Chapter 202: It Begins With...
Heading out into the cold wash of morning light, Min and the others moved with the kind of silence the Freelands demanded. Even as a group strong enough to handle most threats, they knew better than to get careless. In corrupted land like this, loud usually meant dead.
Somewhere near the middle of the pack, Lynn was quiet as a corpse. Others whispered or kept their voices low, but she hadn't said a word. Her thoughts were too tangled to shape into anything useful, and if she opened her mouth right now, she was pretty sure all that would come out was venom.
A hand landed on her shoulder.
"You okay?"
Flinching, she turned and found herself staring into hazy red eyes. Teal was drunk.
Which, honestly, wasn't new.
"You okay? You've been drunk for a while."
Shoving her lightly, Teal hiccuped through a crooked grin.
"I'm fine. You wouldn't like me as much sober. Personality's shit."
Rolling her eyes, Lynn snatched the flask from Teal's hand and gave it a shake. Empty. She tossed it aside into the brush, then raised a glowing green palm beside Teal's head.
"Your personality isn't shit. Just your breath."
Melting into the warmth of Lynn's hand, Teal let out a long, content sigh.
"Keep this up and I'll fall in love."
Without missing a beat, Lynn flicked her in the forehead.
"Ow! I'm a blank, remember? I bruise easily."
Pulling her hand back, Lynn flashed green system light and produced another flask, pressing it into Teal's palm.
"Feel better?"
Her eyes lit up, but the second she uncapped it, her whole face soured when no alcohol smell hit.
"Water?"
"Water."
Sneering like she'd been personally betrayed, she took a swallow, grimaced like she was drinking battery acid, then shoved it back.
"Happy?"
"Very."
They kept walking, feet crunching softly over dead brush and brittle soil, but the silence didn't last. Teal hated silence almost as much as sobriety, and now that the alcohol haze was thinning, her thoughts were crawling back.
"That was pretty messed up. Must feel like crap, leaving them alone."
Lynn's jaw tightened, though her pace never broke.
"What am I supposed to do? Besides, Yu-na is a Woon. I can't compete with that."
"Screw that. You're just as pretty as her."
A weak smile pulled at Lynn's mouth, though it didn't quite hold.
"I know what you're doing, but trust me, I'm fine. As long as I can stay by his side, I don't care if he ends up with someone else. I gotta be realistic, Teal. I'm just not strong enough to stand beside him. So I'll be okay standing behind him."
Teal studied her for a long moment. She wanted to argue. Badly. But she also knew how much effort it must've taken for Lynn to force herself into that mindset, and trampling over it now felt wrong.
So instead, she looked back toward where they'd left Seo-jin—
Then stopped dead.
"Doesn't the sun rise in the east?"
Lynn frowned at the weird question and followed her gaze. The second she did, something in her expression darkened further.
"Like I said. I'm not strong enough."
Far behind them, the sky was no longer brightening with dawn alone. A shifting crimson glow was pouring upward from the earth itself, spreading across the horizon like a blood-stained aurora, rising to challenge the morning sun.
Lynn and Teal, Min, the broodlings, every one of them stopped. Whatever was happening, all of them knew the source.
The Broodfather was starting his quest.
----
A bit earlier.
Yu-na still had her head resting against Seo-jin's chest when he finally placed his hands on her shoulders and eased her back.
"You should get going."
"I know."
It was obvious she wanted to say more. He could feel it in the way she lingered, so before that hesitation turned into something harder to deal with, he decided to cut in.
"Look at me."
She hesitated. So he lifted her chin himself, forcing her to meet his eyes. The second she did, for a split second, Ash's dream flashed in her mind—those horrible glowing red eyes, watching from the dark.
"I know you're worried, but I have to do this. And once I'm done, everything will be fine. I promise."
Raising one hand, she touched his cheek and smiled at him the way someone might smile at a reckless child.
"You have no idea what my father is capable of. The Church is one thing, but even if you survive that, my father is the bigger problem. He runs Shatterbay for a reason, Seo-jin. So promise me something, okay? Then I'll leave."
He didn't love how easily she brushed past him, but he also wasn't stupid enough to waste an opening.
So, with a fake, bitter smile—
"What is it?"
Her soft hand on his cheek suddenly snapped into a quick, light slap.
"Don't die out here, and come back as strong as you can. Promise me."
Ignoring the immediate distraction growing in his pants, Seo-jin grabbed her and pulled her in close.
"I promise."
The second he said it, Yu-na pushed off him fast and skipped back a few steps, black hair catching in the morning breeze.
"You better keep your word, Wohan Seo-jin. The Woon Corporation has more than just my father. If you don't hit A-Rank at least, you're gonna die."
