomiting as he stared at the twitching bug leg at the corner of her mouth.

“I…” Abel frowned, his body unwilling to heed his command to move forward.

“Abel, you need to eat. As much as I'm loath to admit it, I-you are required to keep the bugs in check and the crops growing.”

“I know that, but I…” Abel tried again to move, his mind telling him to eat the bugs but his body still resisting him.

“I see,” Kane said as she narrowed her eyes.

“I'll figure something out,” Abel said, walking away from the demoness.

***

A day passed with no report, followed by another night with Kane sitting alone in her room gazing out her window to the man pacing beside the boundary.

He didn't sleep, not often at least. While he had tried to make his own quarters out of chopped trees and summoned soil, the uncleaneous eventually forced him out.

Sometimes he would nap on his hammock made of twine, but most nights he floated in the air and meditated.

After three weeks, Kane could clearly see Abel couldn't continue like this. He was visibly skinnier, not much, but his muscles were thinning as his command of Order was siphoned.

Kane sighed, rubbing her wrist.

I know… he's a victim like me but…

“Ugghh,” Kane groaned, closing her book and organizing it atop her nightstand. “It can't be helped.”

*****

Abel stroked his chin, staring at the barrier.

“What are you doing?” Kane asked, landing from above.

“Trying to decipher this barrier,” Abel said, “Water gets in when it rains, wind blows when it gusts, and even falling leaves come in, but every animal doesn't.”

“Meaning?”

“That there are functions to this barrier. Marceline probably has a way to allow things in and out.”

“So, you're trying to decipher the barrier to lure creatures in?” Kane said, quickly putting two and two together.

“Yes. But looking at this, it could take months. If I had my system abilities I could just inspect it, but no such luck,” Abel sighed.

“And by then you'll probably starve to death.”

Abel chuckled, his ever-optimistic attitude grinding Kane’s nerves, “It does seem that way. As much as I don't want to admit it… my compulsion to clean is as strong as ever. Like an addict going through withdrawals, it's like my skin is on fire and my head is cracked open. The more I try to say no, the worse it seems to get haha.”

Kane sighed, “Abel Wright.”

“Hm?”

Abel went pale as the woman smiled, revealing teeth brandishing bug guts as she held out a handful of insects in her hand.

“H-hey…” Abel stuttered, taking a step back, “W-what are you doing?”

“Come on, aren't you hungry? You need to eat to retain your strength,” Kane said, an expression of madness on her face, her hand outstretched with crawling bugs towards the man in white. “So… be a good boy and say ah.”

“Hey, cut it out! Sato! I'm not kidding, back up! Don't come closer!” Abel panicked, retreating as the woman approached.

“Come on! Let's get some meat on your bones!”

“God damn it I said STOP!”

A flux of power, a radiant wave of gold that froze Kane in place, her eyes going wide as her hand lingered a mere inch from Abel's chest.

“I-I… crap, sorry,” Abel said, shame on his face as he took several steps back and released the woman from his Order.

“Tch,” Kane let out, closing her hand into a fist with the bugs vanishing into black dust. “Well, looks like we're doing this the hard way.”

Abel wet his lips, opening his mouth to apologize, “Kane-”

Then she punched him, sending Abel flying into the dirt.

“Wow! Okay! Wow, that felt so good!” Kane yelled as Abel shook his head, blinking repeatedly as he dusted himself off from the dirt.

“Sato-!”

*BANG*

The force of Kane's follow-up punch sent a shockwave into the ground, sending Abel flying and skipping off the grassland several times before smacking into the protective barrier and hitting the soil.

“Ha! Wow, this is literally better than sex!” Kane spat before straddling Abel and punching him repeatedly in the face.

“Damn it Kane, get off me!” Abel yelled, placing his arms up to defend himself from the onslaught of blows.

“Make me!”

-189HP

Abel's vision twitched, his system interface lighting up as his neck snapped left and his spine broke. But just as the snap of his bones echoed out his injuries repaired themselves instantly, the effects of the system still in play.

“Damn it Sato?! Are you trying to kill me?!” Abel spat before going wide-eyed as violent mana gathered around the demon Queen’s fist.

“Maybe.”

CRAP!

Abel’s body cursed with energy, his palm slamming into the ground and erecting a pillar of stone that blasted the Demoness into the sky.

Kane did a flip mid-air, her body then carried further into the sky where lightning began to course around the woman.

“What the hell Kane?!”

The air began to ionize, the taste of ozone at the tip of Abel's tongue as he stood up, his attention fully enraptured by the figure wrapped in black lightning.

“Kane, what are you doing?!” Able shouted, lowering his body and readying himself for the attack.

“Helping you eat, now say ah,” Kane said before the sky flashed white and the demon pointed at her target. “Black Bolt.”

Able crossed his arms, summoning mounds of soil that shaped around his limbs as water coated the space before him in a hardened shell of mixed minerals and pulled metals.

The impact shook the earth, scattering off his barrier as he attempted to deflect and conduct the lightning away using stone and water.

Then, a crack, the armor Abel had put up shattering as a bolt of black struck him in the chest and laid him out flat.

“How pathetic,” Kane said, hovering over the steaming Abel. “A few weeks ago you could smack a dozen black bolts away with one hand, now you're struggling just to block one.”

“Kane…” Abel grunted, attempting to sit up only to be forced back down as Kane sat atop his chest.

Her eyes flashed, a sinister glint in them as one hand held Abel's mouth open and the other reached into a satchel filled with worms and bugs taken from the farm plots.

“Say ah.”

“W-wait! Wait! S-Sato! NOOOOOOOOOO,” Abel screamed as Kane lifted a fist clutching a dozen roaches.