Turmoil tore through the bistro. People screamed and ran, tripping over each other, rushing for the exit. Ross’ important guest was pale with fright, sandwiched between his guards and the shoving crowd.

Ross, on the other hand, was beside himself with fury; the distinguished demeanor of the young, successful entrepreneur had vanished. “How did a bug get in here? What is security doing?”

His security personnel, all dressed in similar suits and ties, rushed up the stairs, resembling clones of each other. Two of them restrained the crestfallen Lyndia, who made no attempt to struggle. The rest of them surrounded Rin.

“Drop your weapon,” one of them said. There was an edge of uncertainty in his voice.

Rin stowed her throwing knife away without a word. The sword vanished into a red stone on her charm bracelet.

Ross turned to his guest, rubbed his hands together, and said, “Apologies, Mr. Simson. She was my former employee, a little unstable in the head, so I stopped her from coming. I suppose she was displeased with my decision.”

The guest dusted his suit and squared his shoulders. “I think our collaboration should be put on hold for now. I shall take my leave.”

“Please, wait a moment. I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding,” Ross said, grabbing Simson’s arm. His words ran over each other. His eyes went in and out of focus. “I can explain.”

The guest looked him up and down and brushed his hand away. “Perhaps you should find an explanation as to why you’re acting odd right now.”

Everyone was staring at them.

Ross laughed, stopped, and laughed again while staggering. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Simson.”

His guest threw him a look of distaste and headed for the exit with his guards on his tail.

“I’m so close, so close,” His voice grew louder with every syllable. “So close. So close!”

There was a flash of movement.

A huge claw ripped through the air, slicing Simson’s guard at the rear into two.

Blood splattered over the tables and walls.

Dead silence. The guard’s body fell onto the floor with a thud, the remains barely recognizable.

A dark miasma clouded Ross, visible to every pair of eyes under the roof. Looming above him was the faint outline of a hideous creature, unmistakably -

“A Seed!” someone shrilled. “Mr. Ross has a Seed!”

All hell broke loose as everyone ran, tripping over feet and edges of carpets, falling over each other as they made a frantic dash for the exit.

Ross’ personnel released Lyndia and scrambled for their lives.

Disbelief painted Ross’ face as people dashed past him. Tables were shoved aside, chairs turned upside-down, and wall decorations ripped into ribbons.

Simson was white with fear, his voice a pitch higher than usual. “Help! S-Someone, call the Hunters!”

At the mention of Hunters, Ross turned a sickly shade of gray. A look of realization dawned on him. He could not let any witness leave alive.

The doors swung inwards, barricading the fleeing guests within the hellish walls of its Territory.

“N-no one is leaving,” he stammered out.

A long arm swiped at the escaping guests. There were screams as the claw ripped through a table as easily as cutting paper. Simson’s other guard, out of loyal instinct, attempted to protect his employer with shield magic, but it broke like fragile sticks. Another claw came down and swatted him aside, sending him crashing head-first into the front glass door where he lay motionless.

“You shall not leave tonight.” Ross laughed at his guests. Fear crossed his face. “N-No, I... That is not what I meant. That thing –” He pointed a shaky finger at the Seed. “It’s controlling me.”

“Y-You’re out of your mind!” Simson cried. Cold sweat beaded his forehead, his terrified eyes darting between Ross and the Seed. “I-I would never have agreed to collaborate with a Master!”

The Seed raised one of its claws and brought it down towards the stricken man.

A flash of silver shot towards the Seed , lobbing the claw off and lodging itself firmly in the opposite wall.

It took Rin a moment to realize it was a carving knife with remnants of oil visible on its blade.

Among the frenzied crowd, she saw Rayve lowering his hand.

“Who are you?” a lady huddled in the corner, her dress in tatters, whispered shakily.

The doors swung open, and Rin saw a hand waving from the entrance. Hayle’s voice floated above the din. “Everyone, please keep calm and follow me. Worry not, we will ensure your safety.”

“Hunters! They’re here!” someone cried.

Late, Rin thought to herself. They were all already inside the Seed’s Territory.

Ross looked ill, a myriad of emotions cruising across his face.

