Chapter 262: The Broodfather Provides
Keep things simple. It was something he'd heard his father say once, and since then, Pain had made it his mantra. Hit first, hit hard. Until now, that had always been enough.
He'd realized that during their first encounter with Blight. He'd seen the old woman and her beast's strength, watched as Blight defeated them with little effort. Even then, he'd known the Brood didn't stand a chance.
He'd watched Blight tear his siblings apart, yet his duty had been to wait, to remain the last line of defense. In the end, he'd failed completely. With a single attack, Blight had shown him just how enormous the gap between them truly was.
Having Ash come to their rescue wasn't an issue, the boy was Brood. But now, watching Min somehow stand toe to toe with the Warlord only deepened his shame.
"Pain! Pay attention!"
While Min fought, Snare's mouth hadn't stopped. Pain barely listened. His brother's words reeked of desperation, and he'd heard enough of them.
"I'm speaking to you! Min won't—"
"Stop."
His voice wasn't loud, but his siblings knew him well enough to recognize the warning. The surrounding chatter died away as they all turned toward him.
"You talk too much."
Tightening his grip on Surtur's Tooth, he turned his gaze toward Synapse's dome.
"Father knows what he is doing. He trusted us. His trust is enough. No more plans."
With a low growl, Snare stepped in front of him, his aura swelling as he blocked Pain's path.
"You can't solve this with your claws. If we rush in, we—"
"You have grown weak, brother."
Ignoring his brother's warning, Pain continued forward, his massive shoulder knocking Snare aside as he passed.
"CUNT!"
Min's shout was so powerful that they felt it before they heard it. Looking toward the battle, Pain watched Blight plummet from the sky with Min close behind. Moments later, shockwaves from her attacks traveled through the ground beneath his feet.
"Brood, come!"
Pain charged forward, his powerful legs driving him across the ruined ground at incredible speed. Flames streamed from his body as he raced toward the battle like a beast possessed.
----
Spitting on the ground as Pain took off, Snare ignored the looks from his siblings as, one by one, they followed after him. Within moments, only Synapse, Widow, Sin, and the still-unconscious Ash remained.
Looking up from his reading, Sin closed his book as he rose to his feet and turned toward the distant battle.
"You've disappointed me, brother. Doubt and fear have clouded your mind."
Just then, roughly halfway between them and Blight's position, a massive beam of bloodlight erupted into the sky.
"Praise the Broodfather, and he shall provide."
Sin bowed his head and resumed praying. As he did, another beam of bloodlight eruoted towards the clouds, followed moments later by another from Snare himself.
[Mark of Dominion // Promotion Awarded]
[Godsfall Kingdom General]
[System Calculating Authority, Position Skills, Kingdom Benefits...]
A panel filled his view, and with it came an overwhelming sense of awe and shame that spread through every inch of his body. Never before had Snare doubted himself as deeply as he did in that moment.
"Praise the Broodfather."
His aura erupted around him as the rewards took effect.
----
Still clutching the stump of her arm, Min could feel her strength waning, but her hope was returning. She was about to use a new skill she'd received when she fused with Fen, one she was glad not to use in her current state.
"Foolish pests! You will all die!"
The pressure from Blight's curse doubled, forcing Min to strain just to remain standing, while Pain's claws ground to a halt against the darkness. But it didn't last long.
With a mighty roar from the broodspawn that filled the crater, the heat intensified, and the opening began to widen. More claws joined in, tearing at the shadows edge as Blight roared in fury, smoke billowing from his body. The darkness trembled under the strain until, finally, the Brood ripped Dark Womb apart.
A sharp rush of air filled the crater as the pressure broke, allowing the cool night air to come flooding in.
What happened next was a blur. Something wrapped tightly around Min's waist, and before she could react, the ground vanished beneath her. Her view shifted violently as explosions and roars erupted behind her, followed by an enormous inferno rising into the sky.
Landing hard, she stumbled to her feet and found Sin staring at her. For a moment, she barely recognized him.
His old priestly robes were gone, replaced by elaborate black-and-crimson vestments that hung in heavy layers from his shoulders. Demonic scripture decorated the fabric, while a tall, crown-shaped mitre rose above his head. Before, he'd looked like some demonic priest. Now he looked like the fucking demon pope.
"Stay still, human."
Raising one hand, Sin opened his book, and bloodlight flooded his eyes. A moment later, Min's bleeding stump began to burn, the exposed flesh tightening painfully as the wound sealed shut.
Examining the results, Sin's face tightened into a grimace.
"How wicked. Whatever he did to harm you unfortunately is permanent. I cannot heal this."
"Thanks anyways. You grab me like that again, Panic, and I'll fuckin' crush your nuts."
One of Panic's restraints had buried itself a bit too deep in her crotch when he'd yanked her out of the crater. Turning toward him, she noticed he was wearing something new as well. Sleek black armor hugged his lean body, its overlapping plates fitting so closely they almost looked like a second skin, yet each plate seemed to shudder with the same manic energy of its owner. Thin crimson lines glowed between the plates, and a horned helm covered his head, leaving only that annoying, permanent grin exposed.
"Promise?"
The Broodspawn smiled wider, until another explosion shook the air around them.
"Hurry, hurry!"
Laughing as he flung himself forward, Panic vanished back into the chaos, his armored figure disappearing amid the flames.
[He's right. I don't think you'll be able to heal your arm, Min. I'm so sorry.]
"We'll worry about that later."
With the wound sealed, Min could feel her strength beginning to stabilize, even as the heat from the distant flames washed over her.
"Let's go kill this fucker."
