The demon was exhausted and spent...
He'd had gone through an excruciating trial as a monster and with pure hatred in its little heart, it became a demon. But it was trapped in its thorny cacoon split in half and slowly dying; it needed sustenance and needed a stomach to get it...
Or did he?
If he channeled his very profane core into it...
Could he hasten the process by which one was supposed to obtain their demonic abilities..?
Demons were known for slight intelligence and their ability to possess an ability...
The only reason he had an ability as a monster was because of his awakened state as a beast his body itself was what he channeled his profane soul essence, into mimicking the profane aspects of what his fellow kin had as demons and devils and upward.
Though it wasn't an ability at all, or rather, he was what he was wielding he wasn't the armor, or what could be inside of it; he was the thorns... could he somehow channel that very fact into being his profane ability?
***
'The salt air here tastes like wet iron and rot. Though maybe not as bad as what the nightmare creatures could make it be...'
"I found it!"
'outside near the moist, dark cathedral walls, tangled in maroon barbs and thorns.'
"It's a cocoon, I think."
'it's the size of a furnace and pulses with a rhythmic, sickly violent red light When I touched the casing, it was cold, rigid, and rough.'
Then I blinked, and it shuddered. A row of golden yellow Barbs slithered with the vine like thorns.
I darted for the castle keeps main entrance to alert my fellows about the dangers and the news...
There is a nightmare creature undergoing evolution in the broad open...
***
My body is serrated and torn...
My mind is lost and weak...
My soul is profane, heavy, and swapped with my mind.
My thorns are mocking me...
...
'What happened? Ahh the damned! I can't think! It hurts, I'm drowning ITS SO COLD I need a fire~! PLEASE~! You all have a heat source so help me~! PLEASE~! ... They won't help me... Why What Have I done... to anyone!?'
***
The nearby Sleepers gathered around the glowing red mass in preparation to attack it for when it rises unknowing, giving rise to its eventual awakening through sustaining it.
They'd have been more careful had they known that their slipshoddery would cause them damage via the thorns... what they couldn't expect, even through leery subconsciousness, would be that attempt to pre-fire and destroy the cacoon would cause them to befoul themselves and eat up their own life through measured manipulation allowing their blades to slip or jerk in the opposite direction when going for a swing.
This, of course, caused at least one of them to be pricked by the thorns, allowing him to become poisoned.
even if the direct intended effect of said poison can't cause lethargy or loss of consciousness in one's own system, it still allows for a wide range of effects like slight muscle weakness; the bodies of sleepers are weak any change in physical capabilities and cause a wide range of effects mentally, such as the powerful strength you get from being tired after lifting weights, In this case the sleeper only loss a bit of bodily control or rather more simply, paresis.
The sleeper fell onto the bundle of thorns and, just like entering parasite filled waters he his skin felt tighter and he felt his own skin give way, though surprisingly it didn't hurt that much, or at least as much as he thought it would.
That was until his adrenal glands started failing and his ability to produce hormones stopped.
his bodily quickly used up all its stored adrenaline and then started to try to repair its damaged systems but the man wouldn't stop thrashing over the thorns he couldn't stop he was in successful pain and his fight or flight couldn't help him and so he died...
Then he shriveled up like a grape.
...
***
May I ask if you heard..?"
"Hear what..?"
"Apparently several guards just got killed by the monster in the cathedral..."
"What? Really?!"
"Yeah... apparently either that, or... From what I'm hearing, it was the Thorny Knight!"
"Has anyone seen that mob yet..?"
"No, but from what Ive heard, he up and vanished..."
"Damn, that means anyone who ever died by him died pointlessly... Shit, that sucks... Thinking about coming here whenever we're stronger?"
Sighing, the man looked up into the starry night and inhaled as if he was breathing in one of the clearest atmospheres, because he was; the Dream realm hasn't had any of the more primal resources excavated by facilities and the like...
"Do you think we'll ever make it out of here..?"
"Maybe..."