With a sharp flourish of her hand and a few foreign words, Yu-na summoned the massive skeletal vulture and climbed on top.
Watching her rise into the brightening sky, Seo-jin felt more relieved than anything. Sure, she'd risked a lot coming all the way out here to warn him. But right now? She was a distraction he didn't need. No matter what certain parts of him thought otherwise.
'Humans deserve a bit more respect than I thought. Having a dick is troublesome.'
[It's a problem for most male species. Imps are a rare exception.]
Sending a pulse through the broodlink, he shoved the thought aside, and a flash of crimson light sparked in his palm.
[Broodspawn's Call]
Turning the small black horn over beneath the rising sun, he studied the strange pattern carved across it—symbols that looked almost like old bite marks. It felt warm and cold at once against his palm, but deeper than that, there was something else. A strange closeness. Familiar, but impossible to explain.
Heat rose at his back.
He turned as the three broodlings approached.
Looking over his sons, Seo-jin could feel bloodlust pulsing off all three in steady waves. Pain stood tallest, even larger than Seo-jin's human form, a towering infernal shape wreathed in restrained flame. The scar in his chest pulled the eye immediately, its shifting color making it look like living fire had been buried beneath his flesh.
Beside him crouched Panic, lower and twitching. His tail lashed through the air while his mouth twitched with restless hunger. Seo-jin could feel the violence packed tight inside his second-born's muscles, like something rabid straining at a chain.
Then Snare.
The weakest physically, but the one both brothers naturally deferred to. Seo-jin's pride. His most dependable broodling. Not once had Snare failed him. If anything, he kept proving himself invaluable. His robes stirred lightly in the wind, giving him an even steadier presence.
"It's time."
The moment Seo-jin raised the horn, all three broodlings' auras detonated.
He brought it to his lips and blew.
No sound came out. But all four of them felt it.
A vibration tore across skin, bone, and blood, like the world itself had shuddered.
[System // Notification]
[Class Item // Broodspawn's Call // Activated]
A tremendous burst of heat exploded from the horn, searing Seo-jin's lips and hand. He dropped it instantly as it turned white-hot. Cracks split through its surface with thunderous force, sharp enough to rattle their ears—
Then it burst. Blinding red-white light flooded everything.
Shielding their eyes, they missed the ground splitting open as a dark crimson portal erupted upward, swelling into a massive half-oval of swirling blood.
A portal.
Blinking away the sting, Seo-jin's face hardened the second he saw it. Behind him, the broodlings' excitement surged, but so did something else.
Pressure. Not weight on flesh. Weight on existence.
"Let's go."
Having learned from his last mistake, the Twinback Serpents exploded from his back and swallowed the three brothers in rapid succession.
He wasn't risking separation again.
[Careful. We have no idea what we're dropping into.]
With another flash, the Thunderwake Doublet appeared in his grip, metal solid and familiar.
"No worrying about that now."
Racking his shotgun, Seo-jin stepped through the portal as Tiamat and Bahamut bared their fangs, killing intent pouring off them without restraint.
The second he vanished, a wail ripped from the portal itself. Its liquid surface hardened, twisting and locking into place until the swirling blood became a solid door of ruby crystal.
Nothing could follow now.
And unless it was cleared—
Nothing inside was coming out.
----
The air was freezing.
Bitter cold crawled over Hye-jin's skin as she stood atop Woon Tower, wind tugging at the hem of the long red trench coat wrapped tight around her body, its weight falling to her ankles.
Beside her stood a company associate.
A nobody. Just someone assigned to attend her. Still, his presence wasn't insignificant. Even standing quietly, his aura carried the steady pressure of solid B-Rank.
"Mistress. Your father is waiting."
She didn't answer.
The words barely seemed to register as she kept her eyes on the sunrise. Watching the morning glow crawl across the world was something her mother had often done.
"Mistress."
Without any visible shift in expression, Hye-jin finally turned and stepped toward the rooftop exit.
"Inform me immediately when she returns."
Holding the door open, the man bowed his head.
"Yes, Mistress."
As her boots rang softly against the metal stairs, Hye-jin's thoughts churned hard enough to make her jaw tighten. Too much was happening at once. Her sister's strange behavior sat at the top of that growing list, but now that her father had specifically called for her, the unease inside her only deepened.
Something was missing.
That was the only way to describe it. Like pieces were moving where she couldn't see them, and somehow she was supposed to already know why.
It had been enough to cost her sleep. Enough to dull her appetite. Day after day, her mind kept circling the same invisible fracture, trying to piece together whatever she wasn't seeing.
Nothing came. No answers or clarity to soothe her growing anxiety.
