The smell hit us before the sight did.
It wasn't the rot of the river or the spices of the bazaar. It was the smell of a hospital delivery room mixed with a butcher shop. It smelled of wet iron, warm milk, and raw biology.
We pulled ourselves up the rusted maintenance ladder, gasping for air that wasn't toxic sludge. We had climbed fifty floors. My muscles burned, but the [Entropy Harvest] kept me topped up. I was running on the stolen life-force of a hundred eels.
"Floor B50," Kabir whispered, clutching his cane. He looked pale. "The acoustics... they changed. It sounds like the inside of a drum."
We stepped off the ladder and onto a walkway made of translucent, red-veined root.
We weren't in a hallway. We were in a womb.
[ LOCATION DISCOVERED: THE GARBHAGRIHA (THE NURSERY) ]
[ ZONE TYPE: HIVE / SPAWN POINT ]
The cavern was vast, stretching endlessly into the dark. But it wasn't empty. Hanging from the ceiling, growing from the floor, and lining the walls were millions of translucent, membranous sacks.
They pulsed.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Inside each sack, curled in fetal position, was a Rakshasa. Some were tiny, the size of dogs. Some were massive, fully formed warriors waiting to be born. Red roots pumped glowing blue blood into them, feeding them, growing them.
The floor was slick with a clear, viscous jelly. Amniotic sludge.
"Eww," Vikram whispered, lifting his foot. A strand of slime connected his shoe to the floor. "Eww, eww, eww. I'm stepping in juice. I'm stepping in monster juice."
"Quiet," Kabir hissed. He pressed his hands over his ears. "The hearts... they aren't beating randomly. They are synced. It's a Hive Dream. They are dreaming of hunger."
"We need to cross," I said, pointing to the ventilation shaft on the far side of the nursery—about two hundred meters away. "That vent leads to the upper levels. To the surface."
"We have to walk through that?" Javed asked, pointing at the forest of throbbing eggs.
"Just don't wake the babies," I said grimly.
We stepped onto the floor. Squelch.
"Rhythm," Kabir whispered. "Move between the beats. If you step when they pump, they will feel the vibration. Dhruv, stop."
I froze.
"Vikram," Kabir turned his head toward the Prismatic Ranger. "You are a problem."
"Why?" Vikram whispered. "I'm being quiet!"
"You are glowing," I realized.
Vikram's [Divine Posture] and [Surya's Prism] passive made him radiate a soft, holy light. In the dark sewer, it was a beacon. Here, in the semi-translucent womb, it was a wake-up call.
Around us, the embryos in the nearest sacks stirred. They turned their undeveloped heads toward Vikram. Eyelids fluttered.
"Turn it off!" I hissed.
"I can't!" Vikram whisper-shouted, waving his hands. "I am a Warrior of the Sun, Dhruv! I am not a Philips Hue Smart Bulb! I don't have a dimmer switch! I am constantly radiant!"
The stirring increased. A low, wet growl rippled through the nursery.
"They react to light intensity," Kabir analyzed. "Pulse it. If you can't turn it off, modulate it. Match the rhythm of the hearts. Like a lullaby."
"A lullaby?" Vikram stared at us. "You want me to strobe?"
"Hum," I ordered, raising my spear. "Hum a tune. Keep the rhythm. Or I feed you to the fetus."
Vikram looked at the spear. He looked at the millions of eggs. He took a shaky breath.
He began to hum.
"Tujhe dekha to yeh jaana sanam..."
His light pulsed. Dim. Bright. Dim. Bright.
It matched the Thump-thump of the hearts.
The stirring stopped. The embryos settled back into their dreams, soothed by the rhythm of a 90s Bollywood blockbuster.
"It's working," Javed whispered, awestruck. "You're a disco ball, Vikram."
"Shut up," Vikram whimpered, tears streaming down his face as he crawled through the sludge. "Pyar hota hai deewana sanam..."
We moved. Step. Step. Thump-thump. Step. Step.
A massive sack hung right in front of Vikram. Inside, a half-formed Rakshasa with no skin pressed its face against the membrane. It licked the plastic-like wall, trying to taste Vikram's light.
Vikram gagged, his hum wavering. "Ab yahan se kahan... oh god it's licking me... kahan jayenge hum..."
We were halfway across. We were going to make it.
