Chapter 109: Silence Before War
It was a slab of metal shaped into cruelty. Broad, thick, and forward-weighted, the blade curved toward the end with a predatory lean, made for dismemberment, not fencing. A weapon built for something that wanted to break what it cut. Perfect for Pain.
Seo-jin had inspected it the second he'd drawn it from his inventory. No hidden traits. No surprises. Still, the sight of it satisfied him. Pure, brutal utility.
[Name // Surtur's Tooth]
[Type // Weapon]
[Rank // C]
[Evolve // No]
[Sub-Category // Greatblade]
[+4 STR]
[Attack // 39–43 Slicing Damage]
[Description]
[A heavy, forward-curved greatblade said to be carved from the fang of an ancient fire demon.]
[Passive Effect]
[Heat Absorption // Weapon draws thermal energy from surroundings.]
[Weapon Skill]
[Name // Ember Cache]
[Type // Passive (Conditional)]
[Category // Damage Over Time]
[Rank // C]
[Effect // When the blade's reservoir reaches capacity, it turns white-hot. Strikes during this state inflict [Burning // C], dealing continuous damage while weakening armor and slowing recovery.]
[Condition // Thermal Energy ≥ 100 / 100]
[Duration // Until heat reservoir empties]
[Cooldown // None]
[Durability // 145 / 145]
[Requirements // STR > 32]
["Fire leaves scars, even when you can't see the flame."]
A weapon molded by hell, handed to a creature born from it.
Pain raised the blade as if reuniting with something carved from his own flesh. The steel was dark, cold, its edge catching faint light that rippled like heat mirage. His fire sank into it, slow at first, then greedy, until the weapon began to hum, a low, hungry tremor that answered his touch like recognition.
For the first time, Pain grinned wide enough to split skin. In front of him, hovering in the air, came the symbols his brothers had always spoken of, the thing he'd thought he'd been denied. His own mark. His own system.
[Thermal Energy // 12/100]
Seo-jin cleared his throat, his tone slicing through the air.
"Protect your brother, Pain. Keep your task buried. Don't disappoint me."
Flame surged up Pain's back as he dropped to all fours and slammed his forehead into the stone, the sword clenched tight between both hands.
"I will not fail you, Father! Ever!"
"We'll see."
Seo-jin's tone was flat, final.
"Now go. Rest with your brothers."
Pain struck his head once more, then sprang upright, the greatblade already glowing a dull red in his grip.
"Yes, Broodfather!"
Then, without hesitation, he opened his jaws and leveled the blade toward his mouth.
'That's not gonna fit.'
[Let him try.]
Seo-jin folded his arms, ready to watch the inevitable failure...until the impossible happened. The massive blade slid down Pain's throat without resistance. No gag, no strain, not even a tear. Metal vanished clean, swallowed whole.
'What the fuck. Snare was one thing, but this is stupid. There's nothing in their profile that should make this possible.'
[I'm just as confused as you. You'll have to summon one specifically for dissection. I'd like to see the mechanism firsthand.]
'Yeah. Definitely gotta do that.'
He turned away as the Twinback Growths began to stir. Wet, hungry sounds rose behind him as they tore Pain apart. Flesh ripped. Bone cracked. The air filled with steam and the sharp, sweet reek of demon blood.
Pain's pleasure didn't last long. By the time silence fell, Seo-jin was alone again.
He exhaled, long and tired.
"I need a nap."
[Then take one.]
"Not yet."
He crossed the room, dropped into the chair, and held out his hand.
"Been waiting to see what this is."
Crimson light bled through his palm as the item manifested. His final gift from leveling, his first class item. A reward that shared his class name. It had to be significant.
When the glow cleared, he frowned at what rested in his hand...a dull, curved horn etched with shallow bite marks.
[Class Item // Broodspawn's Call]
[Rank // Unknown]
[Type // Consumable]
[Use // One-Time Activation]
[Description]
[A crude horn carved from the severed horn of a demon.]
[Effect]
[Upon use, summons a Class Dungeon. Initiates the Class Quest: Path of the Broodspawn.]
[Restrictions]
[Usable only by a registered Broodspawn-type class // Item destroyed upon activation]
["When the Broodspawn calls, the Brood remembers its maker."]
"Fucking hell. Does it ever end? Can't it just be simple for once?"
Even he was caught off guard by how drained his voice sounded.
[It's not timed. Just shelf it until you're ready.]
"I will. Still annoying. I've already got a pile of things to handle here, then I've got a whole damn city to claim when I get back. Now I've got to sit on this until the right moment? Feels like the System's dangling a prize just to piss me off."
[Maybe. Doesn't change anything. You'll deal with it when it's time.]
Seo-jin grunted and put the horn back into his inventory. A temptation sealed away, waiting to taunt him. He turned toward the bed, shoulders heavy.
"Fine...rest, then."
He barely made it two steps before a knock at the door stopped him cold.
He summoned his shirt back on, jaw tightening, then opened the door. The corridor was full. Ten armored dwarves filled the hall like an iron wall.
"What's this?"
The lead stepped forward, boot strike hard and sure. He wore layered plate and a dark red beard that curled like wire.
"You will come to the Forge Hall. The Forgemaster wishes to speak."
Seo-jin let the door shut behind him and stepped out without hurry, sizing them up like they were nothing more than nuisance flies.
"Lead."
"Please follow!"
