Prince of Gluttony: Born from Betrayal

Anna's mouth was agape after Cain revealed his skills name.

It should have been impossible. That Skill was the one that the Origin of Sin had but the name had been struck from the history books.

The only information that remained about the skill was from old folk stories passed down through word of mouth but even those weren't reliable.

Some stories spoke of it as a cursed ability, one that consumed its user from the inside out and brought ruin to everything they touched. Others claimed it was both the weakest and strongest skill in existence, its true power shaped entirely by the one who wielded it.

Contradictions riddled every version, but they all agreed on one thing.

It was dangerous.

Anna leaned back struggling to steady her breath.

"I find it hard to believe that your skill is Gluttony. Nobody knows the conditions required to awaken that innate skill. The only one who knows would be..."

"Your father, Gaius taught me."

Anna's eyes flickered with disbelief. Her brows furrowed, but curiosity edged into her expression.

"Then how? How did he evolve Consume into Gluttony? That shouldn't be possible."

Cain paused. For a moment he debated whether to say it aloud.

"He told me to submerge myself in Demonic Blood."

Anna's eyes widened. Her entire posture shifted as she practically shouted,

"Are you fucking insane?! Bathing in demonic blood is a shortcut to dying. One wrong move and your body implodes on itself!"

Cain went rigid as that was news to him. Trying to keep his cool, he took a breath and only had one question come to mind.

"Would anything change if say the blood was old?"

Anna's face contorted as if she was staring at a lunatic, looking him up and down as she remarked

"The older it is, the worse it is. Demoni Blood has an intrinsic hatred for life. The older the demonic blood, is the more intense the effect."

"....So Ancient Demonic Blood."

"That's a death sentence! The instant kind!"

Cain didn't respond right away. His mind was trying to catch up to the weight of what she had just said.

He looked down at his hands, turning them over slowly. The skin looked fine. No burns. No cracks. No sign of corruption.

"I was in it for hours," he muttered more to himself than to her. "It felt like fire at first. Like I was melting from within. But then it stopped. It felt... normal."

Anna stared at him, expression unreadable.

"Normal?" she repeated. "Cain, nothing about that should have been normal. Even standing near demonic blood for too long is enough to rot your lungs. And you're telling me you bathed in it?"

Cain gave a small nod.

"Master told me that's what I needed to do in order to fully awaken my skill."

"No wonder it turned into Gluttony. The fact that you're even breathing makes no sense."

Cain let out a slow breath, but it came out more like a growl.

"I followed everything you told me. Every fucking step. And you didn't bother to mention that one wrong move would've blown my body apart? You're a fucking asshole!"

Even though Gaius currently didn't have a body, he could swear that his master was just shrugging as if it was no big deal.

'Does it really matter? The point is you survived, didn't you?'

He clenched his fists as the anger began to rise.

"That's not the fucking point!" he snapped aloud before he could stop himself.

Anna flinched at the sudden outburst.

"You knew I could have died. You gave me the instructions without telling me what they actually meant. What if I hadn't survived? What if I did one thing wrong and that pit ate me alive? Is that what you wanted? Was that part of the test too?"

There was no answer. Just that familiar, infuriating silence in the back of his mind.

Cain's nails dug into his palms.

"I trusted you. I treated you like a mentor. Someone who knew what I went through. Yet you fed me half-truths and played it off like it was some lesson in growth. You nearly got me killed for what? A better version of a skill I didn't even ask for? I may have agreed to help you with your revenge but it doesn't mean you can treat me like an experimental lab rat!"

The words echoed in the room, harsh and raw.

Anna blinked, startled. Her confusion was written all over her face.

"...Who are you talking to?"

Cain didn't answer her right away. He was too focused on the silence in his head. The silence that wasn't really silent.

Because he could feel it.

Gaius was still there. Still listening. And for the first time since this bond had formed between them, Cain felt something different from the usual cryptic smugness or distant superiority.

Remorse.

Real, weighty remorse that sat heavy in Cain's chest like it didn't belong to him.

Then Gaius spoke, his voice quieter than usual. Tired. Honest.

'You're right. I should have told you. You deserved to know everything before you stepped into that pool. I used your anger to make you not question what you were getting yourself into.'

Cain stayed still, his jaw clenched. He didn't want to accept the apology. Not yet.

'If I didn't feel remorse for what I did to you… then I'd be no better than the disciples who betrayed me. And I swore I would never become like them.'

Cain's breathing slowed, but his body remained tense.

Anna took another step forward, more cautiously this time.

"Cain... who or what are you talking to?"

Cain glanced at her, the fire in his eyes dimming just slightly.

"Your father," he said coldly. "Or at least, whatever part of him is still clinging to me."

Anna didn't speak. Her mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.

Cain turned away from her, not out of dismissal but because he needed a second to breathe. A second to pull himself back together before he said something he couldn't take back.

Inside, he spoke again.

"You should have told me before I stepped into that blood. I didn't need to be protected from the truth. I needed to survive it."

'I know' Gaius replied quietly. 'And I am sorry. Truly. If I could change how I handled it, I would.'

Cain knew that Gaius wasn't entirely to blame. He had offered to share the risks but Cain had ignored him then.

Cain let out a tired sigh as he slowly stood up.

"Sorry Anna. I have to go to my next class."

Anna immediately stood up and gripped his shoulder.

"Excuse me? You think I am going to just let you walk away after hearing that you can hear my father's voice?!"

Cain froze as he realized that he did say that.

'This is probably going to be really awkward'