The chamber pulsed with silence. Only the faint hum of distant machinery filled the air, vibrating through the golden-black walls.
Henry didn't lower his fists, but he forced his voice steady.
Henry: "Alright, tell me something, Ravenous. Why? Why did you kill Zorath? Weren't you working together?"
Ravenous figure stilled. The golden light overhead caught the sharp edges of his armor, casting long shadows across the carved walls. For a heartbeat, he said nothing.
Then, slowly, he lifted his head.
Ravenous: "…Because that is what I was made for."
His tone was quiet but heavy, like iron scraping stone.
Henry's eyes narrowed.
Henry: "Made for? What does that even mean?"
Ravenous's jaw twitched. His hands flexed at his sides, clawed fingers tightening as though he wanted to strangle the air itself.
Ravenous: "I was not born like you. I was created. My master… Midas shaped me in another's image and molded me with energy and memory. To serve. To kill. To be his weapon."
He stepped closer, and Henry felt the weight of him pressing against his chest. The same crushing gravity he remembered in the Black Halo arc. But this time… it trembled. It wasn't steady.
Henry: "Then why aren't you attacking us now? If that's all you are, then why hesitate?"
Ravenous froze mid-step. His shoulders shook once, violently, before he steadied himself again.
Ravenous: "…Because I am no longer certain if the voice inside my head is mine or his."
Elara frowned, whispering to Henry.
Elara: "His?"
Ravenous's head turned slightly, as if he heard her through walls.
Ravenous: "Zorath."
The name alone tightened the air. Henry's throat constricted.
Ravenous lifted a clawed hand and pressed it against his temple, aura flaring around his gauntlet.
Ravenous: "When I killed him… when I devoured the Awakening of Gravity… I consumed more than his power. I consumed him. His memories. His screams. His pride. His grief. They wormed their way into me like fire in dry wood."
He dragged his hand down his face. His eyes flickered—one moment sharp and predatory, the next cloudy and lost.
Ravenous: "Sometimes, when I close my eyes, I see a family that was never mine. I hear voices calling me by a name that isn't Ravenous. I dream of wars I never fought, of victories I never earned. I don't know if I am his ghost… or if he is mine."
Elara's expression softened against her will. She took half a step forward before Henry stopped her with a glance. His voice cut cold.
Elara (whispering to Henry): "He's crazy…"
Henry (to Ravenous): "You're saying you're not even sure who's standing in front of me right now."
Ravenous let out a low, broken laugh. It was dry, hollow,
Ravenous: "No. I am not sure. Am I Midas's servant? Am I Zorath's shadow? Or am I something new… a mistake walking in borrowed skin?"
Henry clenched his fists tighter, lightning crawling across his knuckles. His heart pounded with a mix of fury and pity.
Henry: "Mistake or not, you killed him, and you killed Veyra. And I won't forgive that."
Ravenous tilted his head, almost curious.
Ravenous: "…Then why hesitate? Strike me down now, Henry Dreherg. Or do you fear what part of me might remain if you do?"
The tension thickened, filling the chamber like smoke.
Elara finally broke it, her voice steady but heavy.
Elara: "If he's telling the truth, Henry… then he's not just Ravenous anymore. He's a fracture. A wound that doesn't know which soul it belongs to."
Henry stared into Ravenous's eyes, and for a heartbeat, he saw it—flickers of pain, flashes of memory not his own. A battlefield. Chains of gravity dragging mountains down. Zorath's final roar.
Ravenous pressed both claws to his head now, growling low.
Ravenous: "…He whispers. Always whispers. And sometimes… sometimes I answer."
His voice cracked on the last word.
Henry's breath caught. This wasn't the unshakable monster he remembered. This was something different. Dangerous, but broken.
Ravenous looked back up, gaze steady but fraying at the edges.
Ravenous: "So tell me, Henry. When you look at me… who do you see? The killer of your friend? Or the grave that still carries the soul of a dead god?"
The chamber was silent but for the faint hum of machines. Elara's green aura flickered nervously at her side, ready if Ravenous made a move.
Henry raised his fists slowly, heavenly blue sparking, but his jaw trembled.
Because for the first time, Henry Dreherg didn't know if the enemy in front of him was someone to kill… or a soul to save.
The tension snapped like glass under pressure.
Ravenous's claws flexed, purple light glinting across their blackened steel. His voice was lower now, guttural, like it came from two throats at once.
Ravenous: "If you will not decide who I am, Henry Dreherg, then I will decide for you."
Henry didn't hesitate. His body became light itself, streaking forward, fist crackling with heavenly blue energy. He slammed it into Ravenous's chest, the impact booming through the chamber.
Ravenous staggered backward but didn't fall. Instead, he grinned—no, snarled.
Ravenous: "Stronger than before… good. This is how it should be."
Elara swept in behind Henry, her aura of emerald energy flaring. She thrust both hands forward, releasing a concentrated blast of green energy. The beam tore across the chamber like a burning spear, slamming into Ravenous's shoulder and scorching the armor black.
Ravenous roared—but his claws carved through the beam, dispersing it into glowing fragments. His eyes burned with flickers of gravity itself, purple orbs swirling in their depths.
Ravenous: "But strength alone cannot defy weight."
He slammed a claw into the floor.
The chamber buckled. The weight of the air tripled in an instant, crushing down on Henry and Elara. Metal groaned. Their knees almost gave out. Dust cascaded from the ceiling.
Henry gritted his teeth, his body straining.
Henry: "Gravity… so he really has it."
Elara's breathing quickened. She pushed her aura outward, green light shielding her from the worst of the pull.
Henry: "Elara… We can't stay together. I'll fight him head-on. You have to find the control room!"
Elara's eyes snapped to him, wild.
Elara: "You? Alone? No—"