Chapter 7: If Only I Had Thorns Like a Thistle

After reading through some of the information on Cecile's files, Aster had gone off to search through the southern district, where she was often spotted. Upon arriving there, a faint repugnant stench hovered over the area like an invisible fog. Aster followed that scent all the way to the edge of the district, nearing the southern border of Reinen.

At last, Aster arrived at the source of the stench: an abandoned warehouse. For a normal human, they would not have picked up this smell, but for Aster, it branded his nasal cavity with lasting pain. If the odor had been any thicker, it might have created a halation around the nearby streetlights.

Aster entered the building while holding a high-powered flashlight in one hand. It was the dead of night, and the chirping of insects echoed all around. As he stepped over the caution tapes cordoning the area, the stench intensified, causing Aster to flinch. He scanned the vast interior of the warehouse, checking for anything hostile. Seeing that the coast was clear, Aster walked even closer to the origin of the repulsive smell.

In the center of the warehouse, Aster found a pile of dead, rotting bodies. He pulled up the front portion of his hoodie over his mouth and nose, then tightened it by tying the strings, forming a makeshift mask. Even still, the odor of the decaying corpses permeated through the cloth like a stream of water through paper.

Aster kneeled next to the bodies. He had seen many different types of rotting humans in his lifetime, but these were different.

Most of the flesh had turned black, exuding wisps of miasma, and countless holes lined the bodies' appendages. Cecile must have laid eggs inside each body after killing them.

A shroud's life cycle is a strange one. First, a male must inseminate a female. Next, the female must lay her egg into a human. The parents then guard the human's body as the shroud egg develops, devouring the human's body from the inside, and causing black sublimation syndrome, in which their flesh becomes miasma. For a person living with an egg inside of them, black sublimation syndrome was a slow and agonizing death, ending in the baby shroud bursting from their body. Luckily these people were dead before they could experience such a cruel fate. It's because of shroudkind's natural life cycle that they are deemed man-eaters, despite hating human flesh.

Aster stood back up to explore the rest of the warehouse, but one of the dead bodies twitched. He glanced back. When he looked at the bodies again, nothing looked out of the ordinary. Just as he was about to turn away, one of the bodies ruptured, spraying blood and miasma in every direction. A small black gremlin crawled out from the chest of the shredded corpse. Aster dropped his flashlight and immediately shifted into demonic form, slicing the baby shroud's head off with his razor-sharp claws. The gremlin head rolled across the crimson-stained floor while its body fell limp in the chest cavity.

Suddenly, the body right next to Aster burst as well, a gremlin sprouting forth. Then, another body burst. And another, and another, and another. Every corpse gave birth to a baby shroud with two small horns, black translucent skin, and blue veins. Each gremlin swiveled its head at Aster and scuttled toward him. Aster tried to kill them, but the gremlins crawled up his pants, gnawing on his legs. Some grabbed onto his arms, and others bit into his back.

With an enraged roar, Aster shook off the gremlins, slicing them to pieces and stomping their heads. When Aster finished killing every baby shroud, his entire body was doused with blood.

Because Aster was in demonic form, his skin was significantly tougher, allowing him to withstand the gremlins' biting and clawing. Despite that, he walked with a limp; one of the baby shrouds had ripped off a huge chunk of his ankle, and it was hanging uselessly as he dragged his foot.

Aster picked up his flashlight. When he stood back up, a silhouetted figure stood before him.

"You killed my babies."

[It's her.]

"I go away for one minute," she whispered, "and you killed all of them!"

As she screamed, the figure leaped forward, punching Aster's chest, sending him flying across the warehouse. Aster bounced as he hit the ground, but he did not let the impact faze him; instead, Aster used the bouncing momentum to get back on his knees. Aster slowly stood up, wary of his injured right leg. Even with a shroud's increased healing, it will take at least three minutes for his wound to recover.

Aster aimed his flashlight at the figure. It was none other than Clarent's new leader. She had blue eyes with short white hair. She wore large circular glasses, and she also had a butterfly hairpin holding back some of her bangs. Her facial features were young and delicate with arched eyebrows, a small nose, and small lips, almost babyish in appearance. As for her clothes, she wore a black skirt and a white top. Over that top, she wore a black cloak with a pulled-back fur hood.

"Kill yourself," she commanded.

Aster scowled. "Kill me yourself, you coward."

He charged at her, pushing off his left leg. She dodged out of the way. Missing his attack, Aster landed on all fours like a cat to prevent applying too much weight on his injury. Aster got back up on two legs and used his flashlight to find the warehouse's exit.

"Weird," Cecile muttered inaudibly. She repeated, "Kill yourself!"

"Shut up!"

Aster slashed her, but he was off-balance, allowing Cecile to avoid the telegraphed attacks.

[Dammit. This stupid leg.]

Just as Cecile was about to counterattack, Aster darted toward the exit. His initial leap allowed him to cross three-quarters of the way, but he had to run the rest of the distance. With his limp, he was unbearably slow. There was a flash of blue light, and when Aster looked back, Cecile had sprouted butterfly wings from her back, their elegant designs shimmering from the flashlight's illumination. Her skin was completely black, and two deer horns protruded from her head. She flapped her wings and pounced on Aster just as he made it outside. Aster dive-rolled in time to avoid her, then got back up and resumed running. Cecile growled and flew at Aster again.

This time, Aster failed to dodge. Cecile picked him up, but before she could do anything else, Aster used his dagger-like tail to slice part of her wings, causing them both to come tumbling to the ground.

"You little asshole!"

On the nearby road, the headlight of a car came into view.

