Chapter 14—Hive Idol

 Idol

[Warning! Warning! Warning!]

[Biomass is critically low!]

[How pitiful, N-E-M-E-S-I-S, I thought you had the guts to live. Why are you just sitting there, accepting this loss? Fight back, struggle, make us enjoy it. Entertain us, you bug!]

—Fuck off.

My thoughts weren’t directed towards Luna; instead, they were pointed toward the System.

Why hadn’t she gotten rid of it? What was her plan?

—Are you listening?

My anger surged in a burning rush of fury.

That thought hit like fire in my veins.

I could not lose her. Not my first Thrall. Not my Luna.

—You are MINE.

With a surge of focus, I concentrated all of my attention on my Hive Management interface, desperate to find something, ANYTHING, that could help her.

And that’s when I saw it.

During her hunting, she had accumulated many bones—resources.

Resources. It clicked.

If I could somehow use these resources to create something, something to shield her from the wraiths, then maybe, just maybe, I could save her from being completely consumed.

I worked quickly, using every resource I had available.

The bones scattered around Luna twitched. Fragments scraped against one another, pulled by invisible strings. A skull clattered, jaw snapping shut as black ichor poured into its hollow sockets. Vertebrae spun like wheels, spines clicking into place.

From the debris of fallen skeletons, a shape rose. Not alive. Not dead. An idol of the Hive.

The wraiths howled, voices of glass dragged across metal. Where the idol stood, their incorporeality faltered. They flickered, edges sharpening, half-real, half-not.

[New Architecture Constructed!]

Hive Idol Lv. 1—You may fuse biomass with ambient matter to create an anchor of your will. Idols force incorporeal entities to manifest within physical reality.

At level one, this idol manifests a sphere with a 5-meter radius around itself. Incorporeal entities are 50% more vulnerable to physical attacks in this realm.

Idol HP: 30/30

Effect Duration: Until destroyed (automatic repairs initiated when damaged).

Within range of the idol, Luna's strength surged anew. The Wraiths, no longer immune, began to retreat. Their ethereal forms flickered, bleeding mist as they attempted to flee back into the walls and shadows of the dungeon.

But it was too late.

Luna pounced onto the nearest Wraith, jaws snapping shut on its ephemeral form. It shrieked as her teeth sank deep, tearing chunks out of its spectral body. The wraith's cries reverberated off the dungeon walls as it struggled against Luna's attack, but she was relentless, tearing and ripping until there was nothing left but fading wisps of spectral energy.

Beautiful.

She was beautiful. Ruthless, savage, unstoppable.

“Devour,” I commanded with grim satisfaction.

Without hesitation, she threw herself upon her next foe, jaws wide open as she sank her fangs into its immaterial substance.

One by one, the Wraiths fell beneath her assault, until all that remained were broken shards of ectoplasmic residue clinging desperately to life amidst ruined bodies and scattered bones.

When it was over, Luna sat among piles of bone-dust and shattered specters, panting heavily as steam rose from her coat in waves like mist off morning grass after rain had passed away overnight.

One Wraith remained hovering just out of reach beyond where even Luna could leap after it; it quivered there helplessly, and I wanted to try something.

—Luna, take the Idol in your mouth. Take it in your mouth and follow my threads!

She took the Idol in her mouth, and I wrapped my Puppet String around the Wraith, squeezing the entity as hard as possible.

As long as it was within the Idol's sphere of influence, it wasn't immune.

The wraith spasmed as Luna followed the tugs and prods, moving inexorably toward her quarry. Its arms flailed wildly, trying to escape my grasp, but each twist only tightened the string, binding tighter and tighter until at last it lay limp and still before us.

I had to say...the sight must've been terrifying for anyone that might have seen it: a direwolf, dragging an idol, while following the pull of invisible strings to devour a wraith. No wonder the system chose this dungeon—it was truly demented.

Slowly, Luna and my prey reached me and the Hive Core, which pulsed menacingly within its bone cage like a beating heart carved from dark stone; threads snaked outward from it toward every corner of this chamber and beyond—toward every inch of dungeon floor above and below us—linking each strand together into one massive network ready to do my bidding whenever called upon...

