Chapter 155: Web Of New Beginning
The night before, the brood had ringed Bile as system light detonated from his body, the surge marking his climb to level ten.
Seo-jin watched with his lip pulled back and his fists tight. Irritation sat hot behind his eyes, his pulse ticking faster than it should have. The source wasn't the ritual. It was Synapse. He'd masked it well. None of the brood had noticed. But the fact remained. One of them had stood against him. The aftertaste of it still burned.
He wanted the class assignment to pull his attention elsewhere.
[System // Notification]
[Broodling / Bile // Level 10 Achieved]
[New Class Available // Noh Bloodmask]
[Assign class to Broodling Bile?]
[Yes / No]
'One of these days I should hit no. Just to see.'
He selected [Yes].
There would be time for experiments later. The thought of Synapse flickered through his mind and vanished as the change began.
As the red system glow faded, blood replaced it. It burst from Bile's mouth, nose, eyes, skin splitting at the seams. His body arched hard as the flow reversed, the blood refusing gravity as it crawled back across him. It climbed his torso. It crept up his neck. It pulled itself toward his face.
Bile convulsed, every muscle locked, veins standing out like cords beneath his skin. He trembled in a way the brood knew well. Suffering. Pure and total. When the blood reached his face, it thickened, slowing, coagulating into a living mass that shuddered as it took shape. Drop by drop, it sealed over his features until nothing remained uncovered.
Then the light came.
A column of red flared skyward, sharp and violent, staining the dark like a wound torn open.
[System // Notification]
[Broodling / Widow // Noh Bloodmask Class Acquisition Successful]
[Mask Resonance Unlocked]
[+8 STR / +15 VIT / +6 AGI / +3 INT]
The flare died. The bloodmask didn't.
Bile doubled over, breath ripping out of him in harsh pulls, heat rolling off his body in visible waves. Seo-jin clocked the change immediately. Panic, Snare, Hex—unchanged. But Bile had stretched. Spine longer. Frame heavier. He stood more than a foot taller than before.
"Stand."
The word snapped through him. Bile jerked, then straightened fully. This time there was no slump, no hesitation. A predatory pressure spilled outward, raw and unfamiliar.
"How do you feel?"
Behind the living mask, Bile's eyes glowed hot. The heat crawling across his face would take time to tolerate. Everything else was simple.
"Hungry."
He held the Broodfather's gaze without flinching.
"I want to kill something."
A shiver traced Seo-jin's skin. He smiled and dipped his head once.
"Welcome to the brood, Bile. Take your place with your brothers."
Bile dropped to one knee, head bowed, forcing the bloodlust down through clenched muscle.
"Praise the Broodfather."
"PRAISE THE BROODFATHER!"
The rest followed him instantly. Knees hit ground as one, voices locking together. Seo-jin noted his youngest without comment. Synapse didn't hesitate. He knelt with the others, perfectly in step.
Satisfied for the moment, Seo-jin opened the panel and swiped to Bile's profile. The new class data filled his view.
[Class Profile // Noh Bloodmask]
[Role // Adaptive Vanguard / Bloodbound Support]
[Rank // D]
[Critical Stat // VIT (all class abilities scale strongest with Vitality)]
[Core Class Mechanic // Mask Resonance]
[The Bloodmask is a living construct formed from the user's blood and soul. Damage taken, self-inflicted or received, generates Resonance (max 100). Mask-based abilities consume Resonance to shift combat roles, enhance allies, or unleash violent surges.]
[Class Skills]
[Name // Bloodmask Manifestation]
[Type // Active]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Cooldown // 10s]
[Effect]
[Condense blood into a demonic Noh mask bound directly to the soul. While active, increases Max HP by 10% and redirects 15% of damage taken by nearby allies (within 5m) to the user. Redirected damage generates additional Mask Resonance.]
[Name // Crimson Echo]
[Type // Passive]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // None]
[Cooldown // None]
[Effect]
[Every instance of damage the user takes stores residual blood intent. For every 10% Max HP lost, the user gains +2% outgoing damage and +2% outgoing healing for 6 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times. Duration refreshes on new damage.]
