The Monster That Knew His Name
"Kai…"
The voice echoed like cracking porcelain, layered with countless whispers beneath it.
Not one voice—hundreds. All speaking his name at once.
The creature stepped into the full light of the cavern.
Its face looked human, but shattered, unable to settle on a single expression.
Fragments of other faces—men, women, even children—flashed across its broken porcelain surface like trapped souls fighting to escape.
Its body was a swirling mass of shadow threaded with glowing white veins, each pulse emitting a sound like distant screams.
Junshin drew his sword.
"I hate—hate—that it knows your name."
Aria stepped forward, eyes sharp.
"It's absorbing memories… from erased worlds."
Aziya clung to Kai's arm, trembling.
"Kai… it's not just a monster. It's a graveyard."
The Hunter tilted its head at her.
"A… refugee of a saved timeline.
…Considered inconsequential by the Devourer."
Aziya stiffened.
"Rude."
But the Hunter's gaze snapped back to Kai.
"You.
Last Echo King.
Your timeline was delicious."
Kai felt the air leave his lungs.
"My… timeline?"
"Yes. Devoured.
The fear…
The despair…
The memories…
All tasted exquisite."
Kai lunged forward—but Aria grabbed him.
"KAI! Don't fall for it. It wants to destabilize you."
The Archivist's voice boomed from above.
"HUNTER UNIT DETECTED. ALL MACHINES—DEPLOY!"
From across the city, mechanical guardians—spherical drones, bipedal mechs, floating runic sentinels—activated at once, zooming and stomping toward the Hunter.
Kai pulled free from Aria.
"Everyone run! We can't fight that head-on!"
But the Hunter spread its arms.
Black flame spiraled outward—
A wave of antireality distortion—
And every machine in its radius froze, shook, and shattered like glass.
A metal giant exploded beside Kai, the blast flipping him off his feet.
Aziya screamed.
"KAI!"
Junshin caught Kai before he hit the ground.
"Okay. We're leaving. Now."
---
Escape Through the Machine Streets
The four sprinted across metal bridges as the massive city quaked around them.
The heart engine pulsed rapidly—like it sensed doom approaching.
Behind them, the Hunter walked.
Not fast.
Not slow.
Just inevitable.
Every step distorted the metal beneath its feet.
Kai shouted over the alarms:
"Archivist! Is there an escape route?!"
The Archivist's hologram flickered beside them.
"Yes—take the Central Rail. It will lead you to the outer city."
"Then what?!" Aria yelled.
"Then… you run faster."
Junshin snorted.
"Great. Amazing. Love your optimism."
They reached a massive rail platform—tracks spiraled across the cavern like glowing veins. A sleek metal train floated above the rails, humming.
Aziya gasped.
"A maglev… powered by mana?"
Junshin pushed her forward.
"Admire it later. Train now! Monster behind!"
Kai glanced back—
The Hunter was already stepping onto the same platform, absorbing the shattered machines into its body as it walked.
The porcelain face split into a smile.
"Run, little king.
It makes the hunt sweeter."
Kai jumped into the train.
"GO!"
The doors slammed shut as the train shot forward with explosive speed.
---
The Hunter Gives Chase
For a moment, the four collapsed in their seats, panting.
Aria was the first to speak.
"We're not safe yet. It can move between timelines—it can teleport—"
The train lurched violently.
A klaxon blared.
Aziya screamed.
"IT'S ON THE ROOF!"
A massive dent caved in above them.
Cracks spread through the metal.
Junshin swore loudly.
"Seriously?! Does this thing have a vendetta?!"
Kai stood, bracing the ceiling with magic-enhanced strength.
"Keep moving forward! I'll try to hold it!"
Aria grabbed his wrist.
"No. We do this together."
Another dent—this time the ceiling nearly burst inward.
Then the porcelain voice seeped through the cracks.
"Kai…
Do you know which of your friends carries the Devourer's seed?"
Silence.
Aziya turned pale.
"W-what seed?"
Junshin's grip tightened on his sword.
"You trying to turn us on each other? Not happening."
Aria locked eyes with Kai.
"Don't listen. Focus."
But Kai's heart twisted anyway.
His father's warning.
The Hunter's taunt.
And his friends' faces—
The train shook violently.
The roof peeled open like paper.
