Chapter 159: Choices And Reminders
Dusk dragged itself into night. A thin crescent hung over the freelands, its light weak and cold as it spilled across broken ground. Fires burned atop the husk of a collapsed skyscraper, the lower floors still standing while the rest lay scattered across the earth in slabs and twisted steel.
One of those fires held Slims, Hex, Bile, and a few of the Dead Hands. Slims and Hex had grown inseparable since Hex took his class; their shared fixation on music gave them endless fuel, the two talking over each other, laughing, trading rhythms with hands and feet against the concrete.
Bile stayed apart from the noise. He had been given a place among the brood, but he had not yet learned how to occupy it without direction. Quiet suited him for now. He let their chatter wash past while his foot tapped along.
At another fire, a stranger circle had formed. Split-jaw sat at its center, the older man stiff-backed and wary, like someone dragged into a role he hadn't agreed to fill. Synapse sat close, relentless, firing question after question. Once he realized Split-jaw was the oldest, restraint vanished entirely; every answer only sharpened his hunger for more.
Widow watched from nearby. Her massive thorax filled an entire corner of the floor, legs folded awkwardly beneath her bulk, but her attention never wavered. She followed Split-jaw's words with open fascination, expressions shifting fast and unguarded, like a child listening to a story meant to be scary and wonderful all at once. Near the edge of the firelight, another broodling huddled close to the warmth, shoulders drawn in tight as if hoping to disappear.
Panic only lifted his head when Widow laughed or shifted her bulk, his eyes darting toward her before he folded back in on himself, forearms locked tight as the fire snapped and hissed.
Set apart from the others, Seo-jin occupied the last fire, his attention split between both circles while his gaze kept drifting back to Panic with the slow pressure of a forming headache. Min sat beside him with Snare and Pain close at hand, Lynn and Jon rounding out the group in a loose half circle.
Adrenaline from the clash with the elves still clung to everyone, but it hit Min the hardest. She had come away with more than bruises and blood, her system finally closing out a long-running task that demanded kills from every thinking race across the five realms. She talked without pause about the new beast slot she'd unlocked, speculating aloud about what she might bind to it.
When Seo-jin looked to his eldest son, he had to restrain the grin that threatened to show. Pain couldn't manage the same restraint whenever Min spoke.
"What's with you, Pain? I didn't think you could smile this much."
He kept his tone even, but the question carried a poke. Pain's expression froze mid-movement, the smirk collapsing into embarrassment.
"I—I just… I like killing...stuff."
Lynn broke first, Min following a heartbeat later, both of them laughing hard as Pain scratched the back of his head and stared into the fire.
The noise carried on around them, most of it driven by Min's booming voice, but one presence stayed withdrawn at the edge of the group, silent in a way that stood out even for someone who rarely spoke at all.
[What are you gonna do about him?]
A brief glance toward John told him enough. The man was slick with sweat, shoulders tight, eyes darting like he expected something to pounce.
'Nothing. I wanna see what happens to the idiot.'
The stink had betrayed him hours ago. While Seo-jin fed on the elf king, John had slipped away, and now the reason was obvious. He reeked of demon flesh, imp meat in particular, like he'd watched Lynn and convinced himself there was something to be gained by copying her. Judging by the way he shifted and clenched, his prize had paid out in cramps and regret.
[That level of desperation turns people dangerous.]
'Or useful. Depends on how you aim it.'
He considered tossing the human a small mercy, something to keep him breathing and compliant, but the thought slid aside just as fast. There were larger matters pressing in on him.
At the edge of the rooftop, away from the firelight, two figures remained in the cold. Grimm hovered close to Teal as she sat with her legs hanging over the drop, both hands wrapped around a tankard of ale she hadn't noticed growing stale. She didn't acknowledge the ghost beside her, staring instead into the dark as if the ruins below might answer back.
Min followed his line of sight, the grin draining from her face.
"She's going to need time. A lot of it."
Seo-jin's eyes kindled, a dull glow bleeding through the dark.
"Time isn't something we have. Not yet."
Rising from the fire, he crossed the broken concrete toward where Teal sat. Grimm noticed him and lifted his head with effort, hollow eyes drifting back to the woman as if pulled there by gravity. Through the link, Seo-jin felt the weight pressing off the ghost, a dull, dragging ache that had nothing to do with pain.
'You're attached to her, aren't you?'
Grimm gave a slow nod, a length of intestine sliding free to brush her cheek in a gesture so careful it barely disturbed the air. She didn't notice.
A faint sting touched Seo-jin's chest.
'The way you're attached to me?'
The answer didn't come right away. Grimm floated higher, the glow in his eyes thinning as he worked through the question, then he shook his head once. The bond carried a simple refusal.