[This is my chance.]

Aster made a bee-line for the car, which skidded to a halt on the road. Before Aster could punch in the window, the front door suddenly opened, sending Aster stumbling backward. Two burly and stern-faced men got out of the car.

"Hah!" Cecile laughed. "How unbelievably lucky!"

"What?" Aster asked.

"Kill him!" Cecile yelled, pointing at Aster.

One of the men transformed into a demonic boar, while the other man transformed into an eight-headed bear.

[Those random people were shrouds?!]

Aster tried to run away, but the boar used its tusks to throw him into the air. Then, the bear leaped up and punched Aster back to the ground. For a moment, everything went black. He was falling in and out of consciousness. Aster groaned in pain as he rolled onto his backside, coughing blood as he did so. Looking up, the two men had returned to their humanoid forms. Cecile and the two men now stood above Aster.

"You…controlled them," Aster muttered, each word sending immense pain through his chest.

"That's right. I was lucky enough to sense these two driving down the road. Are you amazed by my Authority, Aster?"

"How do you know my name?"

"In the dark, I couldn't tell who you were, but up close, I see that it really is you. The infamous Aster. Everyone in the SPCB knows who you are, and every shroud knows about your demonic form."

Aster coughed up more blood. He was cornered and immobilized. One of the shrouds could easily kill him right now. Aster might as well buy some more time before his death.

"Why did you betray the SPCB?" he asked Cecile.

"I could ask you the same question. Why did you betray your own kind?"

Aster was silent.

"I asked you a question. Answer it!"

"You wouldn't understand."

"You're right. I don't understand. I don't understand how you could be so cruel and selfish."

"…"

"You know, Aster, you and I are very similar."

"Shut up. Don't put me into the same category as you."

"We are both living weapons, Aster. You were a success, but I was a failure."

"Sucks to be you."

"It truly does. You see, when I was just a little kid, my parents couldn't afford to sustain the entire family of nine. So, being the youngest of the children, they sold me to the government. At first, I was happy to have a new place to live. Maybe I would be able to live with a wealthy family. But no. I was thrown into a prison cell. I lived there for a month, eating only a bowl of mush each day.

"But one night, one of the Arbiters let me out. He took me to a laboratory. There was a capsule in the center that contained a mass of grey goo and ruptured human appendages. Some people in lab coats took out that abomination, then pointed at me to go in next. I was terrified. I didn't want to end up like that. I tried to run away, but I was too weak. The Arbiter placed me in the capsule. I screamed, and I punched the glass. My knuckles started bleeding, and I knew my death was near, so I gave up.

"After that, the only thing I remembered was hell. The pain was so awful I can't describe it in words. Eventually, I passed out. When I woke up, my black hair had turned completely white. The scientists thought I was a success. I was the first human-turned-shroud. But when they ran tests on me, they found out I couldn't even shift into a demonic form. On top of that, they found out my life had been drastically shortened. I would only live until eighteen years of age. Still, I was given a chance to join the SPCB. But when it came time for me to hunt shrouds, I couldn't do it. I was too weak. I almost died. When I finally recovered, I was put with a partner who despised me. Every time we went on a mission, he would torment me. From then on, I was never sent to the battlefield. I only ever did menial tasks and such.

"One day, my partner and I were put into a larger squad, and we were tasked with scouting out a route to the Black Citadel. I thought this could be my chance to do something meaningful in the time I had left to live. And so, we went out into the wilderness. There was a heavy fog that morning and we encountered a group of wild shrouds. It was a brutal fight, and I got separated from the group. I was afraid. I thought I'd get picked off like mere prey. But there was this voice. It was a delicate voice, almost music to the ears. I followed it. What stood before me was a beautiful woman with two black horns and a flowery black dress. It was the shroud queen. She told me that I didn't have to suffer anymore. She said that I could finally have my revenge on humanity. So, she gave me a portion of her power. I used this power to kill the other shroud hunters. I used this power to take over Clarent and become their leader. And now, I'm gonna use this power to kill all the Arbiters."

When Cecile finished her monologue, she kneeled and caressed Aster's cheek.

"Be grateful, Aster," she said. "I've decided to spare your life. You can join me in my quest. Together, we can create a new and better world."

"Never."

"So be it."

Cecile turned around and walked away.

"Take him to Herrscher Base," she said to her two minions. "I've got business to take care of. There are some hunters who have been looking a little too deep into my past."

She flapped her healed wings and prepared to take off. "This won't be the last time we meet, Aster. I'm sure you'll change your mind eventually."

At that, she flew into the night sky.

The two men standing over Aster both bent down to pick him up, but Aster sliced one of the men's ankles, severing his foot from the rest of his body. The man immediately fell to the ground. Aster got up, powered by pure adrenaline, and ripped out the uninjured man's heart, devouring it. Just before the other man—whose foot was cut off—could shift into demonic form, Aster had consumed his heart as well.

By now, Aster's wounded leg had almost fully healed. The only other injuries he had sustained were fractured bones that would heal in half a minute. He only made it seem like his injuries were grievous so that Cecile and the two men would drop their guards. Of course, Aster's injuries would impede his running, but as long as his body could move, they were insignificant. He could deal with the pain.

Aster then remembered what Cecile last said before leaving.

["I've got business to take care of. There are some hunters who have been looking a little too deep into my past."]

This could only mean two people.

Aster ran, following Cecile's scent. Even though he could not run at full speed, he was faster than any world-class runner when in his demonic form. Still, flying is quicker than running, and Cecile already had a head start. Aster could only pray that he wasn't too late.