The Hunter loomed above them—hanging upside down, its body shifting like liquid darkness.
Junshin moved first, slashing upward.
"GET OFF OUR TRAIN!"
The Hunter caught the blade with two fingers.
Crack.
The sword fractured.
Junshin stared.
"You… absolute—"
The Hunter flicked him aside like a toy, sending him slamming into the wall.
"JUN!"
Aziya rushed to him.
Aria launched spears of hardened light at the creature.
The Hunter melted through them like fog.
"Kai," it whispered.
"Why struggle?
Your world already died."
Kai shouted back, summoning the power of the Root of Forgotten Minds.
Light erupted around him.
"I won't let you erase another!"
He blasted upward—
A beam of crystallized memory energy—
Direct hit.
The Hunter flew off the train—
But its hand shot forward, claws extending, catching the rail.
The entire train derailed.
---
Derailment and the Fall
Metal screamed.
Sparks exploded.
The floor flipped.
The train shattered through the tunnel wall—
Falling—
Falling—
Falling—
Into a lower district of the machine city.
Kai grabbed Aziya and Aria mid-fall.
Junshin crashed beside them.
The train debris rained down like meteors.
They hit the ground hard.
Dust.
Pain.
Darkness.
Kai staggered, coughing.
He looked up.
The Hunter was descending slowly, drifting down like a feather.
"Kai…
Why run?
You were chosen."
"Chosen?! By who?!"
"By the Devourer.
You are the last king… because it left you alive.
You are its future vessel."
The words hit harder than any attack.
Kai's blood ran ice cold.
Aziya whispered, horrified,
"No… that's impossible…"
Aria's eyes widened.
"Kai… did you—feel anything strange lately?"
Kai shook his head violently.
"I'm not its vessel! I'm not—"
But he wasn't sure anymore.
The Hunter extended a hand.
"Accept your fate, my king.
Or I will erase your companions one by one."
Kai stepped forward, trembling with fury.
"You… will never touch them."
The Hunter's porcelain face split into a pleased grin.
"Good.
Fight back.
Let the corruption grow."
It lunged.
---
A Desperate Stand
Kai unleashed everything.
Memory energy.
Mana.
His bloodline power.
The two forces collided—
Light against void—
Reality against antireality.
Aria shielded Aziya with layers of hardened light.
Junshin, bloody but standing, charged with a roar.
The cavern shook as the battle tore apart the underground city.
The Hunter caught Kai by the throat.
"Your power is delicious.
Just like your father's.
He screamed at the end."
Kai's pupils shrank.
"Don't… talk… about him."
He grabbed the Hunter's arm—
His memory core pulsed—
And he blasted a surge of ancestral energy through the creature.
The Hunter staggered back for the first time.
Aria yelled, "Kai! You hurt it—!"
But the Hunter's broken face twisted.
"Good…
Very good…
The Devourer will be pleased."
And then—
Its body dissolved into black static, rewinding out of existence.
It vanished.
The cavern fell silent.
---
Aftermath and the Terrible Truth
Aziya ran to Kai, throwing her arms around him.
"You're hurt—you're shaking—Kai—Kai, breathe—"
Aria approached slowly, eyes still scanning for danger.
"It retreated on purpose."
Junshin spat blood.
"Yeah. Monsters like that never leave without a plan."
Kai wasn't listening.
His father's words echoed:
"Beware… one of your companions carries a secret tied to the Devourer."
The Hunter's whisper overlapped:
"One of them… will betray you."
Kai looked at his friends.
Aziya.
Aria.
Junshin.
He trusted them more than anything.
But now—
A crack formed in that trust.
And the worst part?
He felt something inside him too.
Something dark.
Something hungry.
Something… awake.
Aria noticed his silence.
"Kai? What's wrong?"
Kai swallowed hard.
"I…
I think the Hunter was telling the truth.
Something's inside me."
Aziya stepped back, horrified.
"Kai…"
Junshin's expression fell.
Aria's eyes softened, but her voice was firm.
"Then we fight it. Together."
Kai shook his head.
"What if I'm the reason the Devourer comes? What if—"
Aziya grabbed his hand.
"We stay together. No matter what."
Kai's chest tightened.
He wanted to believe that.
He needed to believe that.
But deep inside his heart, a quiet voice whispered:
"What if you're the monster?"