[Name // Role of the Splintered Face]
[Type // Buff]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Cooldown // 25s]
[Cost // 40 Mask Resonance]
[Effect]
[The Bloodmask fractures, shifting role-state for 8 seconds.
• Allies within range gain +10% damage dealt and +10% damage resistance.
• The user gains increased threat generation and converts 20% of damage dealt into shared healing split among affected allies.
Effect strength scales with VIT.]
[Name // Scar Choir]
[Type // Active]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Cooldown // 12s]
[Effect]
[Open existing wounds on self and enemies. Deals minor self-damage (5% Max HP), then emits a pulse that heals allies for an amount equal to 50% of the damage taken and applies Bleed to enemies for 6 seconds. Self-inflicted damage generates double Mask Resonance.]
[Name // True Noh: Blood-Self Revelation]
[Type // Ultimate]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // 1s]
[Cooldown // 120s]
[Cost // All Mask Resonance]
[Effect]
[The Bloodmask fully fuses with the user's identity for 10 seconds.
• The user cannot be reduced below 1 HP.
• 50% of all damage taken is redistributed as healing to allies.
• All outgoing attacks apply Heavy Bleed (scales with VIT).
When the effect ends, the user is stunned for 2 seconds and suffers Exhaustion, reducing outgoing damage by 20% for 10 seconds.]
"The mask does not hide what you are.
It teaches blood how to speak."
[Your first true all-rounder. Clean work. A support tank that heals. Stack this with Feed and Bile becomes a problem. And you almost cut him loose.]
'From any angle, it's solid. I'm curious what Synapse said to push him this far. Either way, the mask answers his weakness.'
[Still a twisted feature if you ask me. Born unstable. That's fucked.]
'At least—'
A pressure thumped through the air. Not sound, but impact. A heartbeat you could feel. Seo-jin turned toward it and smiled as Widow's cocoon flared, veins hammering beneath the surface, light pulsing hard and fast.
'At least this one's been straightforward.'
The brood pulled in tight, Panic still latched to Bile with teeth and claws, yet every eye kept drifting to the cocoon, waiting to see what their brother would come out as.
Beside Seo-jin, Snare planted his staff and leaned his weight into it.
"My scouts are already spread. A few watchers drifted close, then pulled back. They felt like probes. We should move the moment Widow finishes. If those were scouts, heavier units will follow."
"Keep feeding me updates. Don't engage unless they cross the line."
"Understood, Broodfather."
Snare dipped his head, his gaze cutting sideways toward Synapse for a breath before he turned away.
Outside the ring, the humans craned for a look. Annoyed, Min shoved forward and grabbed Pain by the ass.
"Shift."
He jolted, halfway into a strike, then froze when he caught her voice. Color bled into his face as he stepped aside and let her through.
'Iiiinteresting. Not sure I like that.'
[I don't either. She's got issues.]
Seo-jin shook the thought loose, but a burst of steam venting from the cocoon dragged his focus back where it belonged.
[Mutation Complete]
[Broodling // Widow / Lust Spider // Profile Updated]
[Perfect. A horny broodling.]
'Who should we pray to?'
Something wet tore inside the cocoon, followed by grinding and a high, raw shriek. A dark shape slammed against the inner wall, swelling the sack until it stretched to three times its size, the skin thinning and going translucent before it burst. Mucus and gore exploding out like a popped cyst.
Pain stepped in front of the Broodfather, flames flaring along his shoulders.
Slime and reek blasted outward. Min took most of it full in the chest.
Pain's eyes went wide, his head snapping away from her as if he suddenly couldn't see anything.
Usually Seo-jin would have taken a moment to enjoy Min getting drenched in sludge, but his stare never broke. His head tipped back, tracking the shape lifting above Pain.
"He's huge."
[Uh… you might want to—]
The system's voice drifted, unheard. His thoughts were too busy spiraling, trying to sort what he was looking at and what it meant for Widow, and worse, what it meant for the brood.
