"I'll go first," I said.
"Sidd, no—" Lucy started.
"Someone has to. And I'm already corrupted anyway." I touched my mask. "Look at me. White hair. Black eyes. A mask that won't shut up. What's a little more corruption?"
Smart boy, the mask purred. Feed me. Let me taste the Anchor.
I approached the pillar slowly.
The crystallized essence pulsed brighter as I got closer. Responding to my presence. To my mask. To the hunger radiating from both of us.
I reached out.
My fingers touched the crystal.
The moment of contact was like being struck by lightning.
Not painful. Not pleasurable. Just intense.
Information flooded my mind. Not words. Pure understanding. Knowledge burned directly into my consciousness.
THE FLESH CRADLE - ANCHOR POINT SYSTEM
This world operated on bonds. On connections. On becoming part of the collective.
The Mother of Limbs wasn't just a boss. She was the world itself. Every piece of corruption, every bridge, every flesh-covered ruin—all extensions of her.
To survive here, you had to join her. Temporarily. Let a piece of her essence into you. Bind yourself to an Anchor Point and become part of the network.
In exchange, you gained:
PHYSICAL ENHANCEMENT - Strength, speed, durability increased based on Anchor tier
ESSENCE REGENERATION - The world would feed you instead of drain you
CORRUPTION RESISTANCE - The flesh wouldn't attack bound individuals
SPECIAL ABILITIES - Each Anchor granted unique powers
But the cost:
PARTIAL ASSIMILATION - You became slightly less human. Slightly more... hers.
DEPENDENCY - Stay away from Anchor Points too long, withdrawal sets in
LOSS OF SELF - Bind to too many Anchors, lose your identity completely
PERMANENT MARKS - Your body would change. Physically. Visibly.
The information continued flooding in. Overwhelming. Too much. Too fast.
Then came the physical sensation.
The crystal dissolved. Liquefied. Flowed up my arm like living mercury.
It was cold. Burning cold. Like liquid nitrogen on bare skin.
I tried to pull away. Couldn't. My hand was fused to the pillar.
The liquefied essence traveled up my arm, under my sleeve, across my shoulder, into my chest.
I felt it enter me.
Not through my mouth or nose. Through my skin. Seeping into my pores, flowing into my bloodstream, spreading throughout my body.
My veins burned. Black-red lines appeared on my arms, glowing faintly through my skin. Not painful. Not pleasant. Just present.
The essence reached my heart.
And bonded.
[ANCHOR POINT BINDING COMPLETE]
[SIDD - BOUND TO FLESH CRADLE]
[TIER 4 ANCHOR - PRIMARY BOND ESTABLISHED]
[NEW ABILITIES UNLOCKED]
[PHYSICAL ENHANCEMENT: +25% TO ALL STATS]
[SPECIAL ABILITY: FLESH SIGHT - SEE THROUGH CORRUPTION]
[WARNING: FIRST PERMANENT MARK APPLIED]
I gasped, stumbling backward. My hand released from the pillar.
The crystal had reformed. Slightly dimmer now. But still there.
"Sidd!" Lucy caught me as I nearly fell. "Are you—what happened—your arm—"
I looked down.
My right arm, from fingertips to shoulder, was covered in black-red veins. They glowed faintly. Pulsed with that heartbeat rhythm.
And they weren't just on the surface. I could feel them inside me. Part of my circulatory system now. Permanent.
The mark.
The price.
"I'm bound," I said, my voice strange. Distant. "I'm part of the Flesh Cradle now."
My mask changed.
The bone-white surface darkened. The devil horns emerged fully. The eye holes sharpened into predatory slits.
And for the first time since getting the mask, I felt... satisfied.
The hunger was still there. But muted. Fed. Like I'd finally eaten after days of starvation.
Good, the mask purred. We are stronger now. More. BETTER.
I tested my body.
The exhaustion was gone. Completely. I felt energized. Powerful. Like I could run for hours without tiring.
The dim red light from the walls was brighter to my eyes. Clearer. I could see through the corruption now. See the stone beneath. See the structure of the temple.
