Chapter 146: Brain Over Brawn
Dropping from the rooftop and hitting the street clean, Gregor's boots absorbed the impact. His body landed easy. His mental state didn't.
"Ash!"
Wearing a new Dead Hands jacket, the newbie sprinted in at the edge of the shout, already moving before his name finished, Triss lazily floating behind.
"Boss!"
"Evacuate everyone. Tell them west. Wire Dogs' old ground, the others will know it."
"West? Wire Dogs? Boss, what's go—?"
"Move. Now!"
The kid froze for half a breath, then bolted, barking his orders as he ran. Gregor didn't watch him go. He was already moving, feet eating pavement as he closed on the lone figure ahead. Sweat crept down his spine. His pulse hammered. He didn't know for sure why the Church had sent someone, but he had a good guess.
[If this goes bad, we have no support. If he's here for the demon, redirect him—]
"Shut up. Let me think."
He slowed at the mouth of the street, boots scraping broken glass. The man ahead didn't need to be close for him to feel him. The space around the figure warped, like heat rolling off asphalt. The light bent wrong. The street itself seemed reluctant to exist too close.
[A-Rank. This is catastrophic.]
"Cardinal robes. There isn't a Cardinal stationed in Shatterbay. That means he was sent."
Two paths burned through his head. Run back, evacuate what he could, scatter and pray the man didn't follow. Or stay here, meet him head-on, and try to talk his way through the blast radius.
Both tasted like dying.
An A-Rank wasn't an enemy. It was an event. Step wrong and the aftermath was measured in blocks.
"Der'mo!"
He spat onto the cracked pavement, squared his shoulders, and planted his feet.
If death was coming, he'd at least look it in the eye.
The wait should have been minutes. It lasted seconds. One step he was there, the next—
A short, round man waddled into full view.
Brown hair unkempt, face soft and almost kind. White-and-gold robes rippled around him, not snapping in the coastal wind but flowing as if brushed by a gentle breeze. His hands rested together over his stomach, fingers laced, posture relaxed.
The smile came next.
And in that instant, Gregor knew...something was going to die tonight. He just didn't know whose blood the city was about to drink.
Clearing his throat, he stepped in and dipped his head, spine straight, tone measured and deferential.
"Welcome to our territory. I'm Gregor Throne, first lieutenant of the Dead Hands. May I have your name, Cardinal, and the purpose of your visit?"
The man's smile didn't flicker. He stopped a few paces away, close enough that the air felt tight.
"Shouldn't your leader be the one greeting me? What was his name again? Saw… so… Seo-jin. Yes. That's it. Where is this Seo-jin? Bring him to me. Now."
Gregor bowed again, jaw clenched as sweat slid into his eye and burned.
"My apologies, Your Grace. Wohan Seo-jin is currently outside the city. I do not know when he will return, so perhaps it would be best—"
The Cardinal didn't let him finish. He stepped past Gregor without breaking stride. Gregor blinked, then turned, thoughts detonating all at once as he moved to intercept.
"I am truly sorry you have come all this way for nothing. Our boss will be informed the moment he returns, and—"
"If he isn't here, then that is unfortunate. Deeply unfortunate."
He ignored Gregor completely as he reached the docks. The water beneath the planks rolled back from his presence, the surface shuddering as if pushed by an unseen tide.
"If Your Grace is disappointed, I'll ensure a message reaches him the instant he's back."
The Cardinal stopped.
"No need."
Something shifted. Gregor felt it settle into place and knew, without a doubt, that he'd lost whatever game this was. The man hadn't come to ask.
And he wasn't leaving empty-handed.
Dull grey system light seeped over Gregor's hands as he stood just behind the Cardinal, fingers tight around cold steel that suddenly felt very small.
"I truly regret this. Our territory is not fit to host someone of your standing. If you would allow it, I know a café nearby. It would be an honor to—"
"Silence."
The cardinal didn't turn.
"To think something like you would presume to play with me."
Radiance detonated outward. Gregor was thrown back several steps, boots skidding, lungs burning as the air fled his chest.
"I will remain here. And amuse myself with the refuse."
Gregor moved without thinking—
But the Cardinal's hand rose.
"I am Cardinal Chelk. I have come to purge a heretic. All kneel before the light."
Gregor followed the gesture and felt his blood turn to ice. He opened his mouth to scream, to fire, to do anything, but Chelk was already done. A lance of brilliance tore from his palm and slammed into the wall that Ash and the non-combatants hid behind.
The block vanished. Stone, steel, bodies...gone. Reduced to white ash and drifting light.
"Bast—!"
A grip crushed his throat. Gregor left the ground, boots kicking empty air. Before his mind caught up, agony bloomed at his hip, raw and consuming. Final.