Relief came first, followed by irritation at himself. Jealousy over a human was a weakness, and he'd let it surface.
He exhaled, cleared his throat, and spoke as she tipped the tankard again.
"Want to get closer to the fire? I can have another lit if—"
She lowered the cup, face twisting as she lifted it in a small, dismissive tilt, then swallowed hard and sucked in a breath.
"Don't bother. This does the job."
He let it go. Anyone who could drink dwarven ale straight had already chosen their warmth. Instead he studied the stretch of ruined skyline ahead, letting the silence hang long enough to weigh his words before he spoke.
"I'll be direct. I don't have time to waste—"
She cut him off with a loose wave and a sharp, unapologetic burp that drew a cheer from Min.
"I know exactly where I stand."
She swayed slightly, eyes bright and unfocused.
"And I can tell you're not the type who hands out charity."
She laughed at herself, ale-heavy and reckless, and Seo-jin let it run.
"So you're about to tell me I earn my spot or I'm gone. Same old deal, right? You point me at things, I use what I've got, and I get treated like trash—"
She snorted.
"Or not trash—slave. That's the word, yeah? Demons keep slaves."
He didn't interrupt. He watched the moment land, watched the color drain from her face as she realized how far she'd pushed it. She raised the tankard again, drank too fast, then sucked in a breath and shook her head.
"Sorry. Today's been shit."
[Be gentle.]
Seo-jin ignored it. He let a thin edge of his presence bleed out, not enough to crush her, just enough to force her spine straight and pull her focus back where he wanted it. When he spoke, his tone stayed level, controlled.
"Your father misjudged you. You're not strong. You're fragile."
She locked up at that. He watched the reaction move through her, shock folding into hurt, hurt scraping against something sharper. Even Grimm suddenly flared at his words. He pressed before it could fade.
"Before I've offered anything, you've already dropped to your back and shown your throat. You act like an animal waiting for a kick."
His voice hardened.
"It's revolting."
He turned away from her, letting the dismissal carry weight.
"You'll have shelter tonight. At dawn, you're nothing to us. We don't carry dead weight."
Her skin flushed dark, hands curling tight at her sides. He felt it take hold and gave it one last shove.
"Your father died for nothing. What a waste."
[That's wrong.]
'She needs the pressure. Self-pity rots. Anger cuts it out—'
"Fuck you!"
Seo-jin let the corner of his mouth lift, then wiped the expression clean and turned to face her fully. Her hands shook at her sides, chest hitching as breath tore in and out of her, and she hurled the tankard away before shoving him with both palms. He didn't give an inch.
"You don't know a damn thing about me!"
She shouted, voice cracking under the force of it.
"I don't have a father, you bastard! I've got nothing. So tell me—what am I supposed to do, huh?! I'm not human, in case you missed it, I can't level! I'm not an elf either!"
Behind him, the firelight caught still bodies and tense hands. The brood had gone rigid, several rising to their feet with claws flexing, eyes locked on her. Seo-jin lifted one hand without looking back, and the movement froze them where they stood. Off to the side, Grimm drifted closer, glow dim and unsteady, gaze snapping between Seo-jin and Teal, a length of intestine twisting tight in his grip as if he didn't know who to reach for.
"So use me! Burn me out and toss what's left. I don't give a shit! Just don't stand there acting like you know a single fucking thing about me!"
As the shouting tore out of her, her jaw crept wider, teeth thickening and lengthening as her face pulled tight with it. She slammed into him again, harder this time.
This time, he shifted.
The change caught her mid-motion. She stared up at him like she meant to peel him open and see what bled, the drink fueling it but not creating it. The fury had been there all along, the same raw hate that drove her arm when she buried steel into her father's corpse.
Seo-jin kept his voice flat, deliberate.
"I won't waste effort on someone who's already decided to die. So take what you've got left, strip it down to that anger, and make a choice."
His eyes held hers.
"Decide. Do you want to live, or do you want to end it? Pick either one. I'll see it through."
She understood him. Not just the words, but the meaning behind them, the flat certainty in his gaze and the edge carried in his voice. The threat was there, naked and undisguised. And even through the haze of drink, one thing stood out with brutal clarity—she wasn't afraid.
"I want to live!"
A burst of applause cracked from behind. Snare, unsteady and flushed from drink, clapped once too many times before registering the silence and cutting himself off, hands dropping as he shrank back into place.
Seo-jin shot him a look he filed away for later, then returned his attention to her without missing a beat.
"Wanting to live is the minimum. Everyone who stays with me carries a reason of their own. You'll need one, too. Without it, I'll work you down to bone, take everything useful, and throw what's left aside. But if you find a reason that serves me, then you'll have somewhere to stand."
His hand settled on her shoulder, steady and heavy, and he gave a small pull toward the fire.
