Rin was still alive.
Even he did not know how.
The fall should have killed him.
The broken bones should have killed him.
The infection from that foul cave should have killed him.
Yet somehow, after three endless days inside the abyss, he still clung to life.
Barely.
His body remained weak.
Every breath hurt.
Every movement felt like his muscles were being torn apart.
And the revolting black broth the old woman forced into him every few hours made his stomach twist in disgust.
Rin had vomited until there was nothing left to vomit.
Still, she kept feeding him.
Still, she kept watching him with those hungry eyes.
Like a butcher inspecting meat.
Three days.
Three days of pain.
Three days of pretending to be more helpless than he truly was.
Because Rin had realized something.
His body was healing.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
The disgusting liquid was not poison.
It was medicine.
Twisted, filthy medicine—
but medicine nonetheless.
His fingers could move now.
His shoulders obeyed him a little.
His right hand could clench when she wasn't looking.
Not enough to fight.
But enough to wait.
Enough to gamble on one chance.
The old woman smiled that morning.
It was the widest smile Rin had seen yet.
A smile that made his skin crawl.
"Ahh..."
She licked her cracked lips.
"The flesh is ready."
Rin's heart pounded.
Today.
Without lifting a finger, she used her telekinesis.
Invisible force wrapped around Rin's battered body and dragged him across the blood-stained floor.
Rin gritted his teeth.
He tried to resist slightly.
Only slightly.
Just enough to test his recovered strength.
But the telekinetic grip was still overwhelming.
His body slid helplessly toward the center of the cave.
There stood a flat stone slab.
Plain.
Cold.
Darkened by old blood.
Rin's breathing became shallow.
An execution table.
The old woman gently placed him on top of it.
Like preparing a meal.
Then, humming to herself, she stretched out her hand.
From a crack in the wall, a sword floated out.
Rusty.
Jagged.
But sharp enough.
The blade drifted into her waiting hand.
She turned toward Rin.
Her smile widened.
"Let's begin cutting."
The old woman let out a raspy chuckle.
"Let's first have a taste."
With the jagged sword, she sliced a small piece from Rin's cheek.
"AAH—!"
Pain exploded across his face.
Warm blood ran down to his lips.
The old woman bent closer, her tongue slowly licking the blood from his skin like a starving beast savoring fresh meat.
Her eyes closed in pleasure.
"Delicious..."
That was all Rin needed.
Three days.
Three days of pain.
Three days of humiliation.
Three days of being treated like prey.
Three days of fear, hatred, disgust, and helplessness—
everything Rin had suppressed erupted at once.
His trembling eyes turned wild.
Something inside him snapped.
Rin lunged.
"RAAAAHHHH!"
The sudden movement caught the old woman completely off guard.
His jaws sank deep into her neck.
CRUNCH.
The old woman's eyes bulged.
A piercing scream tore through the cave.
"SKREEEEAAAH!"
She tried to throw him away with telekinesis.
Invisible force smashed into Rin's broken body.
Bones cracked.
Pain ripped through every nerve.
But Rin did not let go.
He couldn't.
He wouldn't.
Not now.
Not after everything.
His fingers dug into her rotten flesh.
His teeth tore deeper.
Blood flooded into his mouth—hot, metallic, suffocating.
Yet Rin bit harder.
Harder.
Like a starving monster.
The old woman clawed at him, shrieking.
The cave trembled under the violent surge of telekinetic force.
Stones shattered.
Blood splattered across the walls.
But Rin had become something else.
A beast driven by pure survival.
A creature born from despair.
With a guttural roar, Rin twisted his entire body and ripped backward with every ounce of madness left in him.
RIIIP.
Flesh tore.
Bone snapped.
The scream stopped.
The old woman's head was violently torn from her body.
Her corpse collapsed to the ground with a wet thud.
Silence.
Rin staggered back.
Blood covered his mouth.
Blood covered his chest.
Blood dripped from his shaking fingers.
For several long seconds, he simply stood there.
Breathing.
Shaking.
Staring.
At the lifeless body before him.
His first kill.
The realization struck him like lightning.
Rin's knees gave out.
He collapsed to the ground.
The rage vanished.
What remained was a terrified fifteen-year-old boy.
Tears burst from his eyes.
His voice cracked into sobs.
"I... I'm sorry..."
He looked at his blood-covered hands.
"I am so sorry..."
His shoulders shook violently.
He cried like a child lost in darkness.
Not because she was innocent—
but because he had crossed a line that could never be uncrossed.
He had killed with his own mouth like an animal.
The horror of it crushed him.
His broken body could no longer endure.
Exhaustion swallowed him.
Still crying—
Rin fell sideways into the blood-stained stone...
and drifted into unconsciousness.