Still covered in green shit, Min froze, fury draining from her as her mouth fell open. She glanced down at her own chest, then back up at Widow, her voice hollow with disbelief.
"They're bigger than mine."
Every eye fixed on Widow, on two things in particular. Widow's new breasts.
The brood's first female.
As a demon, and as a father...Azakh-Tur wasn't ready.
----
Beneath the hard midday glare, still pacing after the retreating elf king, Seo-jin let [Soul Sight] track the fading aura ahead. At the same time, Widow's fresh profile scrolled through his vision. The king was wounded. Drained. He found himself weighing whether that would be enough for his only daughter.
He hoped not.
[Broodling // Widow]
[Classification // Demon Spawn]
[Subclass // Lilid Broodline (Lust Spider)]
[Gender // Female]
[Rank // D]
[Level // 10]
[HP // 450/450]
[EXP // 4890/5809]
[Core Stats]
[STR // 17 // E]
[VIT // 25 // D]
[AGI // 21 // D]
[INT // 16 // E]
[AP // 0]
[Natural Weapons]
[Claw // E // Slashing Damage 30–36]
[Crit Chance // 4%]
[Bite // D // Piercing Damage 39–48 + Venom]
[Crit Chance // 8%]
[Silk Thread // D // Binding Damage]
[Crit Chance // None]
[Notable Traits]
[Heat Resistance // D]
[Dark Vision // A]
[Wall Crawler // S+]
[Stealth // B]
[Weaknesses]
[Blunt Damage +20%]
[Fire damage bypasses silk armor]
[Low individual durability]
[Racial Abilities]
[Feed (Passive)]
[Consumes organic flesh to restore 2% HP per second for 5s // Flesh consumed is stored as brood-mass]
[Brood Link (Passive)]
[Maintains mental link with summoner and other broodlings // Transmits location, threat awareness, and simple intent]
[Brood Womb (Passive)]
[All consumed flesh is converted into brood-mass // When brood-mass reaches threshold, Widow may birth spiderlings]
[Mutation Abilities]
[Name // Ensnaring Web]
[Type // Active]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Cooldown // 10s]
[Effect]
[Fires sticky web in a 6m cone // Targets hit are Rooted for 2.5s // Movement speed reduced by 60% after root ends for 3s // Webbed targets take +15% damage from broodlings]
[Name // Lilid Venom]
[Type // Active]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Cooldown // 6s]
[Effect]
[Bite injects Lust Venom // 20 poison damage per second for 6s // Targets affected suffer Charm: 30% chance to hesitate, mis-target, or fail hostile actions toward Widow and her brood]
[Note]
[Charm does not override direct commands but interferes with intent]
[Name // Flesh-Weaver Birth]
[Type // Active]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // 3s channel]
[Cooldown // 60s]
[Effect]
[Consumes stored brood-mass to birth 1–3 Spiderlings // Number and strength scale with quality and volume of flesh consumed // Born units inherit a fraction of Widow's stats]
[Name // Broodguard Silk]
[Type // Passive]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // None]
[Cooldown // None]
[Effect]
[Widow automatically produces silk armor // −12% physical damage taken // When struck, releases web filaments that slow attackers by 20% for 2s]
Widow wasn't a fighter anymore. She was infrastructure. A living engine. Flesh converted to production, production to control. He could already see it: webs layered on webs, spiderlings pouring out until terrain itself belonged to her. Lilid had ruled through numbers and inevitability. Widow would do the same.
That future pleased him. The price, less so.
The mutation had warped her instincts hard. Territory. Anchors. Lines. She burned to claim ground, to spin until the world obeyed her geometry. Only the threat of death cut through that fixation. Pulling her off the front gnawed at her focus, though reframing it as necessity rather than denial kept her from unraveling completely.
She was given a perimeter instead.
The elf encampment would be sealed. No stragglers. No surprises. No exits. If anything tried to flee, it would hang.
A lesson the king was about to learn.