For a few seconds after the voice echoed through the city, no one attacked.
The residents were still confused. Some knelt on the ground; others clutched their stomachs, breathing with difficulty, as if they had just woken from a dream too heavy to bear.
Then a man stepped forward.
He was short and broad, with a round face and thick hands. He wore simple clothes, a grease-stained apron still tied around his waist. The same man who, minutes earlier, had been handing out bread with a proud smile.
"There was no need for all this…" he said calmly. "I just wanted to help."
Some residents widened their eyes.
"It's him…"
"The cook…"
"He's the one who brought the food…"
The man opened his arms.
"You were hungry. I only made sure that would never happen again."
Sienna narrowed her eyes.
"The way you did it, that wasn't help."
The man's smile didn't fade.
He began to change.
Not all at once—
but like something growing too much inside a space too small.
His belly bulged first, heavy and pulsating, as if filled beyond its limit. The muscles in his arms swelled next, ripping through the apron's sleeves, which tore into dirty strips of flour and grease.
His skin darkened.
Purple and golden veins surfaced beneath the flesh, pulsing in irregular lines, as if energy were trying to escape by brute force.
"I just wanted no one to go hungry…" his voice faltered, growing far too deep for a human body.
Bones cracked.
His neck thickened.
His back hunched.
His body gained volume without gaining shape.
At the center of his chest, a luminous seal ignited—embedded in the flesh like a living brand, radiating purple energy mixed with the golden mist.
Black horns slowly emerged from his head, curving backward, wrapped in violet fire.
His mouth opened wider than possible.
Teeth too large.
Too hungry.
When the transformation ended, the cook no longer existed.
In his place stood a massive creature, obese with energy, excessive muscles supporting a body that could never be satisfied. Golden mist poured from it like hot vapor, mixed with the overpowering smell of food and excess.
The monster inhaled deeply and screamed:
"YOU'VE RUINED MY HARVEST!!!"
Then it attacked without hesitation.
A gigantic arm came down like an axe.
"JAY, WATCH OUT!" Ethan shouted.
Jay moved without thinking.
BOOM!
The blow slammed into the shield, cracking the ground beneath his feet. Jay slid back a few centimeters, but didn't fall.
"Alright… he hits hard," he growled. "But I can take it."
Ethan raised his staff.
"Then let's use the opening!"
Marcus advanced from the side and slashed the creature's arm.
The blade opened a wide fissure, releasing golden mist.
"He doesn't have flesh," Marcus warned. "It's pure energy!"
Elenya already had another arrow ready.
"Aim for the weak point!"
TCHUU!
The purple arrow struck the monster's left eye. It staggered back, losing balance.
Sienna opened her grimoire with a smile.
"Lupus Minor. Let's play, my loves."
Two elemental wolves appeared and bit into the creature's leg, destabilizing it.
Emanueru took a deep breath and channeled mana.
"Lux Spatha!"
Three swords of light appeared around him, floating, spinning, awaiting command.
"Now."
The blades fired in sequence.
ZIP! ZIP! ZIP!
They sliced the shoulder, chest, and flank, tearing through the mist like pure blades.
Ethan watched, impressed.
"Very good, Emanueru…"
Then he conjured fire.
"Ignis Linea!"
The flaming beam struck the creature's torso, forcing it to retreat even farther.
The fight seemed under control.
The creature was big, strong… but predictable.
Jay even smiled.
"If it keeps going like this… it's over in seconds."
Then everything changed.
The monster raised its arms and roared:
"HUUUUUNGER…!"
Golden threads emerged from its hands and connected to the residents still in trance.
Dozens of people began to tremble.
"Damn it!" Ethan exclaimed. "It's draining their life energy!"
The creature began to swell.
Its back rose.
Its arms grew more muscular.
Its wounds closed.
Its eyes glowed brighter.
Jay stepped back.
"Now it's more dangerous…"
"But not impossible," Marcus replied. "Just… stronger."
And it was.
The next attack came with brutal impact.
Jay blocked it, but slid nearly half a meter across the ground.
"Okay!" he shouted. "Now we need to be more careful!"
Sienna opened another circle.
"Lupus Major!"
A larger wolf appeared and leapt onto the monster's chest, interrupting the energy absorption.
Marcus seized the opening.
"Press it!"
Elenya fired two arrows in succession, opening new cracks in the mist.
Ethan conjured fire circles beneath the creature's feet.
"Ignis Sigillum!"
Explosions erupted from the ground, burning away part of the golden energy.
Emanueru created more swords.
"Lux Spatha — Volley!"