The head of the Ross household eyed him in disgust. “The Ross House does not need an underhanded successor who resorts to blackmail, bribery, and assault to carry on its name. Not once, not twice. You manage to get away because the inspector and I are acquainted, because I had to beg him to overlook your crimes. I told you to behave, yet you got carried away.”

He was merely doing it to achieve his goal.

“Do you know what you did cost a life?”

The son of the rival company? He asked for it, so he paid the price.

“You brought dishonor to me and sullied the family name. You are a disgrace.”

The words struck him like a discordant chord.

Disgrace? His father had never said a good word about him. Among his three sons, he was last in the line of his father’s favor to inherit the family business.

“Leave while I still consider you my blood, before I turn you over to the authorities. Do not let me see your face again.”

Behind his father’s back, he smiled with disdain.

Do you think, Father, you’re stripping me of everything? he thought. I will surely rise again. And I will make everyone pay for looking down on me.

“Destroy!” Ross flung his arms out in frenzy. “Destroy them all! Everyone who stands in my way!”

With a scream, he hunched over. His back bulged, and a huge claw tore through his coat fabric, sending glittering beads flying all over the floor. Then another claw came, followed by the head.

He writhed as the Seed forced itself out of him. It was enormous, reaching the ceiling. Three pairs of feet, a pair of claws, and a pair of jaws with rows of jagged teeth. From Rin’s perspective, it looked like a mutated mantis that accidentally absorbed genes from the primitive ages and had them transmuted incorrectly. Its eyes surveyed the remaining guests, blinking in unison.

It let out a high-pitched cry and raised one of its claws towards the ceiling – like a giant scythe poised to swing.

Rayve dashed towards the Seed, vaulted over a table, and onto a loose ceiling beam and dropped downwards onto the Seed, one hand outstretched. His palm hovered above the Seed’s head, not quite touching the surface. The air rippled with an invisible force.

As he landed on the other side of the lounge, his ability activated. The twins could create and manipulate magnetic fields. What Rayve did was create a magnetic field with the Seed at the center. Switching polarities created either a repelling or attractive force. Both, from Rin’s experience, were equally destructive.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The force reverberated from within the Seed, tearing it on the inside and sending chairs and tables hurtling over the heads of the escaping guests and crashing into the walls.

What a disruptive ability.

Rin had a foreboding sense that Cnaris would make her forfeit her pocket money once again.

Grabbing a distraught Lyndia, who had lost all will to move, she dragged the girl to a safer spot behind the stairs.

The Seed let out a resounding war cry that rocked the walls. Rayve, who was about to charge forward again, was pushed back.

The Signon twins’ abilities were destructive, but it had one glaring catch: they had to be in close proximity to the Seed to make it work.

The Seed began regenerating, filling its hollow middle at a rapid pace. The bistro was now a sorry sight – shattered glass, doors blown off, beams that were on the verge of giving in, and roof about to cave in.

A gale of laughter came from the center of the rubble. Shoulders shaking with mirth, his eyes carrying a crazed glow, Ross screamed, “Yes! Destroy them all! Everyone who stands in my way!”

Fully regenerated, the Seed turned its eyes on him.

“Destroy everything, just like you did before! Get rid of all evidence, all those pests! I am untouchable!”

The Seed leaned down and reached out a claw.

Ross’ laughter ceased. “What? What are you doing? I told you to destroy them all!”

The claw wrapped around him, almost lovingly. Ross’ feet lifted from the ground.

The Seed opened its mouth, revealing its many, many rows of jagged teeth.

Wealth and power.

With those, he could do anything.

With those, he would own the world.

Since a young age, he always had a knack for deals and agreements. Investments, black market, illegal trades, double earnings. Bungalows, resorts, and stocks. So many businesses he gained under his belt, so far ahead of his brothers. People looked up to him and praised him. So young, yet so talented.

Except for his father.

See, Father? I told you I would rise.

His businesses were major successes. He owned half the town.

Accumulating wealth became an addiction. Not enough, he wanted more.

“Traitor!” He looked down at the twitching body at his feet. He looked down and saw himself holding a bloodstained knife. His anger began to ebb, replaced by a rising tide of panic.

