WHEN THE NIGHT BREATHES HUNGER
The hours slipped by faster than Victor expected.
After a brutal kendo session, sweat still clung to his skin, cooling against the night breeze as he stepped out of Night Moon Academy's gates. The campus behind him was quiet, washed in gentle silver light, almost peaceful.
He wished he could trust that peace.
Victor wiped the back of his hand across his brow and tugged the strap of his sword bag tighter across his shoulder. His muscles burned from practice, but in a satisfying way — the kind of ache that told him he was pushing forward, step by step.
He cut into a narrow alley, taking the shortcut he always used.
A quiet place.
Tight walls.
More shadows than streetlamps.
That's when the air changed.
A faint tremor crawled across his skin — a prickling static that whispered of something wrong.
…What is that?
Zzzt. Zzzt.
The noise was soft, but sharp enough to make him halt mid-step. The alley suddenly felt tighter, like the darkness was leaning closer.
Victor's gaze slid along the brick walls, tracing shapes, searching for movement.
Something shifted up high.
The air snapped.
Whoosh!
A violent whistle tore through the dark.
Victor's instincts roared —
Move.
He twisted his body sharply—
Thwack!
Black needle-like projectiles slammed into the concrete where he'd stood moments ago. The ground cracked, dust puffing upward.
Victor narrowed his eyes. "Well… that's definitely not normal."
A low, guttural growl vibrated out of the shadows.
The figure lurking on the wall began to move. Slowly. Deliberately. Like it wanted him to watch.
Then—
It stepped into the dim light.
Or rather… dragged itself.
A creature, twisted from head to toe, skin stretched over a warped body, joints bent backward, a grin carved across its face like someone had taken a knife to its skull.
"Ah, a fresh human." The creature's voice was slick and obscene, dripping delight. "And one with such strong life force… You'll make a fine meal."
Victor cracked his knuckles, expression flat.
"I don't know what's uglier — your face or your personality."
The stray devil bristled. "Cocky little brat. I'll tear you apart!"
Victor sighed. "Why do they always say that? It's like you guys share a Google Doc."
The creature lunged—
But that wasn't the real threat.
A scraping sound — a skittering that scraped along his nerves.
"Kehehe!"
A new voice hissed, sharper, hungrier.
"I didn't expect a mere human like you to dodge my attack! You're making me want to devour you even more!"
Victor's breath tightened. That sound crawled under his skin like cold fingers.
He turned — and froze for a heartbeat.
Perched along the alley wall was a monstrosity straight from a nightmare.
Three meters tall.
Massive spider body covered in coarse, bristling hairs.
Needle-like limbs that twitched with cruel precision.
But the face—
Human.
Or at least, it used to be.
Its jaw was stretched too wide.
Its eyes bulged unnaturally large.
Tufts of hair jutted from its cheeks like a deranged wolf.
Green saliva dripped from its mouth, sizzling when it hit the pavement.
Victor exhaled slowly. "…Yeah. Nope. That's nightmare fuel."
A chime echoed in his mind.
Ding!
Mission Issued: Eliminate the Lower-Class Stray Devil
Reward: 20 Fortune Points
Victor muttered, "A monster encounter right after transmigrating? Just my luck."
He paused.
"Wait — actually scratch that. It's literally my fortune. I should've expected this."
Running wasn't an option.
Not just because he refused to run — but because he needed to test the Fortune Devour System.
If he couldn't beat something like this, he had no business surviving in a world where beings like Aris Silverflame, Akira Stormveil, Shira, Leon, Kael, and countless supernatural houses walked casually through his future.
The spider demon's grotesque grin widened.
"Oh? You're not running? How foolish."
Victor slipped his sword bag from his shoulder, unfastening the straps with practiced ease.
"Are you stupid?" he asked, drawing the blade with a clean ring of steel. "This terrain works in my favor."
He unsheathed Frost Whisper — a slender, midnight-black blade etched with silver patterns that shimmered under the dim light like moonlit frost.
The demon screeched and lunged.
Eight legs drove the monstrosity forward with terrifying speed. The air bent around its attack. One spiked limb lifted to impale him—
Crunch!
Victor was no longer there.
He'd stepped aside smoothly, almost lazily, watching the ground shatter under the demon's strength.
Too slow.
His movement was fluid — a downward slash cutting across its distorted face.
Splurt!
Green blood sprayed.
"AAARRGGHHH!"
The demon thrashed, furious and blind with rage.
It lunged again, drooling poison and hunger.
Victor just tilted his head. "Yeah, no thanks."
Another sidestep. Another clean strike — straight through its eye.
Its shriek rattled the alley.
The hairs along its body shot upright.
Danger.
Victor's instincts roared.
Perceptual Distortion: Activated.
Time stretched thin.
Black projectiles exploded outward like bullets, ripping through the walls and pavement.
A fraction of a second later, Victor moved — landing lightly a few meters away.
Perfectly untouched.
The demon was still flailing, still bleeding, still clueless.
Dodging became effortless.
Victor stepped around its attacks as if strolling along a quiet path, blade dancing through joints and soft points.
But—
Even with Frost Whisper, he couldn't land a killing blow.
Its exoskeleton deflected steel.
Its bones were thick and stubborn.
Victor clicked his tongue. Tch. Annoying.
"This confirms it," he said, tightening his grip. "While Frost Whisper is good, it's still just a normal sword. With a High-Class weapon, this thing would already be dead."
"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?!" the spider screeched.
Victor smirked. "Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing."
Let's Try Fortune Devouring, Shall We?
"Sana," Victor called out mentally. "Analyze its stats."
"At once, Master."
A translucent panel appeared.
Name: Magnium, Stray Devil
Rank: Lower-Class Devil
Age: 40
Fortune Value: 15
(Base: 20)
Victor rubbed his chin. "Fifteen fortune, huh? No wonder this thing's cannon fodder."
A new thought flickered.
"Sana," he murmured, lips curling. "Initiate a basic fortune siphon on Andreu."
"As you command, Master."
The moment the order was issued—
Something shifted inside him.
A subtle tug.
Like the universe's strings trembled under someone's fingers.
Ding!
Fortune siphoning successful!
Magnium's fortune reduced by 25 points.
Current Fortune: -10.
Master's Total Fortune: 50.
Victor didn't have time to celebrate.
The night sky darkened.
A rumble surged across the heavens.
Then—
BOOM!
A colossal bolt of blue lightning tore downward.
BOOM!
BOOOOM!
The alley exploded with blinding light.
Electricity ripped into the spider demon, frying every inch of its body. Its screams echoed, distorted and raw, until they abruptly stopped.
When the glow faded—
Only a smoldering husk remained.
Victor lowered his blade, chest rising and falling with the fading adrenaline. Smoke curled around the burnt corpse.
Sana spoke gently inside his mind.
"Master, you handled that quite well. Though I must say… that fortune siphon was a bit overkill."
Victor snorted. "Yeah, tell that to the spider roast over there."
He glanced at the charred remains, then up at the sky, lips twitching into a grin.
"…Okay. That was way cooler than I expected."
The Fortune Devour System wasn't just helpful.
It was terrifying.
He could weaponize fate itself.
Victor sheathed Frost Whisper and stretched his shoulders, rolling the tension out.
"I still have a long way to go," he murmured.
Then he smirked, eyes glinting.
"But this is gonna be fun."