Only the sunrise ever gave her even a few quiet moments, and lately, she'd needed those more than she cared to admit.
For anyone unfamiliar, traversing Woon Tower would feel like being dropped into a polished maze of steel, glass, and wealth. But Hye-jin walked its halls with the smooth certainty of someone born above nearly everyone inside it. Her heels struck measured rhythms against pristine floors as guards, staff, and executives instinctively moved aside and bowed.
Then she reached the large ornate oak doors leading to her father's office.
And for the first time—
A hairline crack touched that poise.
"Wait here."
"Yes, Mistress."
She knocked lightly.
A second later, the door clicked open. She wrapped her fingers around the handle, drew a slow breath through the cold still clinging to her lungs—
And stepped inside.
Somehow, the air inside felt even colder than on the roof.
The office was dim, most of its weak light spilling in from the massive windows stretched across the walls. Behind his desk, her father sat reading through a stack of papers, his expression unreadable as she approached.
Neither of them spoke.
Hye-jin simply stood there, coat heavy on her shoulders, and waited.
After a long minute, he finally set the papers down with quiet precision and looked at her.
"Sit."
She didn't move immediately.
It was small. Petty, maybe. But she wanted him to know she wouldn't jump just because he said so. Still, the longer his eyes stayed on her, the thinner that resistance became.
A few seconds later—
She sat.
"You look pale."
"Thanks."
Their eyes held, and once again silence stretched between them, heavy enough to feel physical. Then her father leaned over, opened one of his desk drawers, and pulled out a small glass vial. With a lazy flick of his wrist, he tossed it toward her.
"Powdered Nocnitsa wings. Just a pinch in your tea."
Catching it, Hye-jin's fingers tightened around the vial hard enough that the glass nearly cracked. She forced her jaw to unclench and gave him a smile sharp enough to cut.
"How thoughtful. Is that why you called me here? Because you're worried whether I'm sleeping?"
He didn't answer. Not right away. Instead, he rose slowly from his chair and began walking around the desk, polished shoes whispering against the floor. His gaze drifted out across the city beyond the glass—the city he ruled—until he stopped behind her chair.
"A father shouldn't need a reason to care for his child. Why should I be an exception?"
The response rose fast, something sharp and bitter already pushing at her tongue—
Then his cold hands settled onto her shoulders, so cold it stopped her.
"I know, Hye-jin. Being around me is a strain for you. It always has been. No matter my intentions, you've always looked at me like I'm your enemy."
His fingers tightened slightly.
"Your own father."
The pressure built just enough to make her spine stiffen...then he let go.
But he didn't step away.
She sat frozen. Hye-jin had lived through more than most ever would. She had seen things, endured things, that would have left stronger men shaking or broken. But what settled over her now was different. Cold sweat gathered beneath her coat, and for the the second time in recent memory, death didn't feel distant or abstract.
"I had hoped you would grow out of it, but your mother's influence rooted itself too deeply inside you. To the point that it's become a weed now."
His voice stayed calm. Controlled.
"One that can't be removed."
A bead of sweat slid down Hye-jin's spine as she forced herself to sit straighter, though her stomach had already started to knot.
"What's your point? If you want to talk about our feelings, I'm really not in the mo—"
The room changed.
An aura dropped over the office so fast and so completely it felt less like pressure and more like reality itself had hardened around her. The words died in her throat. Her jaw locked. Every muscle seized as something behind her shifted.
Wet. Heavy. The sounds came first. Flesh tearing and bones cracking. Reforming.
Her heartbeat slammed against her ribs so hard it hurt, pounding in her ears like a war drum. Her pulse became deafening. Breath caught halfway into her lungs and stayed there.
Then she saw it.
Just barely, in the edge of her vision...
A black hand. The fingers were too long, the joints wrong, the nails dark and sharpened like carved obsidian. The skin looked less like flesh and more like something rotten had been stretched over muscle that no longer belonged to this world.
And when that hand rose into view, she stopped breathing. Slowly, with horrifying precision, her father pressed one blackened fingernail against her temple.
Then pushed.
Pain lanced through her skull, as if the nail wasn't piercing skin but burrowing straight into thought itself.
Dark green eyes opened beside her reflection in the window.
Her father's eyes.
And when he spoke, the voice sounded like concrete slabs grinding through sewer water, thick and ruined and twisted enough to make her stomach turn.
"When you wake up, this never-ending battle between us will finally be over."
The nail sank deeper.
"Sleep well, Hye-jin. When you wake..."
The thing leaned closer, foul air brushing her ear.
"We have work to do."
In the suffocating quiet of the chairman's office, something warped and gnarled bent over Hye-jin's chair.