'Right?'
With a sigh, Sunny summoned the Covetous Coffer, took his last meal out, and looked at it with regret.
"Tonight… we feast!"
'...Tomorrow, we mourn. And barf. Probably.'
***
A few days later, the stars were visibly brighter than they had been before. The sight of the black void littered with shimmering lights would have been beautiful if not for the terrible danger they represented.
Sunny was sitting in the center of the plummeting treasure chest with an extremely miserable expression on his face. It was deathly pale, and his chin was covered with drying black blood.
Raising a piece of raw devil meat to his mouth, he tore a piece of it with his teeth, and forced himself to chew.
'Disgusting… this is so disgusting… who knew I would miss the taste of synthpaste one day? Maybe I should just starve, after all!'
As soon as he thought that, the void suddenly spoke again:
"Oh, gods! You are actually eating that!"
Sunny stared into the darkness with hatred, swallowed the piece of mimic meat, and said evenly:
"Sure. Want a bite?"
The voice hesitated for several seconds, then asked:
"You're eating it raw?"
Sunny gritted his teeth.
"Of course I am eating it raw, you fool! How else am I supposed to eat it? I don't exactly have a kitchen here!"
Then, with a furious determination, he tore another piece of meat and chewed on it. As it turned out, his face had not reached its maximum paleness before. Now, it seemed not only white, but also a little green.
The void sighed. Then, it asked curiously:
"Are you not afraid of poisoning yourself?"
Sunny snarled.
"...I have a strong stomach."
He had, indeed, considered the possibility of catching a severe case of food poisoning from eating the corrupted meat of the vile devil. As an Awakened, however, his digestive system was much stronger than that of mundane humans. And on top of that, there was Blood Weave. So, he judged that his chances of dying from eating the mimic were rather low.
…No matter how poetic it would have been. Choking to death on the flesh of a devil you killed would be, too...
'How funny.'
Sunny swallowed the disgusting meat and took a sip from the Endless Spring.
A few moments later, the voice asked:
"Have you thought of a way to survive the divine flames?"
He stared at his broken arm, then shrugged.
"I considered a few."
The voice seemed to be pleased to hear that.
"Good. I have thought about it, as well…"