Having just finished its meal, the pile of flesh unwrapped itself from the Bloodtree. It seemed to have decided to take a short break from its favourite hobby as it calmly idled in one spot for a moment. Its break lasted for roughly three seconds before thoughts of insurmountable gluttony overtook its mind, and the lumpy, snake-like pile of flesh slithered onwards towards its destiny.
Infinite consumption!
Bones and flesh scraped across the ground as it left a viscous trail in its wake, blindly searching for its next meal. It went around groping from tree to tree, excited at the idea of getting its hands on its next snack. However, all the nearby Bloodtrees were half-eaten! It must have been an outrageous insult for a connoisseur of delicacies such as itself. Bloodtrees were part of a refined, high-caliber palate after all!
After examining a couple more Bloodtrees with no luck, the pile of flesh finally hit the jackpot! A nice, juicy, uneaten tree all for itself.
The pile of flesh parted its outer layer, revealing its pulsating insides and ribcage once again. As it was about to begin its five-star meal, it somehow noticed something off at the base of the tree.
There was a small puddle.
It was crimson as the rest of its small, known world, so it clearly couldn't be anything dangerous.
Curious, instead of immediately going for the tree as I had hoped, the pile of flesh lowered its parted body towards the ground. The small maw stretched out its tiny teeth, trying to take a sip of this interesting new substance. The maw got a taste of the substance and froze. It seemed...delighted?
It lowered itself even more and greedily drank the crimson liquid, not leaving even a sip behind. The maw smiled in satisfaction. I may have just greatly broadened this gluttonous flesh pile's palate. Sadly for it, there's no such thing as a free meal in this world.
The small maw, along with its bigger siblings, was relishing in the taste of their newfound delicacy when something began to feel wrong. A trembling began in the small maw's organ body, causing it to grow concerned with the quality of its meal. There was a brief pause, making the maw relax. However, a moment later, the small maw met its end as I burst out of its insides in all my even smaller, fiendish glory.
Organ tissue burst into the surroundings as all the nearby tubes began trembling. The older siblings were still in shock, unreactive. I used this moment to wreak havoc within its insides. I wildly swung my claws at anything that looked important.
Big and pulsating? I slashed it.
Winding tubes? Tore them apart and made them into a ribbon.
Big and bony? Avoid it. Not worth the effort. Time was limited.
Crimson rapidly flew through the air while bodily fluids began leaking through the numerous fresh wounds. I was covered from head to toe in a mix of different viscous liquids, but I kept going.
All this damage was done within mere moments as I heard the bigger maws begin to thrash about outside, along with the nearby cut tubes. As expected, they were connected.
I saw the opening begin to merge once again, so I elegantly stumbled through the organs to escape. I didn't want to find out if it could kill me within its insides after it closes up.
'Fuck! I was only planning on destroying the small maw, but the fucker had to take a bite...sip? out of me as well!'
I noticed the flesh of the Fracturebeast rapidly fluctuating between normal flesh and its rough version. It seemed I had messed it up pretty good and it couldn't activate its Ability properly. Beating it should definitely be possible while it was in such a state.
I didn't have time to dwell on my thoughts as one of the sharp-toothed maws came crashing down on me. I began to dodge to the side, only to be struck by a different maw attacking at the same time as its sibling. It came flying from the side I was dodging to and sank its teeth into my torso. I felt my flesh tear and crimson flow as I fell into its grasp, and my tiny body was lifted off the ground. I let out a gut-wrenching screech, which echoed through the entire forest of blood.
'MOTHERFUCKER! Two can play at that game!'
I sank my fangs into its soft flesh and used [Blood Absorb]. Crimson very slowly began trickling down my throat, and a moment later, the maw began swinging around uncontrollably, clearly in agony. I swung my claw at the fucker, leaving a deep gash next to the bite marks and freed myself from its loosened grip. I landed on the ground and immediately leapt back.
All three fleshy maws were wildly swinging their necks about from pain, slamming the ground at times and raising plumes of scarlet dirt. I quickly tapped on my injured spot, sending a wave of discomfort through my body as fresh scarlet laced my claws. It got me quite good.
