Novel Full Chapter 880: Hungry
Chapter 880: Chapter 880: Hungry
The forest was quiet as the three of them continued their journey toward the Azure Serpent Kingdom. The forest air was still, charged with faint energy. Even the trees seemed to shift slightly away when Kain walked past.
He didn’t notice. Or pretended not to. Serena followed a few steps behind, her eyes fixed on the faint violet hue that occasionally shimmered beneath his skin. Takeru trailed at the rear, silent and heavy-hearted.
Abe was gone. That was a fact. But the truth of how it happened felt unreal.
Takeru couldn’t bring himself to doubt Kain’s words, not after everything he’d seen the man do—his strength, his strange ability to allow normal people to become beast tamers. Someone like that didn’t need to lie. And yet, his chest ached when he thought of Abe’s smile, the tired eyes that had carried him away from the burning capital months ago.
Abe had been his saviour. His mentor. His only connection to his family’s past.
And now, he realized, also the man responsible for his family’s destruction.
Takeru stared up at the darkening sky, lips parting in a shaky breath. “If that’s true,” he murmured, “then maybe I never knew you at all.”
Kain glanced over his shoulder once but said nothing. He knew that this revelation must be shocking for Takeru, but nobody could help him come to terms with the truth.
Gradually the sun began to set, and given the action packed day, none of them felt up to pushing through the forest in the middle of the night.
They found a cave before nightfall, half-hidden beneath a curtain of vines and roots. The air inside was cool and still, and the ceiling glimmered faintly from mineral veins catching the last bits of sunlight. It was safe enough for a short rest.
“We’ll stop here for the night,” Kain said.
Takeru nodded wordlessly, sinking down further in the cave. His contract—the red grade Sunset Beetle—rested on his shoulder. Aegis stationed himself beside them, unmoving, a silent guard.
Serena lingered near the entrance of the cave. Kain, sensing her stare, turned. “Something wrong?”
She crossed her arms. “You left a lot out when you explained what happened.”
“Did I?” He tilted his head, pretending to think. “Maybe it just wasn’t relevant.”
“Try again.” Her tone sharpened. “The manner in which he died doesn’t look like any way that your contracts typically attack. However, it looks eerily similar to when you lose control and drain the energy out of someone else.”
Kain sighed and gestured toward the mouth of the cave. “Come on. I’ll tell you outside.”
———————–
The night air was cool, and moonlight filtered down through the trees, painting the clearing silver. When they were out of sight of Takeru, Serena stopped and waited.
Kain rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “So, yeah. About Abe.”
“What did you leave out?”
He hesitated. “He chopped my head off.”
Serena blinked. “He what?”
“Yeah. Brain-stabbed, decapitated—pretty final stuff.” His tone was far too casual. “Bea held my consciousness together, Queen patched me up, and then… well, Source energy kind of did the rest.”
Serena’s expression twisted between disbelief and alarm. “You’re saying you healed your entire body from a fatal injury?”
“Rebuilt it,” Kain corrected. He flexed his fingers, faint lines of violet light tracing across his knuckles. “Feels different now.”
Serena stepped back slightly. “Different how?”
“You want to see?”
Kain closed his eyes, trying to recreate the sensation from last time, and gradually his body began to glow under Serena’s stunned gaze.
Then, without waiting for her to comment further, he summoned a four-star enchanted spear from his Star Space. The weapon gleamed faintly in the moonlight, the shaft forged from Drakarite, a metal prized for its incredible toughness. Four sigils pulsed along its length:
1-Weightless Draw – reduces drag, making every strike fluid and silent.
2-Rebounding Core – stores and releases kinetic force to amplify follow‑up attacks.
3-Spirit Trace – records the user’s last moves requiring spiritual power, letting the weapon repeat them perfectly without the user needing to consume more spiritual power.
4-Stellar Sheath – stabilizes spiritual power flow to boost the speed and ease with which skills can be activated. Cultivation speed is also slightly increased while holding the spear.
Naturally, Kain had no need for this spear. He’d bought it for Milo, the next eldest member of the orphanage. Since he’d be awakening in only a couple more years, many of his high school combat courses now incorporated fighting. And Milo seemed to greatly favour the spear. Given the unique effects of this spear, he’d had the idea to gift it to Milo when he awakened as a beat tamer.
