[System Error]
[Critical Host Malfunction]
[Emergency Access Granted]
[Initiating Aid Protocol…]
[Self-Regeneration: Active]
[Entering Cryostasis…]
[Stabilized]
[Completion Time: Unknown]
[Sswiiiworm]
A pitch-black cocoon, veined with snow-white lining, sprouts from Sirus's back and slowly envelops him whole.
[Ke-Click]
…
"S–SIRUS!!"
"Is… he…?"
"I… don't kno—"
"What did… this?"
"It's… too strong… I can't…"
"Don't… you…!"
Several hours earlier…
All hell had yet to break loose.
"You know, Sasha," Ethan said, chopping into thick meat with a dull thud.
[Chop]
[Bang]
[Chop]
"Hmm? Yes, dear?" Sasha replied absently, wiping her blade clean.
"Hasn't Sirus been… too quiet? He usually makes a racket—even when he sleeps."
Sasha paused mid-slice, her eyes narrowing. "Now that you mention it… even when he's peaceful, it's never this quiet."
She exchanged a worried glance with Ethan and handed him the knife.
"You take over. I'm checking on him."
Ethan watched her walk quickly down the hall. An unease settled in his chest like a stone. As he reached for the knife—
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! MY SIRUS!!"
He spun around. Sasha's scream tore through the house like a rift in the air.
A cold shiver crawled up his spine.
He bolted after her.
As he turned the corner, her back came into view—trembling. His voice cracked as he spoke:
"Sasha, what's wrong?!"
Then he looked inside Sirus's room.
Blood—too much blood. A pile of pitch-black ichor congealed on the floor. At its center, a cocoon. Black as void, lined in snow-white silk.
Ethan stumbled back, breath caught in his throat.
Sasha turned to him, wild-eyed, and slapped his cheek.
"ETHAN! TAKE SIRUS TO THE DOCTOR! NOW!" she screamed, tears cascading. She collapsed to her knees, clutching her hair, screaming again.
"SOMEONE HELP MY CHILD!!"
Her voice roared through the entire village, amplified by a sudden flare of uncontrollable mana.
Ethan shook himself out of his trance. He knelt, arms trembling, and reached for the cocoon. It clung to the blood-soaked floor like it had roots.
[ZzzzzZcroom]
As soon as he touched it, the black ichor hardened to obsidian beneath his fingers.
He sprinted out of the house, arms wrapped around the cocoon, his clothes soaked in the strange dark fluid.
Demons poured out of their homes, gasping at the sight: Ethan, coated in black, clutching something unholy.
Sasha's screams still echoed, drawing the village like moths to a flame.
"She's inside!"
"Miss Sasha, what happened?!"
They rushed into the home and found her crumpled on the floor, wailing. Her fingers tugged at her scalp as she sobbed, barely coherent.
"MY CHILD!! AHHHHHH!"
"What is this black liquid…?"
"Miss Sasha, please! We need to understand!"
She looked up, eyes bloodshot and wild, and screamed:
"MY HUSBAND!!"
She pointed toward the village path, where Ethan had fled.
A murmur rippled through the gathered demons.
One of them spoke, eyes wide. "I—I saw him. He ran off holding that… thing. Covered in black ooze."
A silence. Then a deep, cruel voice:
"Don't tell me… that thing he held… is her child?!"
The crowd erupted.
One burly demon raised a fist. "Women—stay here and comfort Miss Sasha! Men, we're going after him!"
"HE'S BEHIND THIS!"
"LET'S CATCH THAT BASTARD!"
The mob surged after Ethan. Sasha's wailing never ceased.
[Bang!]
The doctor's door slammed open. Ethan stumbled inside, gasping.
"Huff… Huff… Doctor! DOCTOR!! I need you!"
A curtain whipped aside. A demon emerged—tall, ram-horned, clad in white robes.
"Ethan?" The doctor's eyes darted over him, then to the cocoon in his arms.
Ethan fell to his knees.
"M–my son… He was fine… then he went quiet… we found a pool of blood—this thing wrapped around it…"
Tears streamed down his face as he looked down at the cocoon.
The doctor knelt swiftly, placing one ear against the strange surface. His face went pale.
"I hear… a heartbeat."
Ethan's breath caught. "I-is he inside? Is that really Sirus?!"
"I… I don't know," the doctor said grimly. "But we have to assume so."
"What do we do?" Ethan asked.
"Bring him to my office. Set him on the table."
They rushed into the back room. Ethan laid the cocoon down gently as the doctor cleared his desk, sweeping aside papers.
As the doctor examined it, he asked, "Where's your wife? She should be here in case—"
Ethan turned and ran.
But outside…
He stopped dead.
A wall of demons stood waiting. Eyes burning with fury.
"There he is!"
"He did something to his kid!"
"MONSTER!"
"W-wait—!" Ethan raised his arms, but it was too late.
A fist collided with his back. He flew through the air, slammed into a tree.
Crack.
Blood poured from his mouth. He groaned, trying to speak—
"Enough!!"
The air trembled.
Dust kicked up.
A voice, deep as the underworld, silenced the chaos.
A towering demon stepped into view—3.5 meters tall, short grey hair, forward-pointing horns.
"Village Chief?!"
He glared at them all, arms crossed.
"You woke me up for this? Attacking a father without understanding the situation?!"
"But—but he ran off! Holding that thing!"
The Chief stared down at Ethan, saw the snapped tree, the black stains.
Then he turned to the villagers, voice low but heavy:
"That father… ran to the doctor. Not away."
A stunned silence.
"Eh?!"
The Chief sighed and rubbed his face.
"All of this… because of a misunderstanding."