Chapter 156: From Ash To King
A roar tore through the trees.
Azakh-Tur watched the elf king's fading aura jerk upward, wild and uneven, and increased his speed. He'd ordered the kill held for him, but orders didn't equal trust. Not yet. Not with her.
Another scream followed. This one wasn't the king. It hit his gut like a hook.
"She fucking wouldn't—!"
He broke into a full sprint, then checked himself as the broodlink flared. The pull was sharp, but wrong. The king wasn't the cause. It was Widow that was hurt.
"Good."
He kept moving anyway. Ahead, the elf staggered upright, ripping strands from his body, silk snapping wetly as it tore free. A severed spider leg lay nearby, still twitching, ichor dripping into the roots. Azakh-Tur felt no urgency clawing his chest. He didn't need to arrive first. His son's were already on it.
Two auras flew past him. One burned. One bled.
Panic reached the clearing first. He planted himself between his sister and the elf, dagger raised, teeth bared, stance low and ready to die hard. No hesitation. No fear.
The king looked down at the small demon and should have laughed. Instead, he felt the pressure in the air, the weight behind that narrow frame, and knew better. This demon could easily kill him. He was screwed. The heat blooming at his back confirmed it.
Over the king's shoulder, Pain saw Widow. Her thorax was braced against a tree trunk, upper body dragged upward, arms clutching the torn remains of her leg. She hissed through clenched teeth, silk twitching around her in broken lines.
Something hot and violent swelled in Pain's chest. He swallowed it...barely.
[Seems the brothers are protective. How sweet.]
'Widow changed more than I planned. I've never seen either of them react like that. Well, besides towards me.'
[Jealous?]
'Not at all. Just worried.'
The elf king's face had gone waxy, color leaching out with every breath. His aura thinned, fluttering like a dying flame. He looked seconds from collapse. Azakh-Tur didn't mistake it for safety. Cornered prey bled hardest.
[Severborne Array // Active]
The five blades split cleanly from his pauldron and slid into the air behind him, rotating in a slow, patient orbit. Azakh-Tur eased his pace to a measured walk, pushing calm through the broodlink until Panic's edge dulled and Pain's heat steadied. His aura stayed flat. Controlled.
"Running? I thought elves didn't quit the hunt."
The king's breath rasped. Muscles jumped under his skin, joints barely holding alignment. He knew it was over. He'd burned a single-use escape, torn himself free of death at the cost of everything else. The price was still ticking down. Without time to rest, to bind flesh and anchor his spirit, he would bleed out where he stood. Widow's webs had stolen the last stretch of ground he needed. There would be no second miracle.
Azakh-Tur shifted his gaze to his daughter.
"Go feed. You earned it."
Widow froze, still clutching her severed leg. Six green eyes blinked, unfocused, instinct straining against command. He felt the tension ripple through her. Then it broke.
"Yes, Father. Then… we go home?"
"Soon. Not yet. Go. You're hurt, and it's rattling your brothers."
Her eyes slid to Panic and Pain. She gave a small, crooked smile, then turned, lowering herself from the trunk and dragging her way toward the wreckage of the battlefield.
Watching her withdraw, Azakh-Tur studied the shape she left behind. Of all his brood, she was the largest by far. Nine feet at the shoulders, her body layered in black and dark green chitin, bands of dense muscle threaded through it like forged wire. Her thorax dominated her mass, and along her abdomen gaped the same devouring maw Lilid bore, rings of fangs flexing as it breathed.
One of the things that set her apart lay across her back. Green markings spread in the shape of a grinning demon, the pattern climbing up and wrapping around her torso where a spider's head should have been. The lines wrapped her stomach, framed her breast's, then climbed the length of her twin horns. Six eyes tracked independently. Her mouth split wider than any of his brood. She wasn't just monstrous. She was wrong in a way that demanded attention.
Noticing his first born's lingering eyes, Azakh-Tur cracked Pain across the head to break his trance, then turned his focus back to the collapsing king.