His vision swam. When it cleared, he saw it: Chelk holding him aloft by the neck with one hand, the other gripping his leg, torn free as casually as snapping a branch.
He screamed. Chelk didn't react. He pulled Gregor close, face to face, light burning in his eyes.
"We'll see how much of you is left when he returns. Pray your boss doesn't take long."
----
Night pressed down on the freelands, the kind of dark even high-rank Users avoided when they could. Systems hadn't cured humanity of its oldest instinct. When the light died, fear still crawled in.
Which was fortunate, given most of the figures gathered there weren't human.
Five floors up in the hollow shell of a high-rise, Seo-jin, the brood, and the Dead Hands ringed a handful of muted fires.
Tarps and broken concrete blocked the light, keeping it from spilling into the streets below. Voices stayed at a whisper. Every sound felt like it carried too far. They spoke about the day in clipped exchanges, eyes drifting back to the gaps between buildings.
Slims couldn't sit still. Hex stayed glued to his side, the two of them hunched together with music barely audible, heads close as they argued over songs. Lesser broodlings handled perimeter watch, which left Min, Split-jaw, Lynn, John and the others clustered near the heat. No one relaxed. Their gazes kept slipping past the firelight, toward the black sprawl that never quite stopped watching back.
Away from the talk, Seo-jin scrolled through panels with one finger, posture loose but mind busy. The gains were already allocated, broodlings reinforced, paths nudged where he could. He felt a quiet relief that the lesser brood couldn't level. The thought of managing that many profiles at once made his temples ache.
He tore into a slab of raw meat, teeth sinking into cold flesh without ceremony. Cooked food held no appeal. Nearby, Grimm hovered over a fire, intestines dangling and swaying as if enjoying the warmth. Seo-jin's mouth twitched despite himself.
A new trump card. Two more ghosts left before the quest closed, but after consuming McLeach's shade Joanna, Grimm had changed. Not a skill, not clean enough for that. An ability. Those hooked guts could snare other ghosts outright. Worse for the living, they could clamp down on a soul for three full seconds. No check. No scaling. Strength didn't matter. Only soul-based defenses could break it.
A deep, hollow hunger rose, demanding and immediate. He wanted the rest of that quest finished. Needed to see what came next.
Yet when his attention drifted back to the brood's stats, the hunger mixed with something heavier. Satisfaction, yes...but also pressure.
[They're growing fast.]
'The more I look at this, the more it feels wrong. Summons outpacing their summoner shouldn't be possible. Feels broken.'
His gaze settled on Pain's numbers, and the pressure tightened.
[Broodling // Pain]
[Classification // Demon Spawn]
[Subclass // Scorchclaw Mutant (Ember Beast)]
[Rank // C]
[Level // 19]
[HP // 800/800]
[EXP // 26825/27694]
[Core Stats]
[STR // 40 // C]
[VIT // 35 // C]
[AGI // 32 // C]
[INT // 28 // D]
[AP // 0]
The numbers sat too close to his own for comfort. Pain wasn't just catching up, he was pacing him. Seo-jin logged it without ceremony and resolved to tighten the leash later. His firstborn would need sharper pressure. Stronger mind games.
Next came Panic. Less raw presence than his brother, but no less lethal in practice.
[Broodling // Panic]
[Classification // Demon Spawn]
[Subclass // Broodling (Imp)]
[Job Class // Vivisector]
[Rank // D]
[Level // 18]
[HP // 450/450]
[EXP // 22926/24161]
[Core Stats]
[STR // 30 // D]
[VIT // 25 // D]
[AGI // 38 // C]
[INT // 24 // D]
[AP // 0]
Combat time lagged behind Pain's, a full rank lower on paper, but the class closed that gap decently. Panic didn't need bulk when speed and precision did the killing.
Snare followed. No red flags. No wasted growth. For someone who fought away from the front line, his edge kept pace with his brothers'.
[Broodling // Snare]
[Classification // Demon Spawn]
[Subclass // Broodling (Imp)]
[Job Class // Gloom Stalker]
[Rank // D]
[Level 16]
[HP // 420/420]
[EXP // 16460/17528]
[Core Stats]
[STR // 18 // E]
[VIT // 24 // D]
[AGI // 22 // D]
[INT // 28 // D]
[AP // 0]
Sight, steel, and flame, all of it trending the right way. Even the newest blood was starting to show teeth.
[Broodling // Hex]
[Classification // Demon Spawn]
[Subclass // Broodling (Imp)]
[Job Class // Hellchanter]
[Rank // E]
[Level 10]
[HP // 280/280]
[EXP // 5467/5809]
[Core Stats]
[STR // 15 // E]
[VIT // 19 // E]
[AGI // 17 // E]
[INT // 17 // E]
[WIL // 25 // D]
[AP // 0]
Hex was an unknown variable, and Seo-jin was starting to like it. On paper the skills were clean, readable. In motion was where the secrets lived. He needed to see the class breathe before it earned a place in his rotations. The thought sharpened his focus.