"Just because he wanted it for you doesn't mean you have to keep denying yourself. Sit. Get warm."
She slipped out from under his hand, the motion controlled and deliberate, not defiant, not fearful.
"Actually, if you don't mind… I want to go back."
"Back? Where?"
Her gaze dropped to the floor, the anger still there but spent now, leaving exhaustion in its wake. When she spoke again, it barely carried.
"That dark place."
He followed the meaning a breath later. Hooking a thumb over his shoulder. She nodded once.
'Odd request.'
[Only if you stop thinking.]
He exhaled, then took her hand.
"Just remember, it doesn't hurt."
He guided her palm to his back. Light flared as his armor and suit unraveled into system glow, and the instant flesh was exposed the growth surged, tearing into her and pulling her in. Her body jolted once as it took hold, then went slack as she shut her eyes and accepted it.
When the movement stilled and the growth withdrew, Seo-jin reformed his gear and returned to the fire. Dropping into place, he reached out and tore the tankard from Snare's grip.
"No more."
The broodling folded inward, heat creeping up his neck as his gaze dropped.
"Sorry…"
Eyes narrowed, Seo-jin pushed his palms toward the fire, letting the heat wash over them while he felt the weight of every stare around the flames.
"She'll live."
Min clicked her tongue and flicked a twig into the embers.
"You don't think that could've waited? She's wrecked. She didn't need you—"
"She didn't need to be coddled."
He cut her off before the sentence could finish, already knowing where it was headed.
"She either finds her use or she gets thrown away. I don't have the time or patience for weakness. You think she's the only one who's suffered? Any of you live clean, perfect lives?"
Silence answered him. No one met his eyes. No one argued.
"My road is paved with blood. Wrap her in softness and it'll get her killed. Think before you open your mouth again."
"Hey—I was just—!"
Min jerked halfway to her feet on instinct as Seo-jin surged up, her body bracing for violence. But no blow came. His voice landed instead.
"You were just what? Just forgetting where you stand? Forgetting your role? Or are you still pretending you don't know what path you're walking?"
Bloodlight bled into the air. Whatever fog the ale had left in Snare burned off in an instant as he and every broodling snapped to alert, claws flexing, teeth chattering.
The humans shrank without meaning to. The sound of nearly a thousand lesser imps clicking and scraping from the perimeter pressed in as the Broodfather's anger rolled through the ruin.
Crimson eyes swept over Min, then over every face gathered there.
"This isn't a street gang anymore. You're not thugs squabbling over ground. You're not what you used to be. You're part of something larger now. Something none of you could have built yourselves. I will take this world. I will break it, then rebuild it green. That is the road. So tell me—what does that mean?"
Snare answered without pause.
"The Broodfather becomes king."
The reactions fractured across the firelight. Some had already known it in their bones. Hearing it spoken aloud made it real. Even the gorilla kept silent.
Seo-jin needed it voiced. Needed it understood. This wasn't a game or a climb for territory. They were here to rule. He didn't bother saying the rest—that once the world was remade, he planned to burn it down again.
"Errors happen. But mistakes born from foolish emotion won't be tolerated. Especially from you, Min. Weakness has to be cut out wherever it grows. Inside enemies. Inside allies. Inside yourselves. If you can't do it, I will."
He let the words sit, heavy and unanswered, then lowered himself back into place.
"That's enough. Get some rest. I want a moment alone."
Some moved at once. Others hesitated. All of them filtered down into the lower levels...everyone except Min. She stayed by the fire until the last footsteps faded, eyes fixed on the coals.
"I wanted to say this without an audience. You aren't wrong. But they didn't need to hear it like that."
She drew a breath, then turned and met his gaze head-on.
"I'm not changing who I am. Didn't for Seo-jin. Won't for you. I chose to follow you, not to rot my heart. I can't stop you from doing what you're gonna do, but that doesn't mean I'll shut up about it. What you do with my opinion is your problem. But if you want silence, get a dog. If you want someone to lead your people into hell, then you listen—even if you don't agree."
With that said, she turned and headed for the stairwell, boots echoing as started for below.
Seo-jin watched her go without anger. If anything, the calm settled deeper. He'd expected resistance. This was measured. Controlled. And she wasn't wrong, not entirely. She still had growing to do, but if she was going to fill the role he intended, part of that meant trusting her judgment.
He considered stopping her. Saying something else. But he didn't have to.
The world seemed to freeze.
Everyone felt it.
"Seo-jin!"
He followed Min's pointing hand, a grin cutting across his face as he surged to his feet.
"Looks like rest is canceled."
From the clouds in the distance, a cube of violet light was descending...slow, deliberate, impossible to ignore.
A B-rank dungeon was falling.