Chapter 187: New Growths, New Seo-jin
The taste of hot iron filled Seo-jin's throat, thick and warm as it slid down, settling heavy in his chest. His body felt new, packed with energy and power, but he didn't know how long this clear would take, and leaving Gundant's corpse to bloat in the water felt like a waste.
'You two eat.'
The growths had been standing guard, their heads snapping in quick, restless movements, but the moment the order hit, both screeched and lunged, tearing into the scattered vent bug corpses and swallowing them in fast, brutal bites.
Ripping out a dense chunk, he paused his reading as a new taste spread across his tongue. Sweet and sour, the yellow bile from whatever he had bitten into coated his mouth, thick in a way that made him keep chewing. He moved on, eyes drifting back to the system as he scrolled through the growths' new profiles.
'Seems unfair only the broodlings get one. So, what should your names be?'
Both heads stopped mid-bite, bodies going still before their jaws began to snap in short bursts as they turned toward him.
Seo-jin could feel the difference immediately. Their intelligence had shifted...not enough to speak, not enough to form anything clean, but enough to understand. Enough to respond. Through their connection, he felt it hit him all at once, a surge of intent from both of them, each pushing, each trying to force something across.
Names.
What stood out wasn't the noise, but the weight behind it. Their pride pressed against him, heavy and constant, like something that refused to bend, and it made him pause, the pressure sitting in his chest as he considered it. Whatever he chose, it had to match that.
[I have a suggestion.]
He raised a brow, dragging a thick rope of veins into his mouth and pulling it free with a wet slurp.
'Go ahead.'
[How about Tiamat, and Bahamut?]
He almost choked.
'Where the fuck did those come from?'
[Historical records. They come from ancient Mesopotamian and Arabic cultures, but they've been used as dragon names for centuries on Earth. Typically reserved for rulers of the dragon race.]
Seo-jin blinked a few times, the taste of the yellow bile still sitting on his tongue as he rolled the names through his head, testing the weight of them before a grin pulled across his face.
'I like it. How does Tiamat and Bahamut sound?'
Both growths reacted at once, their bodies snapping side to side as screeches and low roars pushed through the water.
'Tiamat and Bahamut it is.'
The panel in front of him flared, red light bleeding outward as lines on the growths' profile shifted and rewrote themselves.
[System // Notification]
[Profile // Twinback Growths // Updated]
Smiling through the glow, he kept chewing as he read.
[Mutation // Twinback Serpents]
[Slot // 1]
[Designation // Active Mutation]
[Rank // S+]
[Status // Bound]
[Origin // Mawspawn Variant]
[Description]
[The former Twinback Growths have completed full serpentine development // Two elongated demonic serpents now emerge from the user's back, each possessing independent musculature and semi-autonomous predatory behavior // These entities remain biologically tethered to the user and obey command authority // Primary functions include combat support, brood storage, corpse consumption, and energy projection]
[System classification // Uncatalogued Mawspawn Mutation]
[Physical Characteristics]
[Length // Variable (current estimate: 9–12 meters when fully extended)]
[Structure // Reinforced demonic musculature]
[Hide // Mawspawn flesh plating]
[Eyes // Vestigial]
[Primary Sense // Soul and motion detection]
[Bite Damage]
[Serpent Bite // 320–380 Piercing Damage]
[Ignores // 15% Physical Defense]
[Attack Speed // 1 bite per second per serpent]
[Core Function // Brood Storage]
[The serpents maintain access to an internal void-storage cavity]
[Capabilities]
[Rapid ingestion of broodlings or allied entities // Internal preservation within extradimensional pocket space // Storage unaffected by external damage to serpents]
[Deployment]
[Stored broodlings are expelled as regenerative flesh fragments that rapidly reform into their original bodies]
[Reformation Time // 2 seconds]
[Core Function // Rapid Consumption]
[Serpents may ingest large numbers of broodlings simultaneously]
[Intake Rate // Up to 20 broodlings per second]
[Serpent Ability // Devouring Coil]
[Upon a successful bite, Tiamat siphons stamina and physical endurance from the target]
[Effects]
[Stamina Drain // 10% per second]
[User Stamina Gain // 5% per second]
[Movement Speed Reduction // –10%]
[Duration // 6 seconds per bite]
[Serpent Ability // Agony Venom]
[Bahamut injects a neuro-agony toxin upon biting]
[Effects]
[Pain Amplification // +200% Pain Response]
[Focus Reduction // –15% Accuracy]
[Reaction Delay // –10% Attack Speed]
[Venom Damage // 25 damage per second]
[Duration // 8 seconds]
[Serpent Ability // Grave Devour]
[The serpents may consume dead bodies or large quantities of flesh]
[Corpse Conversion Rate]
[1 corpse absorbed = 1 Maw Charge]
[Maximum Stored Charges // 50]
[Serpent Ability // Maw Annihilation Beam]
[Consumes stored Maw Charges to fire a destructive beam of Maw energy]
[Base Damage // 600]
[Damage Scaling]
[+120 Damage per Maw Charge consumed]
[Maximum Beam Damage // 6600]
[Beam Width // 3 meters]
[Beam Range // 80 meters]
[Cooldown // 30 minutes]
[Note]
[Mutation displays characteristics consistent with proto-demonic weapon organisms // Further evolutionary development possible]
"Where the Tyrant walks, the Maw grows teeth."