With a fierce howl, she launched herself into the air. The wind practically roared by her as she closed the distance in a single bound, but when she landed in the middle of the fighting, she nearly forgot why she'd come.
"What the fuck..."
For a moment, she thought an entirely different army had shown up. Everywhere she looked, armored demons were tearing through the ruins, their bodies surrounded by bloodlight as they fought against the enormous mass of black smoke.
She instantly recognized Pain.
Thick plates of blackened steel covered his shoulders, overlapping like the scales of some volcanic beast. Jagged spikes rose along his back, while molten cracks glowed between the plates with every movement. His claws and chest remained exposed, and Surtur's Tooth burned in his grip as he tore into Blight's defenses.
He wasn't alone.
Tomb towered over the battlefield, his enormous body encased in armor that looked more like a moving fortress. Heavy slabs of dark stone protected his chest and limbs, held together by thick chains. A massive horned helmet covered most of his head, leaving his lower jaw exposed. Every time he moved, the ground shook beneath his weight.
Nearby, Bug and John moved through the smoke with their swarms. Bug's armor resembled the shell of some monstrous beetle, with overlapping chitin plates and a thick, rounded carapace protecting his back. Both looked like they'd crawled straight out of some nightmare insect colony.
Min blinked.
"Did I miss fucking miss somethin'?!"
A deafening guitar riff answered her.
Turning toward the noise, she found Hex standing atop a collapsed building, surrounded by a band of summoned demons.
And they were playing heavy metal.
Not just playing it, either. They were blasting it so loudly that she could feel the bass vibrating through her feet, and the buffs strengthening her entire body.
One demon hammered away at a drum kit made of bones, another shredded a guitar that looked disturbingly alive, and a third was slamming into a skeletal keyboard with enough force to make the surroundings tremble.
At their center stood Hex, his new armor looking like something a demon king would wear to a concert. Black plates hugged his torso beneath a high, jagged collar, while curved bone ornaments rose from his shoulders. Crimson markings pulsed across the armor in time with the music, and a crown of twisted horns framed his head.
He raised his arms, and the music grew louder as he began to sing.
Across the battlefield, the Brood's auras flared.
As Min was distracted, something thin and sharp whipped past her face. She jerked aside, only to realize it hadn't been aimed at her.
Snare landed a short distance away, his new staff spinning between his fingers.
His robes were gone. Thin, overlapping plates covered his lean body without restricting his movement, their surfaces marked with dark red patterns resembling tangled veins. A narrow breastplate protected his chest, while curved pieces of what looked like black gemstones framed his shoulders and forearms. His helmet left his third eye exposed, and his golden rams horns swept out from the sides.
Even his shadows looked different, slipping between the gaps in his armor as though the entire thing were alive. They spilled out from his pauldrons to from a flowing cloak that fell across his back.
"Stop standing around."
"Fuck you—!"
A massive black explosion interrupted them.
Blight's smoke surged outward, swallowing an entire section of the battlefield before a wall of fire tore through it. Pain emerged from the flames with Tomb close behind, and for the first time, Min saw Blight being forced back.
Not far, and certainly not easily.
His smooth black body twisted between the attacks, six shadowy arms wielding swords that struck fast enough to fill the air with metallic shrieks. The Brood met them head-on, their new armor taking blows that would have torn them apart only minutes earlier.
She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
They were actually winning.
A familiar voice suddenly screamed from overhead.
"For da Broodfather!"
Panic dropped through the smoke, his armored restraints snapping outward with a series of deafening cracks. Blight turned to intercept him, only for Fang to appear beneath his guard.
Fang had apparently taken his role as an assassin to a whole new level. Sleek black armor hugged his lean body, its narrow plates overlapping so tightly that there were barely any gaps between them. Sharp, backward-curving ridges protected his shoulders and forearms, while a smooth, angular helm concealed his face, leaving only his eyes visible. Behind him, his long tail moved with a life of its own, ending in a slender black needle nearly as long as his forearm.
And judging by how easily he slipped through Blight's defenses, the bastard was putting every bit of it to use.
"YOU UGLY FUCK!"
She wasn't entirely sure who had shouted that one.
There were too many of them now.
The music kept pounding, flames filled the sky, and everywhere she looked, armored Broodspawn were throwing themselves at Blight with absolutely no concern for their own survival.
It was complete fucking chaos.
And somehow, it was working.
Blight's laughter had disappeared. His smile remained, but Min could see how tightly his jaw was clenched as he fought off another coordinated assault. Smoke poured from his horns, gathering into enormous limbs that smashed through the surrounding buildings, yet the Brood kept coming.
For every attack he stopped, another slipped through. For every sibling he knocked away, two more took their place. Completely healed by Sin's prayers.
Min's grin slowly returned.
"Well, shit."
She flexed her remaining hand, feeling the sharp claws dig into her palm.
"Keep pourin' it on!"
With Hex's music pounding through her chest, she threw back her head and howled.
Then charged.
She had barely taken a few steps when a familiar voice screamed from above.
"MIN!"
Her head snapped up, and through the smoke and flames, she spotted Teal floating high above the battlefield.
"The fuck are you doing up there?!"
Their eyes met, and before Teal could answer, her eyes began to glow.
A notification suddenly appeared in Min's vision.
[Rank Up // Ragnarok]
[A → S Rank]
She stared at the words for half a second before a vicious grin spread across her face.
"That's my fuckin' girl!"
Swiping the panel aside, she bared her fangs and activated the skill with a savage snarl.
Instantly, her muscles tightened as a surge of power rushed through her body. Thick black fur erupted across her skin, spreading over her chest, shoulders, and limbs until every inch of her was covered.
Beneath the growing coat, her bones began to shift, and her already massive frame started to expand.