He dropped the weapon.

He had killed someone.

If the police found out about this, he was done for.

His estranged father would not bail him out this time.

Dispose. Dispose of the evidence quickly! His hand shook as he reached down to pick up the knife.

“It’s no good, young man. They’ll find evidence everywhere.”

He spun around. Behind him, he saw a figure. It was too dark to make out the face.

He thought to himself, Eyewitness… There must not be any eyewitness.

“I heard you’re already on the suspect list of the latest drug-smuggling circle, and they are gathering evidence as we speak. It won’t be long before they arrive at your doorstep.”

His hand shook. Kill him…and he’ll be silent.

The voice was suddenly in his ear. “Then, you’ll lose everything.”

He froze. Lose everything? No, that couldn’t happen!

“There has to be something… Something,” he rasped.

The figure held out a piece of folded paper between his long, slender fingers. “I believe you’ll need this.”

“Stop! What are you doing?” Ross squirmed within the Seed’s grip.

Rin ducked as the carving knife dislodged itself from the wall and zoomed toward the Seed. Another round of invisible force dragged the rest of the debris and tattered furniture toward the Seed in an attempt to crush it.

Hayle had taken the chance to approach the Seed, changing the polarities when it had its back turned and was now standing at the door with his hands clasped together.

“Hayle!” Rayve’s angry voice cut over the din. “I told you to stay out of it!”

“Sorry,” Hayle said sheepishly, coughing in the dust. “I can’t bear to be left out of the fun, you know.”

Rayve’s red face and mutinous eyes were obscured by the Seed rearing its ugly head from the rubble.

The sickening sound of flesh being pierced, the steady dripping of blood, the victims’ screams and gasps as life seeped out of them.

Sneaking up on them in the backstreets, blackmailing them with a letter of threat to their family, secretly dropping poison into an unsuspecting cup of coffee -

One, two, three, four, next, next, another, and another, he lost count –

In a flash, everything disappeared.

Families gathered together, weeping.

A widow collapsed on the floor from sorrow.

Turning up to pay respects in his creaseless black suit. “So sorry for your loss. He was a great friend of mine.”

Handing them a check. “This is the least I can do. I hope he’ll be at peace.”

Accepting the tearful words of gratitude and leaving with praises in his wake. “What a wonderful person. Such kindness, such humility.”

Such fools.

He was invincible. He was destined for greatness.

Flesh, blood, life. Oh, what did they matter to him?

In a dark alley, he stood in front of a shop.

“What are you willing to trade for your desire?”

Rayve’s ability tore the Seed open again, and it dropped Ross, who scrambled backward, half-whimpering, half-laughing.

The Seed had eyes only for its Master, rearing its head forward, waving its half-blown arms.

“What’s happening to me?” He gasped, crawling away from his Seed as fast as he could.

Only to find himself blocked by Rin. She stood in his way, expressionless.

“Get out of the way! It-It’s trying to eat me!” he said, voice rising with desperation. He clutched his head. “I think there’s something wrong with me. It must be the cause!”

He was losing his sanity, but not all of it, and the sane parts were collapsing as they attempted to digest what was happening. It would probably be a mercy for him to lose it all, but a Seed was not kind by nature. The more corrupted the Master’s mind, the more anguish the Seed elicited, and the more benefits it reaped.

Rin was glad this Seed left its Master to drown in his well-deserved horror.

“What’s wrong? Why are you afraid?” She tilted her head. “Isn’t it your precious pet? The pet that ate up your wrongdoings, so that you could live your wealthy life well?”

“I’ll be happy to assist in any way I can.”

“We’ll be counting on you, then.”

He opened the door to the morgue. A blast of cold air greeted him.

She was crying her heart out over the old man.

“What a pity. I quite liked you. If only you hadn’t stuck your nose where you didn’t belong.”

She turned around and glared at him.

“You killed him.”

The words glanced off him like rainwater on windscreen.

Did he? He was not the one who did it. His hands were not covered with blood. It was the Seed.

The look on her face when she saw it was priceless.

“See, I told you I’m invincible.”

Rin took a step forward, and he backed away.