The blades surged forward like projectiles, striking critical points and preventing regeneration.
Jay charged with everything he had.
"Now!"
The shield bash forced the creature to its knees.
Golden cracks pulsed along its neck.
"It's over for you," Marcus muttered, raising his sword.
But in a final, instinctive surge, the monster reacted.
Its massive arm slammed into the blade.
CLANG!
The blow deflected the strike.
The sword slipped—
and struck Marcus's own leg.
"Tch—!"
He staggered, blood running down his thigh.
"Lux Sana!" Emanueru extended his hand.
Light enveloped the wound, sealing it instantly.
"Thanks," Marcus said, breathing out. "You saved me."
"I'm just doing my part," Emanueru replied with a smile.
With the creature overloaded—
"NOW!" Ethan shouted.
The final attack came in perfect synchrony:
Marcus slashed the flank
• Elenya drove an arrow into the chest
• Sienna commanded the Greater Wolf forward
• Jay shoved the creature back
• Emanueru launched the swords of light
The blades exploded inside the golden mist.
The monster let out one last roar…
and dissolved into light.
The energy around the square began to dissipate, and the residents awoke little by little—confused, but free.
Ethan felt something vibrate in his hand.
A new light appeared and flew straight into the fragment he was already carrying.
The pieces fitted together on their own, like parts of the same torn page.
Fragments combined: 2/7
Ethan closed his hand slowly.
"Two…"
Sienna cracked her neck.
"Didn't seem that hard," she commented. "Except for the part where Marcus almost killed himself."
"That's not how it went," Marcus grumbled. "I calculated it."
"Calculated it badly," she shot back. "But you're alive, so it counts."
Jay crossed his arms.
"Still… this city was very different from the other one."
Marcus fell silent, looking around—at the people waking up, at the smell of food still clinging to the air even as the golden mist faded.
He frowned.
Scratched the back of his neck.
"The first city…" he began slowly, as if arranging the pieces in his head. "It was all about seduction. Desire. People fell because they wanted to feel, wanted to believe, wanted to surrender."
He took a deep breath and looked at the square, remembering the hands offering bread, the smiles far too wide.
"And here… it was too much food. Excess. People who couldn't stop eating."
Marcus stood there for a few seconds, just thinking.
Then he spoke, almost as if testing the idea out loud:
"Food… and seduction… seven cities."
He swallowed hard.
"What if each city represents a different sin?"
No one answered right away.
Marcus continued, more certain now.
"The first city… luxury, desire… lust.
This one… excess food… gluttony."
Jay's eyes widened.
"Damn… that makes sense."
Elenya looked at Ethan, then back at Marcus.
"So we've already passed through two…"
Ethan tightened his grip on the fragment.
"And five remain."
Emanueru nodded.
"And each fragment appears when a city is freed from its sin."
Sienna gave a crooked smile and pointed at Marcus.
"Huh… turns out you really do have a brain. You actually thought this time."
Marcus glared at her.
"I always think."
"You thought about punching," she replied. "Now you actually thought. New phase."
Ethan gave a small smile.
"Good catch, Marcus. You connected the dots."
Marcus let out a slow breath, as if still coming to terms with it.
"So that's the game on this floor… one city at a time."
With the city finally quiet, the group found shelter in a small, improvised inn, reopened by the residents themselves after the enchantment broke.
No luxury.
No excess.
The food was simple.
But hot.
And real.
Plain bread.
Thin broth.
Unseasoned meat.
"No magic," Elenya commented, eyeing the bowl. "Just real food."
"I prefer it this way," Sienna replied, sitting down and stretching her arms. "After today, anything else already makes me suspicious."
Marcus ate in silence, noticeably slower than usual.
"Funny…" he murmured. "After so much excess, this actually tastes better."
Jay nodded.
"I think it's because now we're choosing to eat."
After the meal, each of them tended to their equipment. Weapons were cleaned, items stored, improvised bandages changed. Fatigue set in heavily, without asking permission.
One by one, they lay down.
It was a simple rest, but enough.
The next morning, the city felt different.
People walked the streets more calmly. Stalls were being dismantled. The overwhelming smell of food had vanished completely.
Ethan adjusted his pack and checked the fragments now joined together.
"Two of seven."
"Five to go," Jay said, breathing deeply.
Emanueru closed the grimoire and stood.
"The next city shouldn't be far."
Sienna slung her weapon over her back.
"Then let's go before I start finding this place too comfortable."
They left the city in silence, following the stone road once more.
One city had been freed.
But there was still a long road ahead.