"So...what's left? Pleading? A bargain? Or do you plan to take one of us with you when you fall?"
A rough snarl tore out of the king as he forced himself to turn and square his stance.
"I am Ulkar Zhaeth! Three hundred cycles I have led the hunt. I will not stain my kills by groveling. Tell me demon, before I fall, answer me this...how was the hunt?"
The question caught Azakh-Tur off guard. The urge to mock died in his throat, replaced by a dry, iron taste. He answered without dressing it up. Honest and blunt.
"It wasn't difficult. But it was enjoyable."
[-15 Soulmass]
[SM // 36/51]
[Severborne Array // Core Reforge // Activated]
[+400% Damage (True Damage)]
The king laughed. It came out strong, then fractured into wet coughs as his aura thinned to a thread. Even so, his eyes stayed lit.
"What a strange demon. But enjoyable isn't bad. Not bad at—"
[!! Critical !!]
[+3000 Damage Dealt]
The fused weapon discharged like a siege round. The king's face vanished in a concussive bloom, bone and thought erased as the impact punched through and left a clean, gaping hole.
[+1200 EXP]
[Level Up +1]
[Level // 22 → 23]
[EXP // 21772 → 22972 / 22368]
[+1 AGI / +1 INT / +1 FLH / +1 SM / +3 AP]
[Spawn Limit +1]
[System // Notification]
[Quest // Sever The Bond // Updated]
System light washed over Azakh-Tur as the Severborne blades slid back into their mounts along his shoulder. His skin lightened, horns drawing inward as his form compressed back to human. Another pulse followed, and his suit reasserted itself, armor dissolving into woven threads.
'Still nothing?'
[If we're being precise, that isn't nothing.]
It had been several levels since his last skill gain. The pattern was becoming clear. Thirteen days remained to grind, but he'd already decided the humans would leave early. Once they were gone, alone in the freelands with his brood, he would trigger the item and summon his class dungeon. The thought settled. Numbers shifted in his head as he recalculated timelines. He adjusted his plans and started moving.
"Broodfather?"
Panic's voice cut across his thoughts. When Azakh-Tur looked down, the broodling wouldn't meet his eyes, posture tight, shoulders twitching as if he were mid-argument with himself.
"Something wrong?"
Panic snapped straighter.
"Wrong? Always. And also… not? Don't know."
He tapped the pommel of his dagger against his skull, smiling through it.
"My thoughts won't slow down. They keep stacking. Feels like my head's spinning faster every minute. It's hot. Why am I hot?"
Azakh-Tur studied him, searching for the fault, until his gaze followed the flicks of Panic's eyes drifting off to the side. Widow. Seo-jin exhaled through his nose.
[Disgusting.]
He dragged a hand down his face.
"You're fine. Just do something for me."
Panic grabbed his own cheeks and pulled them down, eyes bright, waiting.
"Anything."
"Stay away from your sister when I'm not around."
The broodling sagged, confusion replacing the spark.
"Yes, Broodfather."
Ignoring the thin whine in his voice, Seo-jin turned and walked toward the king's corpse. There was still loose business. His quest. He brought up the panel and scrolled to the updated entry.
[Quest // Sever The Bond 2.0]
[Requirements Met // Entity Identified / Connection Severed]
[Updated Requirement // Devour Source]
[New Reward // Title [Kinslayer] — Upgrade x2]
"Was gonna eat him anyway."
He crouched, fingers warping into hooked claws. Reaching into the crater where the king's face had been, he pulled free a slab of brain still clinging to splintered bone. He lifted it, inhaled once.
"…smells good."
He popped it into his mouth and leaned in, feeding.
The humans approaching from behind froze mid-step. They had watched him fight. Watched him kill. Watched him wear a human shape like clothing. Somewhere along the way, they had almost managed to forget what he actually was.
The wet sounds corrected that mistake.