I had to finish this and fast. It was already weakened and slowing down, but a wild animal was most dangerous when cornered.
I didn't hesitate and burst forth.
My injured side screamed as I approached the Fracturebeast. One of the maws flung itself at me once again, but instead of dodging, I only accelerated. Two other maws flew past me as I dove into the scarlet soil beneath them.
I spun around and saw that the first maw was still stuck in the ground. I swiftly leapt at its elongated neck, grabbing onto its length with all my might. Before the maw could even react, I sank my fangs into it and activated [Blood Absorb]. The maw began thrashing around in agony, but I didn't stop there. My fangs had a solid grip on the fleshy neck of the maw, freeing my claws. I began to ferociously hack away at its neck. I was continuously showered in crimson while slowly whittling away its strength.
All the maws began thrashing from agony, unable to help their sibling. I was sent on a wild rollercoaster ride, making me dizzy, but I didn't stop. Only red covered my entire vision as I lost myself in the moment.
My blood boiled, my muscles screamed, and my heart thumped. I couldn't feel my body or sense the wild thrashing anymore. All I felt were my hands moving as blood trickled down my throat. I felt a smile creep up on my face, even in a situation such as this.
Sensing the maw I was on slowing down, I unlatched my fangs and leapt to the next one. The maws momentarily calmed down, but didn't react to me on time. I managed to get a grip on it, and I sank my fangs in again and activated [Blood Absorb] on my new target. The maws lashed out once again, slamming themselves onto the ground. My previous target fell to the ground.
I felt a strange sense of familiar joy overcome me. It felt like I was right where I needed to be. Like I was meant for this.
After a long time, I remembered.
This was what it all used to be about.
I relished this moment.
The thrashing, the blood, my superiority. I loved every moment of it.
However, my expression became stone-cold a second later. Bitter memories flooded my mind, and I was sucked back into reality.
The thrashing slowed down from all the maws.
There was a reason I didn't enjoy fighting anymore. Hell, never should've liked it in the first place, in the way I did.
New world or not, you can't escape yourself.
I bitterly smiled to myself.
A moment later, the maw I was latched onto fell to the ground, with the final one following shortly after. I calmly raised myself, ignoring the searing pain from my side.
The System spoke.
[You have vanquished a Gifted Sloth, Gore Mountain of Maws]
I felt no satisfaction.
There were no foreign forces at work in that fight.
I let myself get lost, like I promised not to.
I didn't want to be that way again.
I felt my lips tremble as I approached the now dead pile of flesh. I sat down and took a long look at my work. The flesh had grown pale. Two of the necks were completely shrivelled up and mutilated. It died due to me ravaging its insides and sucking up most of its blood.
I didn't ponder anymore and sank my fangs into the soft flesh before me. A sweet metallic taste filled my mouth, making my body's instincts scream in delight. I wanted to be mad at that feeling, but I couldn't. In a way, I was similar to this creature I had inhabited after all.
I put the bitter thoughts in the back of my mind. I wasn't ready to deal with all this yet. This isn't the place for it.
I thought back to my earlier plan, trying to cheer myself up while I consumed the blood.
I knew I was running away from myself.
Still, just not yet.
I couldn't.
[Blood Dive] allowed me to enter the Gore Mountain's body freely, although it wasn't part of my plan. As for the puddle of blood, well, most living organisms happen to have it in abundance, this Bloodfiend included. I wanted to quickly burst its small maw while it prepared to feast on the Bloodtree, but surprisingly, it noticed me and drank me up. I was dragged along with the liquid, ending up in a dark space. I realized what happened and burst out.
Such were my plans.
I sat in the cold fog, covered in crimson and bodily fluids for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, I felt the bloodflow cease.
The System spoke again. It seemed more subdued than usual
[37L/100L of blood absorbed]
What a haul...
I couldn't muster up any joy at the huge amount of blood.
There was nothing to be happy about.