Then, Riya slipped.
It wasn't her fault. The floor was slick. Her boot lost traction. She grabbed a root to steady herself.
The root snapped.
A small sack, hanging from that root, detached.
SPLAT.
It hit the floor. The membrane burst.
Fluid washed over Riya's boots.
From the wreckage of the egg, a small creature crawled out. It was a premature Rakshasa, barely the size of a human toddler. It had big, wet eyes and tiny nubs for horns. It looked... pathetic.
It looked at Riya. It reached out a small, clawed hand.
"Mama?" it cooed. The sound was wet and gurgling.
Riya froze. She looked down at the thing. It was a monster, yes. But it was a baby. It was helpless.
"It thinks you're its mother," Vikram whispered, horrified.
The hatchling opened its mouth. It wasn't going to coo again. It was inhaling to scream. A cry that would wake the entire hive.
I gripped my spear. "Riya. Kill it."
Riya looked at me. Her eyes were wide. "It's... it's a baby, Dhruv."
"It's a siren," I said cold. "Kill it, or we all die."
The hatchling's chest expanded. The scream was coming.
I stepped forward to do it myself, but I was too far away.
Riya looked at the creature. She looked at the millions of sleeping sacks around us. She looked at Javed, battered and bruised.
Her face changed. The fear vanished, replaced by a terrible, hollow blankness.
She lifted her heavy combat boot.
CRUNCH.
The sound was sickeningly wet. Like stepping on a ripe tomato.
The hatchling didn't scream. It just... popped.
Riya didn't cry. She didn't look away. She just stared at the wet, red stain on her boot.
"Let's go," Riya said. Her voice was flat. Dead.
The comedy of Vikram's singing died instantly. The silence returned, heavier than before. We weren't students anymore. We were something else.
We reached the far side of the nursery. The vent was right there.
But standing in front of it was a nightmare.
[ ENEMY: GENERAL BAKASURA (Level 15 - RAID BOSS) ]
It was the General who had chased us. The one who jumped down the shaft.
He was battered. His armor was cracked from the fall. One of his four arms was hanging limp. He was covered in the same toxic sludge we were.
He didn't see us. He was busy.
He was standing in front of a cluster of eggs. He ripped one open with his good hand. He pulled out the sleeping, unborn Rakshasa inside.
And he bit its head off.
Crunch. Slurp.
He chewed, swallowing the flesh of his own kin. A green light surrounded him.
[ ENEMY HEALING... ]
[ HP RESTORED: 5% ]
He grabbed another egg. Ripped it open. Ate the fetus like a grape.
"He's eating them," Vikram whispered, gagging. "He's eating his own children to heal."
I watched him. I watched the efficiency of it. The lack of hesitation.
"He's not eating children," I whispered, my grey eyes tracking the flow of mana. "He's eating XP. He's eating health potions."
I realized then, with a jolt of horror that hit harder than the smell, that I didn't feel disgusted. I felt... jealous.
Technically, I wasn't a cannibal. I ate monsters. He ate his own kin. But the logic? The logic was identical.
Fuel is fuel.
"Dhruv," Kabir whispered. "The Queen Egg. Behind him."
I looked. Behind the feasting General, embedded in the wall, was a massive, fossilized egg. It didn't pulse. It hummed with a deep, geological power.
Inside it, glowing through the petrified shell, was a cluster of crystals.
[ LOOT DETECTED: RADIANT GEODE (Epic Crafting Material) ]
That was it. That was the power source for the nursery.
"Vikram," I said. "I need that geode."
"Are you insane?" Vikram hissed. "The cannibal General is standing right there!"
"He's distracted," I said. "He's healing. He's drunk on blood. Riya, Javed—prepare to run. Vikram, you have the highest dexterity. Sneak past him. Grab the rock."
"I have to touch the placenta wall?" Vikram looked like he wanted to die. "I am suing you for workplace harassment, Dhruv. This is a hostile work environment."
But he moved. He crept forward, his [Divine Posture] making his movements fluid and silent.
He reached the Queen Egg. The General was busy tearing apart a third sack.
Vikram reached into the fossilized membrane. It made a wet shluck sound. Vikram shuddered, his face contorted in silent screaming agony, elbow-deep in ancient slime.
He grabbed the crystal. He pulled.
