The unnatural cough came again, closer this time. Kiran's new beak clenched reflexively, the sharpened tip scraping against itself with a sound like flint striking stone. His talons dug into the rotting log where he perched, his tiny heart pounding against hollow bones. The scent hit him first—not just decay, but something *worse*. Like meat left to rot in poisoned soil.
`[Warning: Void Plague Vector Approaching - 300 Meters.]`
The System's text burned crimson in his vision. Below him, the half-eaten rat carcass had begun to *bloat*, its fur sloughing off in patches to reveal grayish skin beneath. Kiran's `[Carrion Sense]` shrieked, a hot wire of instinct jammed into his skull. Run. Hide. Flee.
But his wings were still waterlogged, his muscles aching from the fight with the weasel. The `[Sharp Beak I]` upgrade had left him changed in ways he didn't understand—not just physically. The rat's remaining eye, glassy and clouded, seemed to stare at him accusingly. You did this. You ate me. You're becoming something else.
A branch cracked.
Kiran went still. Between the gnarled oaks, something twitched. At first, he thought it was another scavenger—a fox, perhaps, drawn by the smell. Then it stepped into the pale light filtering through the canopy, and his new instincts screamed.
The creature had once been a wolf. Now, its ribs jutted through mange-patched fur, its muzzle split open like overripe fruit to reveal blackened gums and teeth too long for its jaw. One eye was a ruptured, weeping sore; the other glowed a sickly yellow, the pupil slit like a serpent's. Its breath rattled, thick with the sound of fluid in its lungs.
`[Analysis: Void-Plagued Lupine (Degraded). Threat Level: Moderate-High.]`
`[Caution: Contact with bodily fluids will accelerate contamination.]`
The wolf-thing's head jerked up, its nostrils flaring. Kiran didn't move, didn't breathe—but it didn't matter. The creature's remaining eye locked onto him.
Instinct won.
Kiran launched himself backward just as the wolf pounced, its claws gouging deep furrows into the log where he'd perched. Rotting spittle sprayed, sizzling where it struck the bark. His wings flapped wildly, but he only managed an ungainly hop onto a higher branch. The wood groaned ominously under his weight.
Higher. Go higher!
The wolf snarled—a sound like grinding bones—and leaped. Kiran ducked, feeling the wind of its passage ruffle his feathers. The stench of it was unbearable: necrotic flesh undercut with something chemical, like alchemical waste left to ferment.
`[Combat Initiative Detected.]`
`[Tactical Suggestion: Target the ocular vulnerability.]`
Kiran's beak ached with a newfound, terrible purpose. The wolf scrambled up the tree, its movements jerky but terrifyingly fast. As it lunged again, Kiran struck—not blindly, but with the precision of his lingering human mind. His beak stabbed deep into the wolf's good eye.
Squelch.
The creature reeled back with a shriek, black fluid gushing from the wound. The liquid hissed where it struck Kiran's talons, sending jolts of pain up his leg. The System blared:
`[Warning: Void Exposure Detected.]`
`[Contamination: 5% - Minor necrosis detected in right limb.]`
No time to panic. The wolf thrashed, its claws tearing chunks from the tree trunk. Kiran flapped desperately to a higher branch, his injured leg buckling under his weight. He needed an advantage. Needed—
`[Environmental Hazard Detected: Deadwood canopy above.]`
The upper branches were skeletal, brittle with decay. Kiran forced himself upward, ignoring the fire in his leg. The wolf followed, its weight snapping the first dead limb like kindling.
They fell together.
Kiran's wings spared him the worst of the impact—he crashed into a thorny thicket, the brambles tearing at his feathers. The wolf landed ribs-first on an exposed root with a wet crunch, its spine bending at a grotesque angle. Yet still it writhed, still it gnashed its teeth, its maw dripping with thick, black saliva.
`[Finishing Blow Recommended.]`
Kiran limped forward, his beak gleaming with intent. One precise stab to the base of the skull. The wolf spasmed once, its remaining eye rolling back... then lay still.
Silence.
Then—
`[Void-Plagued Lupine Defeated.]`
`[EXP Gained: 45 (Major Threat Elimination)]`
`[New Title Unlocked: "Plague-Eater"]`
`[Contamination Stabilized at 7%. Further exposure hazardous.]`
Kiran collapsed, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His leg was numb, the talons blackened where the fluid had touched them. Worse, though, was the awareness he'd felt in the wolf's corruption—something sentient, something that had recognized him. And the System... the System had anticipated this.
A new sound cut through the forest's murmurs: wings. Not his own. Larger. Many.
`[Alert: Carrion Flock Detected - Approaching.]`
`[Objective: Survive.]`
Kiran lifted his head—and saw them.
Crows, but wrong. Their feathers weren't black, but a sickly iridescent green, their eyes glowing the same venomous yellow as the wolf's. They circled above him, their wingbeats unnaturally synchronized. One peeled away from the group, diving toward him. Its beak opened, revealing rows of needle-like teeth.
And the System whispered:
`[Evolution Path Available: "Umbral Scavenger" - Accept Y/N?]`