Free Web NovelChapter 363: I Feel Like Dying... So, Please Use This as Today’s Update. I will Write Tomorrow (´-﹏-`；)
WHAT IF Heka had Died?
Near the stream, where Heka and Briar stood ready to hop in, Heka had discovered something major: Briar had no reproductive organs—and not even a butthole.
Concerned and sympathetic, Heka began prying at the supposed vaginal area with her finger, trying to see if Briar’s skin was sealing her vagina and butthole.
This quickly became a problem, as Briar started feeling something. Whether it was sexual or primal hunger was unknown.
However, in this "What If" arc... we know exactly what it was: primal hunger.
Briar’s eyes turned golden, her sclera pitch black.
She grabbed Heka’s head as the sensation of being stimulated surged through her petite body.
"Eh...?" Heka’s eyes went wide at the revelation.
The area where Briar’s vagina should have been had expanded, now lined with dripping dark fangs.
The opening grew big enough to cover Heka’s entire head...
CHOMP!
And it did.
It swiftly enclosed the confused and shocked Heka’s head in its maws and snipped it clean off her neck.
...Briar’s lower half began to act as a mouth, chewing and enjoying the taste of the head as Heka’s severed neck sprayed out blood, dripping and dotting the entire area.
Heka dropped slowly to the ground she had been kneeling on, more blood flowing out of the Amazon’s body.
"Shoooo ghood.... Shoooo ghoooood!" Briar muttered with tears in her eyes, her body distorting as she chewed and swallowed the dark-skinned woman’s head in sad glee.
***
Benjamin had just finished fighting with Renard in the Higher Realm and had reached an agreement with him.
But as the summit meeting continued, Benjamin received a sharp telepathic message:
[P... Papa... I’m sorry...]
It was Briar’s voice.
Through the mental connection, Benjamin felt the unimaginable guilt and fear the young titan was feeling.
He didn’t even reply. He simply followed the connection and teleported exactly to where Briar was.
Upon reaching the scene...
"Wh... What did you do, Briar...?" The color on Benjamin’s androgynous face paled at the sight:
Heka’s body—Heka whom he had just spoken with minutes ago—headless and resting lifeless on the soft green grass, blood dripping from her blanching body.
"I’m sorry, Papa! Please, I didn’t know what came over me!" Briar immediately began to tremble, blood splattered across her pale body. "I suddenly got very hungry, and I could not control myself. Papa, believe me...!"
Benjamin walked closer and looked at the dead body again.
It truly was Heka, and her magic signature was still present—which was probably why the other Amazons, or even Elara, hadn’t noticed that one of their own had died.
[Oh no... Heka is dead? Briar killed Heka... What do I do now? I never expected this...] Benjamin was spiraling in his mind, his breathing turning labored as he searched for any solution to the problem.
[Sys, can you... heal her?! I... I am a demigod now, r-right?!]
{...I am very sorry, Master. Not only is she completely dead, but a portion of her soul has been devoured by Briar. I have no known method to save her.} freewebnσvel.cøm
Benjamin looked at Briar again, his eyes dilating.
"I don’t get it. I fed you, didn’t I?" he asked.
Briar was still crying, then walked to the crouched Benjamin and hugged his arm.
"I... I was not truly hungry..." she sobbed. "But the way sh-she was touching me, it made me want to eat her and fill a void. However, my body reacted on its own, Papa! I like Heka-sama. I would never want to eat her!"
Briar cried so much that Benjamin has to pull her into his embrace.
"Just calm down for now, okay? Papa will fix this immediately," Benjamin assured her.
He began to look around and sense the area, realizing that no one else was nearby.
Then he sent a telepathic message to Sakura immediately.
[S-Sakura...] Benjamin called, but his voice was shaky.
[What is it, Benjamin? You suddenly left the summit. Renard is pissed again, you know—] [Sak.]
[Heka is dead.... Elara’s daughter, Heka, was just killed by my daughter.] Benjamin cut her off and explained in a pained mental voice.
[Eh...?! Wait, you had a daughter?] Sakura asked him, noting from the connection that Benjamin was growing uneasy.
She had guarded her mental space more strongly to avoid any of the leaders there gaining unwanted access.
[I do. But I can explain that later. Please, do you have any methods we can use to... r... r-resurrect her?] Benjamin pleaded.
[...Even if you say that, resurrection isn’t just child’s play. You cannot find it just anywhere.]
[That is why I called you, Sakura. Please, help me... I don’t want Heka to be gone so soon.] Benjamin pleaded, growing more anxious with every passing second.