Only the youngest remained. Widow and Bile. Neither had separated themselves yet, except in one regard.
[Broodling // Widow]
[Classification // Demon Spawn]
[Subclass // Broodling (Imp)]
[Rank // E]
[Level 9]
[HP // 200/200]
[EXP // 3890/4610]
[Core Stats]
[STR // 11 // E]
[VIT // 15 // E]
[AGI // 12 // E]
[INT // 11 // E]
[AP // 0]
One more level and Widow could take Lilid's bloodline. Simple. Clean. The path was there. Bile, on the other hand—
[Broodling // Bile]
[Classification // Demon Spawn]
[Subclass // Broodling (Imp)]
[Rank // E]
[Level 9]
[HP // 120/120]
[EXP // 1170/1384]
[Core Stats]
[STR // 12 // E]
[VIT // 11 // E]
[AGI // 13 // E]
[INT // 11 // E]
[AP // 0]
Bile worried him, and not just for his situational cowardice. Widow would sort himself out with momentum alone. Bile needed direction, something firm to lean into, or he'd rot where he stood. That kind of waste wasn't acceptable.
A thought formed. Then settled.
He reached through the broodlink and locked onto Pain alone, cutting the rest away until only his voice remained.
'Do not react to what I'm about to say.'
The response came as heat. A flare along the spine, his fiery mane brightening for a breath before it banked down again.
'Your watch over Hex is finished. You did your job well. From this point on, he stands on his own.'
'Yes, Broodfather.'
There was tension under the obedience. Seo-jin felt it coil and settle, so he pressed further.
'You've earned something. Speak it.'
Pain shifted, unsure.
'Earned… what? I don't understand.'
'You guarded Hex well, even Snare didn't catch it. That matters. Name your reward.'
The concrete beneath them warmed. A few heads turned, sensing the change without finding the cause. The fire around Pain didn't swell, but his pulse spiked, magma rushing through his veins. For a moment, he almost smiled.
'A spar. I want to spar with you.'
Seo-jin's mouth split wide.
Some part of him knew he should shut it down, remind the broodling of rank and distance. Instead, something deeper stirred. The same itch he'd been ignoring answered back. He wanted it too.
'Done. When we're back and the humans are handled. Until then, you're unburdened. Lead your brothers as you always do.'
'Yes, Broodfather. I am your flame.'
That issue was settled. The bigger one remained.
He sent a single pulse through the broodlink. A heartbeat later, all six stood before him, lined up without hesitation, drawing every human eye in the room as the air tightened.
All six dropped to their knees at once.
"Stand. I want you meeting your new brother on your feet. Widow. Bile. Start feeding."
He pointed them toward the Silver Ape Alpha's corpse.
Flesh tore. Bone cracked. Wet chewing filled the air as the broodlink surged with intake.
He would need it.
Two fingers lifted. Claws lengthened, skin splitting and darkening as he drew a slow breath and locked onto the point the system marked. He steadied...then paused.
"Lynn. Here."
She moved before the word finished, sliding to his side.
"Heal my head."
Her eyes flared wide, hands already burning green.
"Are you hurt?!"
A thin smile tugged at his mouth.
"Not yet. Just keep healing. Don't stop."
"Don't sto—?"
There was no more time. His claws hooked behind his skull and tore forward, ripping out a slab of bone and meat, dragging brain matter with it.
System alarms howled and collapsed into static. The world smeared red and black as his body spasmed out of his control. Lynn's scream stretched, thinned, and fell away like distant rain.
'This feels… good.'
It didn't last. Feed surged. Lynn's mana forced tissue back into shape, nerves screaming as they reknit. Sense returned in under a minute.
"Boss?! Say something, why wou—!"
Her voice cut clean again. He snapped a hand up and clamped it over her mouth.
He pushed through the broodlink, confirming the perimeter was still clean. Nothing moving. Nothing alerted.
"I'm fine. Now that's all. Go. Get warm."
He dismissed Lynn with a flick of his hand, already focused on the meat at his feet.
She hesitated for a moment, head shaking as she processed the abrupt command, it took a moment, but she drifted back to the fire beside Min, shoulders slack, eyes fixed on the flames like they might explain what she'd just happened.
Rubbing his scalp as hair crept back over fresh skin, Seo-jin pointed down at the wet mass on the concrete.
"My seventh son."
His gaze shifted to Bile and Widow.
"When he's born, you two are taking him out tonight. You'll level together. No help."
Fear and excitement rolled off them in uneven waves, leaking into the link.
[Summon Broodling // Activated]
"One down. Three left."
Seo-jin smiled as the chunk of brain began to twitch, then tear itself open.
Something new was already clawing its way out.