I had worked hard while Luna hunted. This den was becoming my own, one piece of stone at a time.

I wanted to try that King of Predation title that had been unlocked after I evolved; I could consume anything, after all...

So I pulled the Wraith towards me and opened my disgusting circular maw, revealing my teeth as I swallowed the Wraith whole. It wriggled in agony inside my jaws like an eel caught between crushing rocks, its spectral flesh slithering helplessly against the serrated ridges of my mandibles, and I savored the sweet tang of spiritual meat.

How amusing. How delightful.

I chewed thoughtfully before swallowing again, feeling the wraith's spirit squirm within me as though trying vainly to escape. My mind grew sharper and clearer; senses were honed by the feast before me.

Then, at once, the struggling ceased.

All trace of life had fled; only an empty husk remained.

As expected of a King of Predation.

As I snuffed the life—unlife?—out of the Wraith, I could’ve sworn I heard it… mutter something.

Something that would’ve made me frown… if I could frown.

“The Mistress sees you…”

[Consumption Success!]

New Skill Gained!

Spirit Sight Lv.1

Enhance your vision to perceive normally invisible spiritual entities (ghosts, spectral entities) and environmental changes related to supernatural phenomena.

Illusion Magic Lv. 1

Your ability to weave illusions that affect the senses and perception of others increases. At this level, basic illusion spells can be cast, with limitations in complexity and scale.

[However, you cannot use magic without mana. Sucks to suck.]

Illusion Magic...

So that was what it had been called. The illusions. Interesting.

And this new skill, Spirit Sight… It appeared that my suspicions were true, that these Wraiths held power over manipulating senses and realities.

Fascinating...it could definitely prove useful down the road—especially considering what awaited further below...

I wondered just how far this power might stretch.

Could I use this newfound ability to conceal the Hive? Could I cloak my Hive's location by creating a false image—a facade—to trick invaders into thinking they'd found an empty cavern? I could even create illusions of deadly dangers to lure unsuspecting explorers into traps specifically designed to feed more biomass back into the Core.

The possibilities seemed endless.

Still, that was for later.

I looked at Luna. She was safe. She was here.

Everything else mattered little right now.

She padded up next to my horrible maggot form, nudging me gently with her nose.

Can I truly stroke her fur with this horrible body of mine?

I extended one of my black tendrils to touch her head; I retracted it before reaching her.

She leaned forward, nudging me with her head, licking the oily surface of my maggot skin, despite how utterly repugnant it must have tasted on her tongue.

Maybe someday, I'll change my form enough to be able to touch her with less monstrous hands...hands of my own, but...I do want to pet my wolf, goddammit!

“Master...you're shaking.”

I extended it once again. Trembling. Tentatively. Frightened of rejection. My tendril reached toward Luna, her gaze tracking it as I moved closer to her.

Her eyes remained fixed upon me, but her expression remained steady—not hostile or aggressive—just watchful.

Carefully, cautiously, I touched the tip of my tendril lightly against her forehead between her ears.

And Luna, my dear, precious Luna...leaned into the contact with a contented sigh.

This moment. Our connection. Our trust.

It made everything worthwhile.

“You're weird, Master…” She murmured with amusement.

My tentacle brushed along her neck, feeling the warmth of her skin and the gentle rise and fall of her chest with each breath.

—How strange that you are breathing while dead…

“I do not breathe; it’s merely instinctual, Master.”

Interesting.

—Perhaps, eventually, I’ll be able to give you flesh again…

Luna didn’t respond, and I continued stroking her. Her fur felt coarse underneath my slime-covered limb, and I noticed the subtle shifts in temperature across her body.

—This isn’t awful, huh?

Her reply came without hesitation.

“Not at all, Master.”

We spent a few more minutes together, simply existing together, both comforted by each other's presence. And finally, Luna shifted away, breaking the spell.

“I should hunt, Master. You are hungry, right?”