Chapter 95: Blood on Stone
Panels flooded his vision in strobing red.
[-180HP]
[HP // 660 / 840]
[Demonic Will // Active]
[Stack 0]
[!! WARNING !!]
[Right Arm // Disabled]
His arm hung shredded at his side, a sack of meat and splintered bone. Blood poured steady down his ribs, steaming against the cold surface of the Heartstone. The slab hadn't so much as cracked.
Pain's snarled, low and guttural. Panic, by contrast, was giggling, each laugh sharp and manic. Snare stood motionless. His silence was heavy. Watching.
"If you wish to stop—"
Thragdur's tone carried respect, not pity, but the offer died in his throat the moment Seo-jin shifted stance again.
He drew back his left arm. Muscle swelled tight, cords rising like cables under his skin. Blood ceased to flow from his right side, sealed off by pure tension. Every dwarf watching could hear the creak of his body under strain, like steel winding to its limit.
Boom!
The strike landed. The system answered.
[-176HP]
[HP // 484 / 840]
[Demonic Will // Stack 1]
[+6% Pain Reduction / +1.5% Health Regen]
[!! WARNING !!]
[Left Arm // Disabled]
He staggered, breath rasping, both arms hanging ruined. Blood poured in slow, heavy drops, each one thick enough to patter like rain against stone. His chest heaved. His teeth clenched hard enough to bleed.
'Stay focused.'
He reminded himself why he stood here...to prove.
The dwarves could feel it, too. The weight of that will pressing out from him like heat. Even the forgemaster stepped closer, his heavy boots grinding against the dirt.
"You've done enough, Broodfather. Your life is spared. But the stone judges you unworthy. We will see you healed and speak no more of alliance."
There was regret in his tone, old and heavy, buried under respect. But tradition was tradition, his hands were tied. Around them, murmurs spread, grim admiration in their voices. Even in failure, the demon had earned their regard.
Then Seo-jin stepped forward again.
The murmurs stopped.
He stood before the Heartstone, sweat dripping from his chin, eyes fixed on its black surface. When he spoke, his voice was calm, even, like cooling iron.
"I'm not done. One more strike."
Thragdur frowned, lifting a hand.
"Do not waste your body. The strike must be true—throwing a ruined limb will only—"
The dwarf froze mid-sentence.
Horns split Seo-jin's brow, pushing through flesh with a wet crack, curling upward and back. His spine arched as muscle along his back flexed and rippled, cords bunching like live serpents under the skin.
The dwarves stepped back instinctively. The Broodlings bowed their heads, heat and shadow pouring off their master in waves.
Seo-jin inhaled once...long, steady. Then swung.
BOOOOOMMM!
The sound tore through the clearing, raw, endless and alive. It didn't echo so much as cling, rattling through bone and stone alike.
The ground around them erupted. Shards of dirt and shattered earth filled the air in a storm of grit. Dwarves shielded their faces from the blast, but the Forgemaster did not move. His eyes burned dark and wild, his mouth splitting into a heavy, toothy grin.
[CRITICAL]
[-246HP]
[HP // 257 / 840]
[Demonic Will // Stack 2]
[+12% Pain Reduction / +3% Health Regen]
Seo-jin's skull rang like a bell. His vision split, doubled, then steadied. Blood ran into his mouth, metallic and warm. The horns had taken most of the backlash, without them, his skull might've been pulp.
[That was impressive. Didn't look pretty, but it worked.]
The system's voice barely cut through the ringing in his head. He forced his breath steady, body swaying, blood dripping from his chin. The glow from his horns bled into the air around him, bloodlight pulsing with his heartbeat.
Steady now, he turned, meeting the Forgemaster's gaze without a flinch. His arms hung ruined, his face and chest slick with blood, yet his voice came out calm and level, steady as his heartbeat.
"Three strikes. Nothing held back."
Pain, Panic, and Snare crept to his side, silent shadows flanking their father. Their eyes burned with shared pride and venom, each of them glaring at the dwarves as if daring one to speak.
Seo-jin turned, bloodlight washing the clearing in red.
"Does anyone doubt that?"
His gaze dragged across the crowd. No one spoke. No one breathed.
Then the silence cracked—
Deep, rolling laughter broke from Thragdur's chest. He clapped his massive hands together, the sound booming like hammer on anvil.
"The rite is honored! The demon bled for the stone! He is worthy of our trust!"
He stepped forward and threw a hand toward his men.
"Get him a drink! Our allies don't bleed while we stand idle!"
The dwarves moved at once, the respect in their faces clear, even through the blood and dust still hanging in the air.
A red-bearded dwarf hurried forward, large teeth, even for his kind, flashed white through the dark. His arm plunged into a pouch at his waist, vanishing to the shoulder as he fished for something unseen.
Thragdur barked.
"Something strong!"
The dwarf nodded, muttering as he dug deeper. His eyes widened when he found whatever it was. He pulled out a squat wooden tankard capped with a cork, then held it out to Seo-jin with both hands.
Seo-jin stared at it, deadpan.
"I can't grab it."
The dwarf froze, unsure what to do as he looked at Seo-jin's ruined arms.
Snare stepped up before the awkwardness thickened.
"Allow me, Broodfather."
Pain and Panic both clicked their tongues, annoyed they hadn't moved first.