Looking over to their charge count, he saw both were already full, the pressure of stored energy sitting heavy in the link between them.
'Tiamat, Bahamut, let's go.'
Gathering himself, Seo-jin pushed off from Gundant's body. He had stripped most of the organs clean, leaving only the coils of intestine behind; there was no time to work through the rest, but the weight in his gut told him he had taken enough, and the drifting scent of blood would draw the vent bugs toward what was left.
The water around him burst outward as he moved.
Swimming faster than anything he had seen himself, Seo-jin cut through the water with force, pressure building along his limbs as power ran through him. He pulled up his panel mid-motion, vision flicking between the terrain ahead and the shifting text as he began scanning his updated profile.
'Imp Tyrant. I'm still an imp?'
[It seems that way. Definitely don't look it.]
Swiping through the profile, his eyes tracked line after line, the numbers settling into place as he realized more had changed than he first thought, far more than a simple rank jump.
[User Name // Wohan Seo-jin]
[User True-Name // Azakh-Tur]
[Entity // Imp Tyrant / Mawspawn Variant]
[Class // Broodspawn]
[Status // Registered]
[Rank // B]
[Shard Rank // A]
[Flag // Unrecognized Host Detected]
[Titles]
[Kinslayer]
[Broodfather]
[All For One]
[Level // 24]
[Exp // 24172/27694]
[HP // 1350/1350 (3100/3100)]
[SM // 83/83]
[ATTRIBUTES]
[STR // 48+10+5 // B]
[VIT // 47+10+15 // B]
[AGI // 50 // B]
[INT // 36 // C]
[FLH // 43 // B]
[WIL // 37 // C]
[AP // 3]
[Soul Integrity // 66%]
[Symbiotic Bond]
[Butcher's Wrath]
[Inventory]
[Low-grade Soul Stone x1]
[Deathcap Mushroom ×28]
[DEFENSE]
[Natural // 20% slicing and 10% bludgeoning]
[Forgefather's Mantle // +30% Physical defense]
[Greenwarden Gauntlets // +25% Physical Defense]
[RESISTANCE]
[Fire // 100%]
[Hellfire // 50%]
[WEAKNESS]
[Exposure to light]
[RACIAL TRAITS]
[Heat Resistance // A]
[Dark Vision // S]
[Wall Crawler // B]
[Stealth Movement // B]
[MUTATIONS]
[Slot 1 // Twinback Growth]
[Slot 2 // Wohan Seo-jin]
[Slot 3 // Empty]
[Slot 4 // Empty]
[NATURAL WEAPONS]
[Claws // C]
[Teeth // B]
Everything had climbed, every stat pushed higher, and he could feel it in the way the water parted around him. Even without armor or weapons, his body alone carried force, his base damage now sitting at four hundred and two, his speed pushing past six hundred and twenty miles per hour as he drove deeper into the dungeon.
Natural defense against slicing had climbed from ten to twenty percent, and bludgeoning from five to ten, the numbers settling in as his body cut through the water. Hellfire resistance had risen from twenty to fifty percent, and two more slots for his [Minor Shifting] racial skill had unlocked.
Even his claws and teeth had ranked up as weapons—
'Wait—what the fuck?!'
Something was missing, and the thought hit hard enough to make him stall mid-swim. He dismissed the panel and focused, reaching back through instinct and muscle memory, then tried again, but nothing answered.
[I was wondering how you'd react.]
'No...'
[Sorry pal, but it's gone.]
'NOOOOO!'
Every bug on the first floor went still as the roar tore through the water, the vibration slamming against the cathedral walls and rattling through his ribs.
'Bullshit! Thief, give it back!'
He shouted into nothing, knowing there was no one there to answer, but the loss still sat wrong, like he'd been robbed of something precious while he slept.
'What's the point of living life without a tail?'
[Quit being dramatic. It's just a tail.]
He stopped swimming entirely.
'Just a tail?! That tail was like an arm, it wasn't just anything! Take it back, take it back right now or—'
[I take it back. Jeez.]
Grumbling under his breath, fingers dragging along the base of his spine where it used to be, Seo-jin pushed forward again. He moved on, at least in motion, even if the heartbreak stuck.
