All, One, Everything.

Chapter 26: Yhaele

Preview: Then a black and shiny centipede covered in blood and bits of sticky stuff came crawling out from the dried up mangled carcass.

Nnngh.. F*ck.. Ugh.. What the hell.. My head hurts so much.. What in the world- Oh, the empire's soldiers!! Yhaele woke up abruptly, startling the other hatchlings emerging from the surrounding eggs. Sounds of shell breaking and growls reached Yhaele's ears as he started looking around.

What the f*ck? What are these ugly bastards besides me?? Why can I understand their words? Yhaele started doubting his 24 years of human life listening to mindless growls around him.

"Food!" "Food!" Food!" Screamed the ugly bastards constantly, battering my eardrums. I look around and, taking a closer look, those eggs are actually as big as 1 meter tall. This sure is crazy, what kind of species is this?

Rumble. My stomach protests in hunger and a delicious scent wafted in my olfactory senses. Searching for its source, I look down and see the cracked egg shells. They look so delicious. A weird thought popped up in my head. My hands start moving on their own to satiate the hunger that I am currently feeling. Piece by piece, crispy sounds emerge from my mouth and my surroundings. I lose myself in pleasure from having satiated my desire as if I haven't had meals for a week and continued munching on the eggshells.

Slowly, I feel less hungry and I regain my sanity. Raising my head, numerous pairs of red eyes stare at me from the darkness - filled with malice and hunger. I realized I was the only one left with a bit of eggshells while others finished theirs. I also realized that I could control myself and stay awake despite the tearing hunger inside me. And lastly, I realized that I may, perhaps, most likely is f*cked.

My legs started moving before the thought formed in my mind. I sigh with relief inwardly, thinking that it must be instinct and reaction built from constant wars kicking in. I looked ahead, looking for a place to hide and thankfully found a huge boulder, but somehow it looked strange with red and orange colors. I shook off these thoughts as I knew time was not on my side and immediately hid behind it. Sneaking a peek, I see those strange creatures fight for my eggshells and start killing each other, devouring each other in the process. And in this strangely unfamiliar environment, those who devoured others grew stronger and bigger. It's as if an accelerated growth button has been pressed and they start rampaging against others, consuming more.

I once again mentally heave a sigh of relief that they are stupid enough to ignore and forget me. Giving me a chance to look at my "new" self.

Tough steel-like claws, should be enough to tear through the thick hide of bears back in the forest of Gorges. Reptilian scales covering my body, providing me with great defense that can ward off blunt strikes from hammers. A strong and thick tail to cover my back and use as an offensive weapon to attack my enemies in surprise. Thick and big skull, just like the helmet I wore during the war. Hidden wrist blade on the back of wrist that I can extend and contract at will. Strong two legs, most likely can help me run faster, jump higher and make maneuvering better. I also have a strange mandible on my mouth, perhaps to clamp on my enemies and chew through their bones? While my.. Vocal structure seems to be capable of emitting strange high-pitched shrieks and noises to confuse my enemy, immobilizing them. My current height is around 1.5 meters and this is me being a newborn. Overall, I'd say my current state is just - AWESOME! But I feel strangely conflicted considering I traded my humanity for it.

I am highly aware of my current abilities as if the knowledge is ingrained in me through my genetics and I also realized that I am aware of what those ugly bastards are. They are my - brothers and sisters - albeit ugly. It feels weird seeing them kill each other soon after being born. But I know they also have no choice. The information in my genes is telling me that this is something every Majia- our species as a demon is called - to undergo at birth. We have to consume each other in order to produce strong predators who can grow quickly in order to adapt to this, well, "Hellish" place. I mean, it's "Hell" from what the knowledge is telling me so I suppose it can't be helped that this has to happen in order to survive. In order to grow stronger quickly, and to be able to hold my own against other predators, I have to kill my siblings - Those monsters.