Snare took the tankard with one hand, pulled the stopper free, and held it to his father's lips with careful precision.
"Appreciated."
Seo-jin nodded to the Forgemaster before drinking deep.
He regretted it instantly.
His throat ignited. He coughed, choked, and fought to breathe as the dwarves broke into roaring laughter.
A voice called out through the noise.
"Druin! What batch did you give him?!"
The dark-haired dwarf grinned, fighting not to laugh outright.
"Quartz-wheat Ale...last year's batch. Boss said the strong stuff."
Seo-jin's eyes burned red, tears streaking through the blood on his face. For a heartbeat, he thought it was poison, but the sudden warmth spreading through his body told him otherwise.
"It's fine—"
He wheezed between coughs.
"Just wasn't ready. Thought it was—oh?...Shit, that's a healing potion."
As his vision cleared, the warmth bloomed hotter, flooding his veins. His health climbed in bursts, numbers flashing across his sight. Bones knit. Flesh reformed. The bleeding stopped, and he was almost fully healed.
[HP // 713 / 840]
He lifted both arms, flexing the new muscle beneath clean skin. The speed of it stunned him—no pain, just restoration. Faster than any regeneration he'd ever felt.
"This ale of yours...we'll need to include it in our trade."
Thragdur smirked.
"Talk for later. Now we discuss what comes next."
The air shifted around them. Laughter died. Grins lingered but sharpened.
Even Seo-jin could feel it, like a blade being drawn from the forge.
War was coming, and he now had his army.
----
Less than an hour later, Seo-jin left the dwarves and made his way back toward the Spider Queen's domain. The night sky hung low, veiled in thin mist and smoke, the air brisk against his skin. He caught himself grinning.
'That old bastard's dangerous. If I don't stay sharp, he'll bleed me dry the moment trade begins. Start a list—keep it small. Weapons can wait till I'm back. Measurements'll matter, right?'
[You're getting ahead of yourself. You still have a lot to do before you start making shopping lists.]
'I'll just start with what I need. I'll ask the gang later.'
The system's tone grated, but he ignored it. For once, he wanted to enjoy the win. He pictured himself armored head to toe, tearing through dungeons like a storm.
The walk from the dwarven stronghold to Lilid's territory spanned a few miles, minutes if he ran, but he didn't rush. The air grew thicker the closer he came, sour with venom and damp silk. His good mood thinned.
The thought of what waited ahead started to gnaw at him.
Now came the harder part, convincing a potentially furious demon that her children's deaths were an accident. That the plan had worked. That everything was still in motion. He and Thragdur had already agreed on the story.
Blades began to shimmer in the dark. Silver reflections on wet leaves. The forest twisted around him, shifting from wild growth into a woven nightmare. The grass cut. The branches pricked. Every step demanded care.
'Not knowing if she's pissed or not is starting to stress me out. Pathetic, huh?'
His stride faltered, shorter, heavier. A tightness was coiling in his chest, like a string pulling tighter the closer he got.
The system paused before responding, which made him grit his teeth.
[It's not pathetic to be afraid of failing.]
He stopped walking. The words burned worse than the thorns.
'I'm not afraid. I can escape whenever I want.'
[You have to remember, you're only two months old. You've survived the Maw, devoured hundreds of demons, escaped to another world, slaughtered users, cleared a dungeon, killed an angel—and you're still standing. Fear isn't weakness. It's awareness. Learn to use it.]
Heat crawled up his neck. His fists flexed as he swallowed down the irritation.
'...I'll remember that.'
[Good. Just don't fuck this up.]
There it was.
Rolling his eyes, he couldn't help but think and begin to reflect on the system's words. By the time he reached the wall of thorn and silk, the flush had faded. The air was thick with poison-sweet decay. Shadows breathed between the vines, and he was ready.
Seo-jin straightened his back, exhaled slow, and stared into the dark.
"I've returned. And I bring good news."
He held his chin high, expression flat, like nothing in the world could shake him. Prideful as he should be.
The bramble wall didn't speak, but it shifted, thorns twisting, peeling open into a narrow corridor of black. Inside, a hundred eyes blinked awake in the dark, each burning with cold hunger.
He stepped forward without pause, hands clasped behind his back. His stride was steady, his gaze sharp, but every sense was burning, listening for breath, the scrape of legs, the draw of poison on air.
The path wound through shadow, the faintest slivers of moonlight falling across his way like veins of silver. Even with his Dark Vision, he couldn't pierce the black beyond it. Something that could only happen if it was unnatural.
'I'm not sensing any bloodlust.'
[Stay on guard.]
The system's warning crawled under his skin as the passage widened into an open hollow of silk and moonlight. Webs draped the trees like veins across a wound. At its heart sat Lilid, the Spider Queen, her body glistening under the moon, skin bare, posture regal, every movement an expression of lust.
Seo-jin gave a curt nod.
"They were as stubborn as expected, but I convinced the idiots to agree. They're waiting on a time and place to sign the contract."
Lilid smiled, slow and venomous. Her eyes, however, burned with betrayal.
"One is surprised you returned. But we are glad...it saves us the trouble of hunting you down."
The forest answered her words.
Skittering erupted from the dark. Hundreds of her spawn poured out—dropping from branches, crawling from cracks, sliding from the webbing above. Fangs bared.
"You should never have betrayed us. Everything would have been so much better."