Back in the Garden of Eden.

“Miss Hainz, they’re onto us.”

“I’m aware, thank you, Jack.” Daisy smiled. Her trusted troops were all around her… no, they were family. “We’ll be picking it up a notch, is everyone ready?”

Everyone nodded.

“Alright. Team A, head through the service tunnel. Jack, you and team B will wait for the fireworks and then attack the barracks. Remember, focus on the officers. I want them all dead.” Her orders were received. They wasted no time as they all headed out.

“Dion.” Daisy said.

“Yes, Miss Hainz?” Dion asked. He was missing a pinky, but his hand never once left his sword.

“I have a separate mission for you. Head to the gateway. It will already be calibrated and ready, I've made sure of it. Find a young man called Alphonse and make sure he gets back safely, no matter what you do. His safety is top priority.” Daisy said. Her eyes were serious.

Dion nodded and bowed.

Daisy sighed. “I hope you all make it out alive.” But she shook her head. She knew that the coming days were going to be filled with an endless river of blood.

Her eyes rolled back as they projected an image onto a dense wooden table. Alphonse was scrambling through the jungle. His broken and battered body tugged at her mind. Her fingers gently fell onto his body.

***

Alphonse scrambled through the jungle. Giggling words he was waiting for entered his mind.

“You seem to struggle, my apostle.”

“Of course I’m fucking struggling.” Alphonse spat. A frown marred his blood-covered face.

“I can’t say much because of the influence of the others, but… Head in that direction.”

Alphonse felt something tugging his mind in a certain direction.

“Don’t die. It would be a waste of my efforts.”

The voice disappeared.

“Fuck you.” Alphonse growled. He headed in the direction his mind was being pulled in.

***

Alphonse stood over a chasm, deep as an abyss. Even with his darkvision it was like a veil of darkness that stopped him from peeking to its deep secrets. His mind was telling him to go down. But how was that possible?

He looked to the chasm edges. It was all nothing but a sheer drop into nothingness.

I’m meant to go in there? Fuck that. Alphonse shook his head.

“This is where you ran off to.” The familiar voice reached him from behind.

“You know, for someone that seems to pride his strength. You’re quiet like a scuttling rat.” Alphonse turned his head.

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“Ah, I apologise. It’s a bad habit.” A grin appeared on his face. He released a burst of strength from his body. It was like he turned off the mute button. The sound of his muscles contracting and bones shifting rattled against Alphonse’s eardrums.

A faint mist like power emanated from behind him, like water vapour being released.

“The Great Migrators hate me this much?” Alphonse questioned.

“Hate?” The man laughed. “I wouldn’t call it hate Alphonse. More like slaughtering the competition.”

“What competition?”

“How cold-blooded of you. You left that old man all on his lonesome, yet here you are asking questions all to do with yourself. Don’t you think you’re being selfish?”

“I guess so? Never really thought about it before. I just move to survive.”

“Is that why you killed your friend, Isobelle?” The man taunted the young man.

Alphonse laughed uncontrollably, his hands rested on his knees. “You really like the sound of your own voice. Well, I'm gonna go. Your breath smells like shit.” A grim smile turned upwards onto his lips. Using [ Flicker Steps ] He launched himself down into the abyss.

The man moved forward like a bullet to catch him. But he missed. Alphonse watched as he was about to jump in after him, but he halted. A grin flashed on his face before he sat down on the spot.

Alphonse watched as the bright sun vanished in the distance. Hot wind swirled around his body like a rotating blanket. The darkness took hold of him as he descended. His head rotated, arms outstretched as he attempted to grab onto the side of the walls, but he was too far away. Alphonse turned his body so he could see down below. It was black.

“How fucking deep is this thing!” Alphonse shouted as his cheeks filled with air. The speed of the descent tickled his eyeballs, tears escaped.

Despite the wind assaulting his eyes, Alphonse kept them open. He was on the lookout for something… anything to stop his descent. Finally, the ground came into view. It was hopeless. There was nothing to stop the force of gravity from squishing him like a bug.

Then a sudden blast of heat shot at him. Stopping him in midair. Alphonse immediately covered his body in the red scales of the Fire Brand Tiger. Despite the scales, the heat left blisters on his skin. His hair began smoking and sizzling. A scream left his mouth as the heat vanished and Alphonse’s body crashed to the ground. His eyes widened as he could feel another round of air being formed in a pit he was lying in. [ Flicker Steps ] activated as he flung his body out of the heat sink as the molten air shot upwards once more.

Alphonse teeth chattered. He seethed in pain as his hands brushed up against the yellow, pus filled pocket that formed on his arm.

“Where the hell am I?” Alphonse groaned, his head rotated. The ground was smoking as a putrid eggy smell wafted into his nose as he attempted to breathe it out.

Alphonse looked down, a faint red pulsated underneath the ground. Crouching down, he placed the back of his hand down into the dirt. His hand recoiled back at the touch. It was scalding.

“Is it lava?” Alphonse thought out loud. “Wait, is this a fucking active volcano?”

The steaming ground, the moving red slime underneath. The eggy smell. Alphonse shook his head. He walked over to the walls as he scoured them from top to bottom. The wall was a brighter colour than the rest, like a clay that hadn’t hardened. He placed his finger to the wall as it sank inwards.

The Jungle Cat claws formed on his fingertips as he dug out the wall. The walls were hot to the touch, but he bared through the pain. He did not know how long it took, but he carved out a tunnel and finally, light met with his eyes. Alphonse punched through the wall, falling to the other side.

Peering around. He was met with a dungeon-like room. Murals filled the walls, the artwork was… familiar. Gluttony sat at a table, consuming copious amounts of food while laughing and having a good time.

Does he have these rooms on every planet? Alphonse thought.

“Are you there?” Alphonse spoke. Nothing answered. He tutted in annoyance.

Walking past another doorway, a large table filled the entire room. The scene was familiar. At the head of the table, a chest lay there in perfect placement. He walked up to it and unlatched the lid.

A thick finger lay within the box. The fingernails were painted black. Guess I need to eat it? Picking up the finger, Alphonse placed it into his mouth and swallowed.

Finger of Gluttony consumed.

| 100 constitution added.

Unique class skill obtained.

Devour: Open up your stomach to completely absorb any attack. Be careful, an attack that greatly exceeds your ability will destroy you from the inside.