Only one person didn't hesitate. Lynn rushed in, cheeks hot, eyes locked on his mouth as he fed.
"That was insane! You didn't even get touched. An actual elf king wasn't shit...to...you. Can I—can I try that?"
Her tone shifted on the last words.
Seo-jin stopped chewing and looked up at her. His jaw set. Heat tightened low in his crotch.
"You're serious?"
Min stepped in, alarm flaring.
"Lynn, don't—"
"I am."
She ignored Min and dropped to a knee beside him, staring into his eyes. What looked back wasn't fear. It was want.
"Feed me."
He almost took her right then and there.
Tearing free a slab of the king's liver, he caught her hair in a fist, tipping her head back. Blood smeared his knuckles as he pressed the meat between her lips. He leaned in and sealed it there with a kiss.
"Fuck no! That's foul! Yuck, no!"
Min turned away, gagging as she stomped off. Split-jaw, Slims, and the others followed, faces pale and stomachs twisting.
The brood didn't move. They watched, grinning. John did too.
The bald man glanced from the elf king's remains to Seo-jin and Lynn. He took a step, halted, jaw tightening, then shook his head and turned away. A moment later he was running, boots pounding as he fled back toward the wreckage of the field.
Lynn finished chewing, eyes unfocused, savoring it longer than necessary. When Seo-jin let go of her, it took effort to push her back. He forced his hand up, palm out, and held it there.
"Any more and you'll get sick. I'll finish the rest. Go clean your face before Min sees you."
She nodded, slow and distant, blood streaking her chin. Rising on unsteady legs, she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and wandered off, still half elsewhere.
[How do you keep pulling in these fucking lunatics. Seriously. Who the hell raised her.]
Seo-jin bent back to the corpse and ignored the voice. Not like he could argue. Instead, he ate until there was nothing left worth taking, the tusks the only resistance, tough and fibrous between his teeth. As the last piece slid down his throat, the system chimed.
[System // Notification]
[Quest // Sever The Bond 2.0 // Completed]
[Rewards Distributing...]
A grin cut across his face as crimson light tore free from his chest...and from every broodling nearby. The clearing drowned in red, the brood burning like a spilled sea of blood.
[Title // Kinslayer Upgraded to Ashking]
'Ashking. I like that.'
He reached to select it and froze as six pillars of bloodlight flared brighter than the rest.
Pain. Panic. Snare. Hex. Widow. Bile.
Each of them burned hotter, sharper.
[Analyzing Available Broodlings for compatible skills / abilities....]
"What now?"
[I'll spare the summary. Just know this title's about to blow your mind—in a good way.]
"Evil..."
The word slipped out, quiet and pleased.
The system didn't make him wait.
[Analysis Complete // All Available Skills / Abilities added to Ashking]
The light collapsed in an instant, draining from the brood as if it had never been there. Whatever had been done was finished. Seo-jin pulled his panel back up and pressed his thumb into the new title, his hand shaking as it connected.
Reading on, his eyes widened and his breathing thinned. The system hadn't exaggerated—
His thoughts slammed together hard enough it felt like his skull might split.
----
Darkness pressed in from all sides. Cold air, heavy with salt and the faint bite of metal. Somewhere close, stone shifted. Pebbles slid. Dust trickled.
Something moved.
A groan dragged out of Ash's chest before he knew it was his.
A dull purple glow kindled in the dark, weak at first, then steady. Triss nudged him with her broad head, her fur warm against his cheek. The light strengthened as she leaned closer, filling the hollow with bruised violet.
Ash's eyes cracked open.
The glow spilled across a crushed skull inches from his face. Blood matted the hair. The jaw hung loose. One of the Dead Hands. One of the ones who'd been standing beside him before the man in white robes attacked.
Ash jerked back, stone biting into his shoulders.
"Triss, what's happening?"
Her glow flared.
Ash screamed.
He was alone. The only one breathing. Pinned beneath collapsed rock, bodies buried with him, the weight unmoving and final.