Chapter 92: Cutting the Threads
Heat coiled in his ribs. Seo-jin stared at Grimm's battered glow, bloodlight pulsing off his skin in sick waves. Fury hammered the back of his eyes, but he kept it caged—rushing would blow everything he'd set in motion.
'The snakemen did this.'
He ignored the spiderlings' skittering panic and eased the ghost into his chest. The bond flared; Grimm's pain echoed through him, tight and raw, folded into a small, guilty tremor.
'It's fine, Grimm. You didn't fail. Sleep. I'll make whoever did this regret the breath in their lungs. Rest, buddy.'
He drew his aura in. The spiders' presence narrowed to useless noise; Lilid's domain had been cleared from suspicion, Grimm hadn't come that way. All signs pointed to the snake tribe. Beast-realm shamans and soul-warfare fit the pattern.
He breathed slow, set his features into a hard line, then barked at the Lilid's spawn.
"Quit staring and move. If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be breathing."
The spiderlings recoiled, hissed, then obeyed as his bloodlust ebbed. Hesitant, they continued to guide him onward.
[If they can wound Grimm, you're facing a problem bigger than you thought.]
He let the system's warning curl through him and spat a sneer. The implication was correct and ugly: if his soul could be struck, then his half-formed essence made him even more vulnerable.
Thoughts of counters scratched at his head, but they kept looping back to Grimm, his first companion outside the system, made from leftover soulmass, accidentally born from the high-grade soulstone. The little ghost's profile held no answers; even the system shrugged at his makeup.
Feeling frustrated, he blamed the only being he could.
'You made him. Pretty fucking stupid you can't figure him out.'
[He's an unforeseen byproduct of your evolution. His structure can be analyzed, but his coding and deeper functions are a separate subsystem. I have no access to determine if he has any growth potential.]
'Still retarded...'
Calm settled. Grimm's presence thinned into a steady, sleeping ember. The injuries weren't fatal; for now that was enough. He could only hope the ghost mended on his own, Seo-jin had no tools to help him. A problem he needed to figure out eventually.
As they moved toward the dwarves, irritation burned at the edge of Seo-jin's thoughts. Sending Grimm out had been a mistake. One he couldn't take back, one he didn't need stacked on top of everything else.
He shoved the thought aside. Grimm could wait, vengeance and his plan couldn't. Now, besides the dwarves, someone had hurt his pet, and that meant the snake tribe needed to suffer. Their deaths had already been planned, but now it was personal.
An hour passed, the light above dimming as the sun dipped low. Darkness never bothered him, but time mattered. He needed to act before the spiders led him too close.
An idea finally clicked.
'If I can't make a move, get something else that can.'
He focused, keeping his steps steady behind the spiderlings. The twin growths along his back twitched, their wet jaws gurgling as one mouth peeled open.
Chunks of half-digested flesh slopped from its throat, leaving a trail of steaming bile behind him. Piece by piece, the mess gathered, meat glistening with fluid, skin twitching as if remembering breath. The mouth hacked once more, then spat out a horn slick with blood.
Seo-jin pushed the command through the link and felt the tension drain from his muscles.
'No questions. Go west. Find something half human, half snake. Have it follow you back to me alive. Only one.'
The spiderlings didn't notice. They crept ahead, none the wiser as the discarded meat began to stir far behind them. The bile-soaked pieces crawled and twisted together, snapping and hissing until a shape took form.
Snare stood. Steam rolled off him.
"Yes, Broodfather."
He reached into his throat and dragged out his weapon, the gnarled shepard's staff scraping free in a wet grind. Without hesitation, he sprinted forward, his fangs flaring bright, eyes cutting through the dark as he tore into the forest.
He didn't know the details. Didn't need to. The Broodfather had called him alone, it was his chance to prove himself.
'I won't fail.'
Snare's body blurred through the treeline, bounding from branch to branch with inhuman speed.
Behind him, Seo-jin felt the tether tighten through the bond. Snare was on the hunt.
'Now for some fun.'
He needed to do his part and stall, buy Snare some time. They were getting closer to the dwarves' entrance; a little theater would keep the spiderlings busy.
From out of nowhere, he dropped into a low crouch, planting himself like a coiled thing, eyes fixed.
"Sshhh!"
The little spider-children froze, their limbs folding as they turned toward the Broodfather's glare.
He held still, listening with the practiced silence of a predator. One of the spiders scuttled forward, its voice a fractured whine.
"We sense no danger."
Seo-jin's expression snapped hard; his tone went cold and dangerous.
"Are you questioning me?"
The spider recoiled, body trembling as it lowered itself.
"No Broodfather, but there is noth—"
Thun-quish!
Seo-jin drove a claw through its head. The creature crumpled, dessicated as the life and moisture bled out of it like ink.
[+34EXP]
[Level // 19]
[Exp // 11907/12665]
The other two fumbled back, hissing, fear pouring from them in waves.
[What are you doing?! What happened to unseen?]
'Relax. Pride plays well. A brat poked at me twice—perfect excuse to remind them who I am.'
He looked again toward the unseen threat, then addressed the trembling broodlings.
"Do either of you doubt me as well?"
They shook so hard it was audible, both finally whispering no. Seo-jin let a small inward smile curl; he couldn't know Lilid was back at her lair swearing a storm over the lost child, but his act had landed. She was irritated, not alarmed.
He stayed low, then eased forward.
"Follow me. Whatever's out there hasn't noticed us yet. Stay quiet."
The last two spiderlings crept closer, their faces blank and twitching. One hesitated before forcing out words.