Kain examined the spear fondly for a moment—then bent it into a U-shape with his bare hands. With his financial background, he could always buy Milo a new one…
The metal groaned in protest but didn’t snap.
Serena’s jaw dropped. “That’s Drakarite! You shouldn’t even be able to slightly warp it.”
He shrugged. “Guess I’ve been working out.”
Her disbelief lingered, but something else crept into her expression—wariness. A memory flickered behind her eyes, recalling the last time Kain lost control. “You didn’t… lose it again, did you?”
Kain’s humor faded. “No. I didn’t.”
But she still didn’t seem to believe it, the time he’d looked like he wanted to drain her vivid in her memory.
He met her eyes seriously. “I’ll do whatever it takes to prove it.”
After a moment of hesitation, she summoned Balens, and a faint shimmer of blue-grade spiritual power was emitted as he appeared.
Balens, her first contract, manifested between them as an ornate antique set of bronze scales like those found in old law courts.
He was an emanascion—born from the collective will of the people for justice and fairness. That origin and collective will of the masses shaped his abilities.
Most notably, it made his greatest power the ability to grant wishes, so long as the trade offered in return was equally fair.
Yet, even beyond that, Balens possessed subtler gifts; his nature rooted in ’justice’ meant that he carried an innate sense for truth, an instinctive passive ability that detected lies.
“Balens can detect lies,” she said. “If you’re lying, it tilts.”
Kain raised an eyebrow, unfamiliar with this ability of Balens. “A lie detector, huh? Sounds useful. Ahem, by chance have you used it on me before?”
Serena’s lips twitched. “Would it matter if I had? Do you have a habit of lying to me?”
“No no! Of course, not. I mean, I’d at least like to know when I’m being interrogated,” Kain replied, half‑smiling. “Next you’ll tell me it can read thoughts too.”
“It can’t,” she said flatly. “At least not without the corresponding wish from me…so don’t tempt me.”
Kain chuckled under his breath. “Alright, let’s see how this works then.”
He tested it. “I have nine younger siblings. Ten if you count Bridge, but we’re the same age and our birthdays aren’t known…”
The scales stayed balanced.
Truth.
And indeed, there was Milo, the twins Jasper and Jasmine, Cherry, Key, Parker, Sunny, Charlie, and Melody.
“I only have one younger sister.”
Ding. The right pan dropped sharply while the left one raised.
Lie.
Serena nodded. “Good. Now… did you lose control and kill Abe?”
Kain met her gaze evenly. “No.”
The scales didn’t move.
She exhaled, the tension in her shoulders easing slightly. But her eyes still searched his face. The violet glowing eyes were still associated with one of her worst memories of him and she didn’t fully trust this ’new form.’
“Then one more question.”
“Go on.”
“Right now,” she said softly, “are you hungry?”
The very forest seemed to hold its breath.
Kain stepped forward slowly, closing the distance until the faint glow beneath his skin lit her face. Serena didn’t move. Her silver‑white hair shimmered in the violet light, and for once, her usually cold, crystalline blue eyes weren’t icy—they were wide, uncertain, almost shy. Her lips parted slightly, breath mingling with his.
For Kain, it was disorienting to see her like that. The fierce, unapproachable Serena looked… human, even fragile. His gaze lingered on the faint crawling up her pale cheeks, the flutter in her throat as she swallowed. Suddenly, despite his demand for breathing in this form being practically nonexistent, he felt short of oxygen.
He raised a hand, fingers brushing against the smooth line of her jaw before cupping her face fully. Her skin felt cool, and surprising delicate despite her strength. As if it could bruise to a light touch.. His voice, when it came, was low and slightly hoarse. “See? I have complete control. I’m not hungry at all.”
Ding!
The sound was sharp and clear as Balens’ scales tilted violently to one side.
Serena froze, blinking. Kain stared at the floating scale, then back at her, a sheepish smile tugging at his lips.
“…Okay. Maybe a little. But not for any energy…”
For a moment Serena just stared at him, not fully understanding what he’d meant. Then colour slowly crept up her neck, her face turning red. She let out a sputtered sound, raising her foot and kicking him in the shin. Hard.
“Hooligan,” she muttered, before spinning on her heel and running back toward the cave, her red face glowing even in the dim light.
Kain chuckled quietly, rubbing his shin.