Up ahead, the darkness finally broke. Two small lights hovered at first, faint and steady, then sharpened into focus as he closed the distance, revealing what he had been searching for.
The exit.
A tunnel, its entrance marked by two luminescent plants, now sat wide open with Gundant dead. The elf from the prison city had been right, the barrier tied to the giant was gone, leaving the path unsealed. It had let Gundant roam the cathedral without fear of the prisoners escape. The Makara built it like this on the belief that nothing there could kill him.
They just hadn't accounted for Seo-jin showing up.
Reaching the opening, he slowed and hovered for a second, the faint glow from the plants brushing across his face as he tried to recall the rough map the elf had described. If the layout held true, the second level would be easier to move through, but the enemies would be stronger and packed tighter. Especially now that Gundant was dead.
'Better safe than sorry.'
He unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves. His arms began to split as he summoned Butcher's Wrath, but this time there was no delay, no buildup.
Caught off guard, Seo-jin flinched as the blades snapped free from his arms and landed in his hands in a blink, the motion clean and immediate.
'That barely hurt.'
He lifted the blades, turning them slightly as he looked them over. They hadn't changed much at a glance, still the same shape and weight, but now thin lines ran through the steel like veins, pulsing lightly as if something inside them was alive.
'They feel...older.'
[Check their profile. They unlocked new effects.]
'Effects? As in more than one?'
He brought up the panel without hesitation. The rest of his profile could wait, the pull from Butcher's Wrath was too strong to ignore.
And it didn't disappoint.
[Weapon Profile // Butcher's Wrath]
[Type // Artifact]
[Category // Melee]
[Sub-Category // Symbiotic]
[Rank // C]
[Attack]
[48 – 56 // Slicing Damage (Cleaver Form)]
[52 – 60 // Bludgeoning/Piercing Damage (Mace Form)]
[Durability]
[Indestructible // Bound to Host Tissue]
[Weapon Effects]
[1st Effect // Passive]
[Kills made with Butcher's Wrath absorb 100% Soulmass.]
[2nd Effect // Passive]
[All kills made with Butcher's Wrath reduce all skill cooldowns by 15 seconds.]
[3rd Effect // Passive]
[Skills that modify natural weapons also apply to the cleavers.]
[4th Effect // Active Toggle]
[Butcher's Wrath may shift between its twin cleaver form (Slicing Damage) and bone-crusher mace form (Bludgeoning/Piercing Damage).]
[Switch Time // Instant]
[Reuse Lockout // 10 seconds]
[5th Effect // Tendon Lash]
[Symbiotic tendons and blood-veins extend from the user's forearms, allowing the cleavers to detach from direct grip.]
[Effects]
[Weapon Reach // +6 meters]
[Attack Type // Mid-Range Swing / Whip Slash]
[Damage Retention // 90% of base weapon damage]
[Return Speed // Instant recoil on command]
[Note]
[The blades remain tethered by living tissue, allowing sweeping strikes, mid-range grappling cuts, and unpredictable attack angles]
[6th Effect // Aura Severance]
[The user channels Bloodlight Aura through Butcher's Wrath to release a destructive severing wave.]
[Activation // Active Skill]
[Effect]
[Projects a 15-meter cleaving wave in a forward arc.]
[Damage // 450 – 520 Slicing Damage]
[Ignores // 40% Physical Defense]
[Targets struck suffer Severed State, causing massive structural damage to armor, limbs, and barriers.]
[Drawback]
[After activation, the user suffers]
[–20% Movement Speed]
[–15% Attack Speed]
[Duration // 15 seconds]
[Cooldown // 3 Hours]
[7th Effect]
[LOCKED]
[Time to Draw // Instant]
[Time to Sheath // Instant]
["Not held. Not wielded. You are the Butcher."]
His eyes widened as he shifted his grip, the weight settling into his hands while the faint pulse inside the blades matched his own rhythm. He turned them once more, watching the veins move beneath the surface, wanting to test them right then.
Looking back toward the entrance to the second level, he smiled, then drove forward without hesitation.
Switching the profile from Butcher's Wrath back to his own, he slowed just enough to steady his view, knowing there was one thing he needed to check before the next fight. His new racial skills.
Swiping through until he found the section, he pressed the new entry, his grip tightening on the blades as he read, and a grin spread across his face. At first, the results had felt lacking; [Savage Feed] and [Corruption] had both ranked up, but he had only received a single new racial. That feeling didn't last, the details settling in as he read, and the disappointment faded without a trace.
Seeing the faint light ahead and the clustered auras beyond it, Seo-jin let out a low laugh, the sound carrying through the tunnel like a warning.
The Broodfather was coming, and Hell was coming with him. Literally.