Chapter 15: Fight And Shout.

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Napoleon Bonaparte: "The truest wisdom is a resolute determination."

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"Answer me!" she said, slamming her fist into the table.

"I’ll fight," Alex struggled to say through gritted teeth.

"Louder!" she demanded.

"I’ll fight," he said with his voice raised.

"Even louder!" she screamed at him.

"I’ll fight," he screamed back at her.

He didn’t stop with one scream. He kept screaming, as if he wanted to use it to get rid of all the frustration and gloom inside him.

While he was shouting, he was also screaming inwardly, thinking, ’Is that what you want, bitch? You want me to shout like some maniac?’

’You get what you ask for. Now I’m shouting like a deranged maniac. Now I’m screaming at the top of my lungs.’

Her words resonated deeply with him because she made good points and because she was right. She was most right when she said he survived the transformation by luck.

When she riled him up during the transformation, he got angry and vowed to survive so he could get back at her. But all of that anger had done nothing.

His anger didn’t save him at all. The worm had killed him despite the anger. He survived the transformation only because of the Life Forge.

Now he is in a situation where the Life Forge can’t help him. The Life Forge will only save him from things that can kill him. It won’t save him from things that can take control of his body or influence his mind, so he is on his own in this struggle.

Just as she said, the choices were clear. He could give up or fight. He decided to fight and shout about his decision.

"Alright. Enough shouting," Tessa called out.

He shut up immediately, closing his mouth to make sure that a single pip didn’t leak out of him. He was being extra careful because she was waving her baton around, as if looking for something to hit with it.

"That’s it for pep talk," she said, hefting her baton and feeling its weight.

Then she said, "You can start."

Barnabas immediately dove into the food. Robert, who was beside him in the middle of the three, was hesitating slightly. But when he saw Barnabas eating all of the food, his urge for good spiked and his hesitation disappeared.

Robert also began eating, with gusto even, leaving Alex still hesitating. This time, Alex didn’t want to let his urges lead him by the nose. He was angry, remorseful, and disgusted by what they were eating, so he had enough emotions to fight against the hunger within him.

Unfortunately, the worm was not willing to let him chicken out of a good meal and forcefully took control of his body. Alex refused to let go, so he and the worm fought for control.

As a result, his body went limp, and he fell forward. He fell face-first into the meal on the table, causing some to enter his mouth.

As soon as the food touched his tongue, pleasure flooded his mind. It was as if he was ejaculating. The feeling of pleasure dwarfed the greatest orgasm he had ever had in his life. Because of it, everything disappeared from his mind.

Gone was his anger. His disgust and remorse went out the door, too. His resolve fell apart, replaced by the pleasure of food. His eyes even rolled up into his head.

For some reason, the pleasure he felt this time was greater than the one he felt the first time he tasted flesh. His best guess would have been that the worm now had more energy from the food it ate to compel him to do its bidding. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make that guess because he wasn’t thinking.

It was already difficult to think straight when sex was involved, and it was perfectly normal for the mind to go blank during an orgasm. The pleasure he was experiencing was at least twice as strong as the best possible orgasm, so it would be a miracle if he could think of anything.

He didn’t even hear Tessa say, "Stop!"

The entire world had disappeared from his perception. There was only food and the pleasure of eating.

"Bang!" came the sound of a baton hitting flesh as pain blossomed from his skull.

The worm said, "Eat more!"

He felt that the worm was right, so he continued to eat. Besides, the pleasure was greater than the pain, so he didn’t mind the pain.

"Bang!"

In a short time, another source of pain erupted from the back of his skull. This time, the pain was worse than the first.

Still, he refused to give up just yet. Like a brave warrior facing down an army, he refused to back down just because of a baton.

"Bang," came the third clash.

This time, half of his skull caved in.

He was brave, but he also felt the threat of death. The pain was already enough to make his consciousness flicker into darkness.

Apparently, unconsciousness or death was right around the corner. Sensing the possibility of death, the worm let go of his mind but still maintained control of his body to deal with the source of the threat.

The worm controlled his body to rise from the table, intending to fight and kill Tessa. It was to be a repeat of the earlier scene, and Tessa was already preparing her baton for another strike to teach him a lesson.

But once the pleasure of eating left his mind, Alex recovered his senses. He wrestled control from the worm, jerking his body back and causing him to fall.

This time, he fell backward to the ground. But before he could reach the ground, someone stretched out their hand and grabbed him. Then they settled him back into his seat.

Tessa was saying, "You lot behaved even worse than your first time. But that’s normal."

"The pleasure of eating won’t increase forever. It will reach a plateau after a while. Then you will have a chance to get used to it and resist it."