The captain stamped his foot and pivoted, Seo-jin moved into the middle of their formation, and they closed around him like a cage. At their signal they marched, all ten in lockstep.
[They're cautious around you now.]
'Smart. If I were them I'd already be interrogating my ass.'
[Lucky for you, you're not them.]
A thin smile cracked his face as he kept their pace. A few guards flicked color, reading that smile with the wrong kind of understanding.
'Thragdur's probably back on his feet. Between Brundar and the attack, they won't sit idle. They'll mobilize fast.'
[The snakes will retaliate or strike again. The dwarves have no choice but to prepare. The only open question: does your bargain still hold?]
'It does.'
[Why so sure?]
His smile widened, calm and certain. A few guards tightened at the edges.
'Because he has no other path. He serves me or he dies.'
Walking with his hands clasped behind his back, pace even, Seo-jin's eyes traced the life of the fortress around him. Dwarves moved at a near-run, hauling crates, racks of blades, and barrels that smelt like smoke. Sparks hissed from half-repaired machines, the air thick with sweat and fear.
Everything stank of steel and blood. Every step forward sank deeper into that tension, heavy as the stale air in a tomb. No one spoke. No one met his eyes.
By the time they reached the forge hall, the silence was strange. The sound of hammers was gone. The roar of flame was gone. Even the heat—gone. The great forges sat cold and black, their bellows dead. Empty racks lined the walls where weapons once hung. The only thing left standing was the Forgemaster.
He stood in front of the dormant forge, a slab of muscle and metal, his armor pulsing with the glow of buried runes. The gauntlets on his four arms dripped faint wisps of heat like blood turned to steam. His back was to them, broad as a cliff face, unmoving.
The dwarves slowed as they entered the hall. The air grew thicker, colder.
Then, at once, they stopped.
The captain stomped once, stepped forward, and barked through clenched teeth.
"Reporting! We have brought the Broodfather as requested."
"Thank you, Grun. Take your men and finish preparations."
The red-bearded captain stomped once, pivoted, and herded his squad out without a backward glance. Seo-jin watched them go with a thin, dry smile, then turned to face the Forgemaster, his expression tightening.
"My condolences about Brundar. Without him, your clan would have been wiped out. His sacrifice kept you standing."
He stepped forward while Thragdur remained statue-still, the dwarven forgemaster's bulk a dark silhouette against cold iron. Seo-jin walked through the facts: the noise he made up hearing outside the walls, the trap of snakes cloaked by Curse magic, Brundar's golem tearing through them, the dwarf staying back to buy time.
Thragdur didn't move. The hall itself seemed to press in; silence pooled at their feet. After a long breath, the Forgemaster set his hand on the cold forge slab and spoke without turning.
"He was stubborn—too stubborn. His loss cuts deep. It is one we will not recover from."
Seo-jin had been bracing for this. He kept his tone measured, barbed with temper. Choosing his words carefully.
"He told me about his skill with golems. Don't tell me his death means the clan loses that craft. The gods would be cruel if that were true."
Thragdur finally turned, face carved from stone. His voice low, and steady.
"We will honor his choice in death. His loss will not fall on you."
Seo-jin nodded, masking irritation with a practiced bow of thanks. Before he could press further about golem production, Thragdur moved ahead of him.
"We march at once. Find the spider. Have her ready. My forces will push into her territory within the hour."
A clean spike of adrenaline threaded through Seo-jin's spine. He'd expected this, but hearing it set his blood alight. This was the moment the day had been winding toward.
"Are your people briefed?"
"Only those who must be. When the signal comes, no dwarf will hesitate. Do not doubt that."
A grin spread across Seo-jin's face. Bloodlight crept like steam from his palms; his body begged for motion.
"I'll leave now. Just remember Thragdur, when this is over, no one from your clan will ever die like Brundar again."
With that said, Seo-jin turned and started towards the surface.
The Forgemaster didn't answer. He walked toward a heavy iron door, pausing only once as Seo-jin left the hall, eyes burning with an aura like hot coal.
"I hope you're right. For your sake."
----
Leaving the fortress was effortless. The same two guards from before were already waiting, grim and silent. They didn't ask questions. They just pulled the chain to activate the staircase.
Seo-jin slipped into motion the moment he cleared the threshold. His pace was easy, but his pulse wasn't. The plan ran through his head again and again, each step syncing with its rhythm.
[If you show up like this, she's going to smell it.]
'She's gonna be suspicious no matter what.'
He slowed his breathing, forced the tension from his shoulders. The system was right. He couldn't afford to look hungry.
[As long as she sticks to her side, this stays clean. Watch for the shift—when the snakes fall, that's her moment to turn on you.]
'Then I'll have to make sure it never comes to that.'
[Assume everything, believe nothing. You should survive.]
'Easy advice from something that can't bleed.'
The forest changed as he went. The air thickened, the ground turned soft underfoot. Metal-tipped roots speared through the dirt. Webbing clung to the trunks like veins. The deeper he went, the more the forest resembled a wound.
He followed memory until the bramble wall rose ahead...tall, woven, alive. The vines stirred as he neared, peeling apart in silence, revealing the narrow tunnel beyond. Seo-jin stepped through, the thorns closing behind him like teeth.
And then he saw them.
Stars in the dark. Endless.
Not light...eyes.
Hundreds, maybe thousands. Watching from the web-wrapped hollows, motionless but waiting.
Lilid had been busy.