“Do you not know the consequences of feeding a Seed? Someone as meticulous as you, how could you possibly miss it?”

Another step.

“Do you know what gourmet is in the Seed’s eyes? Its Master. It saves the best for last.”

Another step.

“Aren’t you glad? This is its way of saying thank you for feeding it so well.”

“Please, save me,” Ross whispered. He lurched forward, trying to grab at Rin’s ankle.

She stepped out of his reach. “Don’t touch me with those filthy hands. How many people did you kill?”

He cocked his head, eyes wide. “It wasn’t me. The monster – the monster is the one.”

Of course, a man with such repulsive Pulses knew no remorse.

“They lied to me.” His eyes were unfocused with terror.

They?

He giggled. “Do you know there’s a shop that sells you everything you want as long as you pay?”

“And what did you pay them?”

He held both arms out. “Everything.”

He probably sold his soul to the devil.

“Do you want to know where it is?” He giggled again and beckoned to her. “The –”

A deafening crash cut his words short, and a swirling cloud of dust billowed behind Ross. The Seed was on the ground, bearing a couple more canyons in its torso. Rayve was standing over it, livid.

The noise snapped Ross out of his frenzied reverie and with a whimper, he scrambled away from the Seed.

As though nothing happened, the Seed got to its feet and loomed over its Master.

Screaming and backed into a wall with nowhere left to run, Ross could only watch with bulging eyes as the claws reached for him once more.

“Save me!” His legs dangled helplessly in mid-air.

The Seed’s jaw cracked wide open as it brought its Master closer, closer -

“No! Stop!” Looking down at Rin, he screamed, “Save me! I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you!”

Rin did not move a muscle. “I’m sorry, I’m not interested.”

“You are! You will be!” He bawled, his voice an octave higher before breaking into a high-pitched scream.

He was inches away from its teeth when a massive force field rent the Seed in two.

Rayve stood across the Seed, panting with one hand on his side. Three overlapping Magic Circles glowed in front of him.

Ross slipped from its loosened claws and fell onto the rubble. Cracks formed over the Seed’s exposed essence. It shuddered and broke.

The Seed’s body disintegrated like ashes blown by the wind as debris and red shards rained down.

*

The building that was once a bistro was a sorry sight, its distinctive architecture ruined. Curious onlookers gathered around, tiptoeing for a better view and sharing speculations. The injured were tended to. The Council arrived shortly to escort the two Masters for questioning.

The three of them stood at a distance. Disheveled hair, smudged faces, with dusty and rumpled clothes, they looked like treasure hunters who had spent an entire year underground.

“I suppose it’ll be a long time before he sees the sun again,” Hayle said as the Council vehicle left the site. “And I hope she'll be able to move on too.”

He sounded like the protagonist in the last episode of a television show who had to send a friend off to a new beginning.

Rin recalled how soulless Lyndia’s eyes looked. She decided not to say anything.

Some scars would always bleed, no matter how much time had passed. She secretly wondered if she would be better off gaining closure by committing the crime regardless of the outcome of the action.

“Such a fearsome Seed in the hands of someone like him. I can’t believe it was able to hide its existence up until recently, and that was only because the Council was investigating Miss Lyndia and her motives.”

Henry Ross was too blind to realize that he was not the only one in possession of a Seed. Evil deeds bred grudges, and grudges sowed hatred, which in turn cultivated Seeds.

Rin drew in a deep breath and exhaled, worn out. “I’m leaving.”

“Why are you the one tired when we were the ones doing all the fighting?” Rayve rounded on her. “Why did you not do anything when the Seed got him? Even with all those memory fragments – and I know we said earlier that we’ll handle him – you were right there when the Seed got him! Were you really planning to let the Seed eat him?”

Rin glanced away, muttering, “For someone like him, it wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

Rayve’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came.

She started to walk away, but not before the words that had been hanging at the tip of her tongue finally came out. “I don’t know what you’re after, but whatever you’re doing right now, you’d better stop before it’s too late.”

It was directed at Rayve.

Rayve’s expression grew several shades darker.

Hayle, on the other hand, was utterly clueless, looking back and forth between his twin and Rin’s retreating form.