My new ability. Flesh Sight.
"How do you feel?" Somi asked, her tactical mask analyzing me.
"Strong," I admitted. "Stronger than I've been since we arrived. The binding worked. I'm not being drained anymore. The world is... feeding me. Supporting me."
"But you're corrupted," someone said. Accusatory.
"Yeah." I looked at the black-red veins on my arm. "I am. But I'm alive. And I can fight."
I looked at the other survivors. At their pale, exhausted faces. At how they were already weakening.
"This is how we survive," I said. "We bind to the Anchor Points. We become part of this world. Temporarily. Just until we can kill the Mother and escape."
"And if we become too much like her?" Kael asked. "What then?"
"Then we're screwed," I said honestly. "But at least we'll be alive long enough to try."
The survivors debated for an hour.
Some wanted to bind immediately. They could feel themselves weakening. They were desperate.
Others refused. Too risky. Too much corruption. They'd rather die human than become... whatever I was becoming.
In the end, twenty-three survivors chose to bind.
Fourteen refused.
One by one, they approached the Anchor Point. Touched the crystal. Received the flood of information. Felt the essence enter their bodies.
Each person received different marks:
Kael: Black-red veins across his chest, spreading like roots Lucy: Patterns on her arms that glowed when she used her Lightning Wand Gery: Veins running down his sword-arm, pulsing when he gripped his katana Somi: Marks across her forehead, barely visible under her silver hair
Each person gained the same basic benefits: enhanced strength, essence regeneration, corruption resistance.
But each also lost something. A piece of their humanity. A step closer to becoming part of the Mother's collective.
I watched them transform, one by one.
And I felt my mask change further.
The devil horns grew longer. The surface darker. My white hair streaks spread—now almost half my hair was pure white.
My eyes stayed black. Endless. Empty.
We are becoming, the mask whispered. Not human. Not monster. Something between. Something NEW.
"Shut up," I muttered.
But it was right.
I was changing. We all were.
And there was no going back.
Full darkness came quickly.
The bioluminescent flesh was the only light now. Deep red glow pulsing with that eternal heartbeat.
Outside, beyond the sealed archway, we heard sounds.
Wet. Slithering. Dragging.
Things moving in the dark.
The survivors who hadn't bound themselves were suffering visibly. Shaking. Pale. Cold despite the humid warmth.
Those who had bound were stronger. Alert. Ready.
The division was clear.
Somi organized watch shifts. Those bound would guard. Those unbound would rest.
I volunteered for first watch with Gery and three others.
Lucy tried to stay with me, but I could see she was exhausted.
"Sleep," I told her. "You're bound now. Tomorrow you'll be strong enough to help. Tonight, rest."
She wanted to argue. But the exhaustion won. She found a relatively dry spot against the wall and closed her eyes.
I stood near the sealed entrance, listening to the sounds outside.
My Flesh Sight ability let me see through the corruption covering the archway. See what was beyond.
And I wished I hadn't looked.
They weren't Yetis.
They weren't anything I recognized.
Tier 4 enemies.
Creatures made of flesh and bone and corruption. Some crawled on too many legs. Some slithered like serpents made of human arms. Some walked upright but wrong—joints bending in impossible directions.
And they were drawn to the temple.
To us.
They circled the structure, searching for a way in. Testing the corruption-seal.
But they couldn't enter.
Because we were bound now.
The Mother's flesh recognized us as part of her network. Protected us from her other children.
See? my mask said. Binding was the right choice. Without it, they would already be inside. Already feeding on you.
"For now," I replied quietly. "But what happens when we try to kill the Mother? What happens when we turn against her while carrying her essence inside us?"
Then we'll find out how strong we really are.
I watched the creatures circle.
Watched the darkness pulse and writhe.
And I realized—we weren't just fighting a boss.
We were fighting an entire world.
A world we'd become part of.
A world that was slowly making us hers.
My mask shifted again. The horns grew. The eye slits became sharper.
And deep inside, I felt myself laughing.