Pop.
[ ITEM ACQUIRED: RADIANT GEODE ]
[ SYSTEM REWARD: WEAPON ART UNLOCKED - 'SILENT SUN' ]
(Arrows become invisible and silent for 3 seconds)
Vikram scrambled back, clutching the glowing rock to his chest, wiping slime on his shirt.
The General stopped chewing.
He sniffed the air. He turned slowly.
He saw us.
"Mice," Bakasura rumbled. His mouth was smeared with blue blood. "In the pantry."
He looked at the Queen Egg. He realized what it was. A massive reserve of mana. A full heal.
He roared and lunged for the Queen Egg. He didn't care about us. He wanted the big meal. If he ate that, he would be back to 100% HP. We would be dead.
"He's going to heal!" Javed shouted.
"No," I said.
I raised my hand. I didn't aim a spear. I aimed my will.
I targeted the Queen Egg.
[ SKILL: ENTROPY HARVEST ]
[ TARGET: QUEEN EGG (BIOMASS) ]
Bakasura opened his massive jaws to bite into the fossilized egg.
Just as his teeth clamped down, I pulled.
I didn't just drain it. I sucked it dry.
The egg turned grey instantly. It crumbled into dust in the General's mouth. He bit down on nothing but ash and sand.
The energy rushed into me. It hit me like a bolt of lightning.
[ CRITICAL HARVEST! ]
[ STR +5 ]
[ AGI +5 ]
[ INT +5 ]
[ WARNING: KARMA DECREASED (-100) ]
[ THE GODS ARE WATCHING WITH DISGUST ]
Bakasura choked. He spat out the dust. He looked at the empty wall, then at me.
The confusion on his face was human. He couldn't process it. A human had just out-eaten a demon.
"You..." Bakasura rumbled, wiping ash from his lips. "You eat... like us. Are you sure you are human?"
I stood up. My veins were black. My eyes were solid grey discs. I felt the Karma drop like a physical weight, a stain on my soul, but I didn't care. The power felt too good.
I smirked.
"You eat too slow, old man."
I pointed my spear at the millions of pulsing sacks around us.
"Burn it," I commanded.
[ RITE OF THE PYRE: CHAIN REACTION ]
I ignited the entropy I had just harvested. I didn't target a corpse. I targeted the sludge on the floor. I targeted the dry membranes.
The nursery caught fire. Not orange fire. Grey, entropic fire that consumed oxygen and life.
The scream of a million unborn monsters filled the air.
"NO!" Bakasura roared.
He wasn't screaming for his children. He was screaming for his pantry. I was burning his supply. I was starving him.
"Run!" I yelled to my team.
We scrambled up the vent shaft. Below us, the Garbhagriha turned into an oven. The General tried to follow, but the sacks above him burst, burying him under a landslide of screaming, burning hatchlings.
As I climbed, the System notifications scrolled past my vision faster than I could read.
[ PASSIVE HARVEST... +0.1 STR ]
[ PASSIVE HARVEST... +0.1 INT ]
[ PASSIVE HARVEST... +0.1 AGI ]
I was drinking the death of a generation.
I looked down one last time into the inferno.
I was a monster. But I was a monster who was going to win.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: CHAPTER COMPLETE ]
[ DEVS LOG: ] Can we get an F in the Chat for Riya's innocence? 💔 That was a tough scene to write. But in the Khandava-Prastha, hesitation is a death sentence. The Healer just learned that sometimes, you have to break a life to save one.
Clarification on Dhruv's "Diet": Some of you pointed out that Dhruv isn't technically a cannibal because Rakshasas aren't human. True. But ask yourself this: When General Bakasura looked at Dhruv, he didn't see a human. He saw a fellow predator. The line isn't about biology anymore; it's about the Soul. Dhruv is drinking death to survive. That changes a person.
The Karma Mechanic:[ KARMA: -100 ] This isn't just a number. In this world, the Gods are real, and they have very specific opinions about mortals who act like entropy. Dhruv just put a target on his back that is visible to the Divine.
[ CLIFFHANGER ALERT ] Did anyone catch the detail about the roots? The roots feeding the hatchlings were pumping Blue Blood. So... whose blood are they pumping into the nursery? And why does it glow?
See you in Chapter 9. — The Architect