[Fine. I have a number of resurrection rituals and mystic arts. But I will have you meet someone in Shishi-no-su for the process. If I leave this summit now, after you just left, it will arouse the suspicion needed for someone to realize that something is wrong.] Sakura explained to Benjamin.
[That is fine. As long as this person is capable.] Benjamin soon found some respite, a dawning hope.
[Okay. But understand, factors could affect the resurrection: how long has she been dead? How grave are the injuries that killed her?]
Sakura asked this because not every corpse could be resurrected.
Someone killed normally could be revived, but someone torn to shreds...?
It would be difficult; it would require urgent resources like spare flesh, blood, and maybe more.
Worst is if the body has been dead for so long and the soul has partially faded away—resurrection might bring back a vegetable or a seriously mentally unstable person.
They would never remain the same, and it would be better if they had simply stayed dead.
Benjamin answered: [She has been dead for about five minutes.]
Sakura’s heart felt relieved. [Then there is no problem. Just enclose her in a strong barrier so her soul does not dissipate any further.]
[Ah, one more thing: a part of her soul was devoured.]
This single point from Benjamin made Sakura visibly flinch.
"Something wrong, Sakura?" Renard paused his lecture and glanced at the fidgeting Sakura.
"No, no. The demons are truly vile. It got me shaking a little." Sakura waved her hands to quell the suspicion.
"Sigh. I can’t believe you’re still so awkward," Renard rolled his eyes. "And I know you’re secretly calling someone with telepathy! Make it quick. This is a very important meeting."
Sakura nodded and began to stew over what Benjamin had said.
’If the girl has had ten percent of her soul taken away, resurrection will be very unstable. How much was devoured? The chances of resurrection are going down fast.’
And Benjamin only made it worse.
[Also, she was decapitated.]
Sakura closed her eyes in helplessness. [That is not good, Benjamin... That is not good, at all... But we can do our best. Just make sure to bring the severed head with you.]
[Eh? There is no head. Briar bit off her neck, together with about thirty percent of her soul.]
This message from Benjamin confirmed it.
’She is beyond dead. As far as I know, she might never even reincarnate again. Poor girl. Poor Benjamin...’ Sakura internally mourned the death of Heka and the soon coming mental breakdown Benjamin would face.
But she couldn’t bring herself to tell him.
The urgency and pain in the telepathic connection made it hard for her to break the news.
So she went with an underhanded play:
[Very well, Benjamin. Do not panic. Just take her body off Verdant Spire’s grounds for now. Go to Shishi-no-su and meet with Usagi-chan. Tell her the problem, and tell her I command her to do something about it.]
Sakura delivered the command, and Benjamin cut the telepathic call.
She glanced at Elara, sitting at one of the curved edges of the large oval-shaped table.
’I don’t like her very much...’ Sakura thought. ’But to lose a loved one is not something I wish for anyone. My condolences, Elara.’
***
Benjamin teleported Briar and Heka to Shishi-no-su immediately.
He landed in the district that Princess Lily governed, then quickly ran to Silverøse’s chambers.
She was appalled to see Benjamin carrying a dead, headless woman, and a small girl covered in blood walking beside him, crying.
"Where is Usagi?!" Benjamin roared, palpable tension on his face.
"Usagi-chan? Uhm... I don’t know," Silverøse said, her eyes occasionally meeting the dead body. "But what is wrong, Benjamin Mark-sama? Why are you with a dead body?"
"It’s a long story, but Sakura said I should find Usagi as soon as possible!" Benjamin urged her.
Silverøse still didn’t understand why her innocent and clueless daughter was being mentioned, but she cooperated.
She hoped Usagi had finally learned it, so she tried to send a telepathic message.
[Usagi-chan...? Can you hear me?] Silverøse sent.
[Eh?! Okaa-sama is talking in my head?!] Usagi shrieked in reply.
Silverøse felt relieved that it worked. [It seems all those telepathic trainings paid off. You can use telepathy now. But more importantly, Benjamin Mark-sama is here with... a dead body, and he is asking for you.]
[...] Usagi went quiet for a few seconds, then replied with a more authoritative mental voice that even startled Silverøse. [Tell him to come to the capital. I will meet him in the plaza.]
[O... Okay. But please, be careful.]
With that, the connection ended, and Silverøse was about to tell Benjamin what to do. "She asked me to... Huh? Benjamin Mark-sama?"
Benjamin was nowhere to be found.
He had invaded the mental connection, gotten the message he needed, and teleported to meet Usagi immediately. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
***
In the plaza, inside a large hall where delegates normally came for large meetings with Shishi-no-su officials, Benjamin lay against the wall, despondent.
Beside him was Heka’s headless body.
Holding his arm, still crying softly and apologizing, was Briar--