"What if it's just a dwarf? Shouldn't we keep going?"
"If it's a dwarf, then we make contact. If they see us first, they'll assume it's an attack."
The logic sat clean. A naked human walking with two spider demons through the woods at dusk wasn't exactly disarming. The broodling went quiet after that...not out of obedience, just the dull awareness that arguing was pointless. Seo-jin wished they would try.
Time dragged in a slow, deliberate rhythm. He circled the same stretch of forest, stopping to listen, pretending to track sounds that weren't there. Every pause, every twitch, was a performance.
Partway through, he felt the tug of the Broodlink. Snare had made contact and was moving back toward him.
He sent the command through the link, calm and precise.
'Stay hidden when you get close. Two targets with me, they can't see you. When the fight starts, wait until they're dead before joining.'
Snare's reply hit like a whisper.
'Spiders? I mean—yes, Broodfather.'
A thin smile broke across Seo-jin's face. He could almost feel the curiosity pressing through the link, and he didn't blame him.
Then Lilid's voice slithered through one of the spiderlings, sharp with irritation.
"Why are you wasting time on this? Both of our children sense nothing. If we didn't know better, we'd think you were stalling for something."
He let his expression twist, anger first, then restraint. A prideful demon holding back the urge to tear.
"Do you truly think your spawn see better than I do? They could be cloaked—artifact, spell, doesn't matter. I don't leave loose ends."
Snare's presence pulsed closer through the Broodlink.
He exhaled sharply, posture easing just enough to sell the performance.
"But if it soothes your doubt, I'll let it go."
He rose to his full height, turning toward the direction of the dwarven base, voice settling into cool indifference.
"Lead the way. But if you're wrong, your children will pay for it."
A simple truth: fear polished lies better than any oath. Pride demanded consequence.
"Thank you for your patience. Once this is done, one will reward you properly."
"No need. Just keep the deal. That's all I want."
He paused, a smirk cutting through his calm.
"Though I'll take any extra reward from your body. Might make the voyage more tolerable if you keep me entertained."
The spiderling's aura flared hot—Lilid's desire bleeding through it. Her voice trembled between hunger and control.
"Entertain you? Oh, Broodfather… our talent will no doubt leave you speechless."
Seo-jin's hands flexed until bone cracked. The Broodlink pulsed—Snare was in position.
He took a slow breath, then feigned sudden alarm.
"Once we reach the humans, they'll kneel before—wait!"
He crouched again, eyes narrowing.
Lilid's voice sharpened.
"Broodfather! Enough of—"
Her words cut short as both spiderlings froze. Their legs rose from their backs, forelimbs twitching.
Something moved in the distance.
Brush snapped. Heavy bodies pushed through the undergrowth. The sound grew louder, closer.
The two spiderlings froze, pale human faces blank, waiting for his cue.
"It's not a dwarf. We have to kill it. It's already caught our scent."
They tensed, limbs twitching, unaware that above them Snare bounded through the branches—darting, baiting, and keeping just ahead of the copper-scaled predator behind him. The snakeman's attention snapped forward toward Seo-jin, and Snare climbed higher, vanishing into the canopy.
'Good job.'
Seo-jin locked eyes with the creature as it slithered from the brush. This one stood out—copper scales, hood flared wide, leather armor clinging tight, a mace clenched in its hands.
Bloodlight pulsed off Seo-jin in waves as he charged. He had to sell the act.
"Come then! Face me! You've hunted your own death!"
[That was cringe.]
'I know!'
He shook off the flush crawling up his neck, claws tearing through the skin of his fingers as they reshaped. The two spiderlings hissed behind him, their legs scraping bark and soil.
This next step was crucial. One mistake and the whole thing burns.
The snakeman hesitated when he saw them. A naked human charging through the undergrowth wasn't what it expected. Confusion flickered, then it caught sight of the spider demons lunging in behind him. Its hood flared wider, body coiling tight as it hissed, venom thick on its tongue.
'Good. It's not running.'
Seo-jin broke into a sprint, claws low, breath steady. The snakeman swung first, a blur of scaled muscle and iron. Seo-jin met it head-on, feigning clumsiness as he twisted. His arm swung wide, missing deliberately, and he staggered past like his own weight had betrayed him.
The copperhead sized him up and dismissed him. Just a human, weak, easy meat. It turned its focus to the spiderlings instead. Both shrieked and fired silk, the threads cutting through the air. The snakeman slammed its tail into the dirt, the shockwave shredding bark and stone, scattering the webs before they landed.
Seo-jin steadied himself, feigning clumsy recovery as he lunged forward. The serpent slammed a foot to the ground, weapon raised. The spiders bolted through the trees, darting in to strike alongside him.
The mace came up, heavy and sure.
'Now!'
He pivoted with practiced chaos, twisting his body to sell the act. His shoulder smashed into one of the spiderlings, sweeping its legs out. It screamed once before hitting the ground.
The mace came down. Bone, carapace, and meat crushed in a single blow.
He landed beside the surviving spider, teeth bared.
"Stay out of my way! Keep it busy—I'll find the gap!"
It obeyed instantly, scuttling to engage as he tracked the serpent's movement. Everything was falling into place. Messy, and loud, but under his thumb.
Then the itch hit. Deep, crawling. His skin prickled at the same time the Broodlink burned.
'Broodfather, we have more coming from the east. What should I do?'
Snare's voice cut sharp through his thoughts.
He didn't need to ask who. The air had changed. The ground trembled.
The dwarves were coming.