Chapter 144: The Sounds Of Violence
A sliver of time before everything broke, Min would most likely survive. Lynn and the rest wouldn't. There was no angle, no cover, no space left to steal. The distance was wrong, the timing worse. Death was already moving.
Azakh-Tur tore forward anyway, a burning arc of muscle and hate, and it still wasn't enough. He wouldn't reach them. The alpha's coat began to pull and stretch, mana flooding the air. Min's shields crashed together, yellow light flaring—
—and something burst from Azakh-Tur's chest.
Blue intestines lashed outward, wet and alive, hooks tearing free at their ends. They crossed the space faster than he could move, faster than thought. Grimm finally attacked. The lines punched into the alpha's flesh, buried deep, and the monster locked in place as if nailed to the world.
'Hell yeah, bud.'
He had his opening. The shotgun vanished in a pulse of light and both hands locked onto a single mutating mace. He drove the swing with his whole frame, hips turning, spine snapping through the motion, the arc aimed for the throat as he closed the distance like a ballistics missile.
[4th Weapon Effect // Activated]
[Bludgeoning / Piercing Damage Converted → Slicing Damage]
[-2SM]
[SM // 9/51]
[Rend // Activated]
[+15% Physical Damage]
Metal tore through fur without resistance, edge biting deep until it found meat.
The alpha couldn't move. Grimm's hooks held fast, sunk deeper than flesh, anchoring the beast's soul in place, choking its skill before it could form, stripping away block and evasion alike.
The cut traveled slow enough for eye contact. Crimson met crimson. No rage. No fear. Just empty weight.
[!! Critical !!]
[+554 Damage Dealt]
The six-foot cleaver finished its path and the neck sliced cleanly.
[+4000 EXP]
[EXP // 21772/20368]
[+1 Level Up]
[+1 STR / +1 VIT / +1 WIL / +3 AP]
[Spawn Limit +1]
Crimson system light detonated off his body as he hit the ground, claws carving lines through dirt and stone to bleed off speed. Power flooded in, sharp and familiar, welcomed. He tipped his head back just enough to watch the alpha collapse, the massive body striking dead earth with a hollow finality.
The surviving apes broke into noise, panic and fury tangled together, but his voice cut through it.
"Finish them."
The brood surged forward in one violent wave, but Min arrived first.
"They're all mine!"
The field erupted again. Azakh-Tur didn't join it. His gaze stayed cold, distant, tracking humans and brood as they butchered what remained. A silent command pulsed through the link, ordering the bodies left intact.
Then he turned away and stepped toward the fallen alpha, bloodlight still breathing off his skin.
[Too bad you didn't drop him inside a dungeon. Waste of potential loot.]
"And you felt the need to share that because?"
[No particular reason.]
"Then try saying something that helps."
[Skin him.]
Flesh finished knitting, color returning as claws, horns, and fangs pulled back into his body. Seo-jin raised a brow at the suggestion.
System light washed over him as the suit reformed, armor flowing back into fabric. He seized a handful of the alpha's coat and tested it, fingers straining. The strands felt like braided steel cable.
[Thragdur's people could turn that into armor. Even rope from this would be worth the trouble.]
The idea clicked into place with uncomfortable ease.
"Panic! Over here!"
A head burst out of a split abdomen nearby, snapping left, then right. Spotting Seo-jin, Panic vaulted free, bounding across the ground with feral speed, tongue lolling, breath ragged.
"You called?!"
Seo-jin ignored the grin and gestured at the corpse.
"Skin it. Preserve the hide as clean as you can. Don't ruin the meat."
The manic edge drained from Panic's face. He circled the body, crouching, inspecting joints and damage, actually thinking. After a long beat, he straightened.
"I can save most of the pelt. Neck and shoulder are gone. Meat won't be a problem. Give me an hour."
He didn't wait for approval. Using the torn throat as an entry point, Panic sank his blade in and started the first careful cut through the dense hide.
[What the fuck was that?]
'Right?'
Watching him work, Seo-jin felt a quiet recalibration settle in. He'd underestimated his second born. When something mattered, Panic slowed down, measured himself, and answered only after deciding the work could be done.
The broodling was growing.
'He takes his work seriously.'
[About the only thing he does. Other than you.]
A flare of crimson at the edge of his vision snapped his focus sideways. The brood was leveling.
"Fuck!"
His mouth twisted as he caught sight of it. Hex. Already glowing.
"Hex—stand down!"
The shout came too late. System light surged one last time around the broodling, sharp and final, and the prompt Seo-jin had been dreading slammed into his vision.
[System // Notification]
[Broodling / Hex // Level 10 Achieved]
[New Class Available // Hellchanter]
[Assign class Hellchanter to Broodling Hex?]
[Yes / No]
"Motherfucker!"
The curse tore out of him as his foot lashed out, reducing an ape carcass to pulp. Hex stood rigid, terror pouring off him in waves. If his eyes were visible, they would have been blown wide. He didn't know what he'd done, only that it was wrong, and his body already braced to beg.
The fear bled through the link. Seo-jin felt it and let it burn. He didn't soothe it. Not yet.
[We both fucked that up.]
'A fuckin waste! What the hell was I thinking.'
[Look at the class. Could be better than a caster—or worse.]
He'd blown it. Hex still had weeks before his bindings unlocked Mana Sense. The plan had been clean: sense first, class second. Now it was shattered. No mage. No proper spellcaster. Not yet.
A long breath dragged through his chest. Then his claw hovered, steady despite the frustration, and pressed down on the option staring back at him.
[Class Profile // Hellchanter]
[Role // Battlefield Conductor / Sonic Support]
[Rank // D]
[Class Description]
[A Hellchanter bends sound into authority. Voice, rhythm, and resonance shape the flow of combat. Allies grow stronger the more who listen. Enemies weaken as the song spreads. Sound is not decoration—it is control.]
[Critical Stat // WIL]
[All class abilities scale strongest with Will]
[Core Class Mechanic // Audience]
[Abilities scale based on the number of valid listeners within range at the moment of activation.]
[Note]
[Deafened or silenced targets do not count
Line of sound matters (walls, barriers, silence zones)]
[Class Skills]
[Name // War Dirge]
[Type // Active]
[Sub-type // Buff]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Cooldown // 15s]
[Effect]
[All allies within range gain +5% Attack Power and +5% Attack Speed.
For each additional allied listener beyond the first, the effect increases by +2% (max +15%).]
[Duration is refreshed while the Hellchanter continues performing.]
[Name // Black Hymn]
[Type // Active]
[Sub-type // Buff]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Cooldown // 20s]
[Effect]
[All allies within range gain +10% Damage Resistance / Each allied listener increases resistance by +2% (max +20%)]
[If 5 or more allies are listening, gain +10% Status Resistance.]
[Name // Dissonant Verse]
[Type // Active]
[Sub-type // Debuff]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Cooldown // 18s]
[Effect]
[Enemies within range suffer –10% Attack Power and –10% Accuracy / Each enemy listener increases the penalty by –3% (max –25%)]
[At 5 or more enemy listeners, movement speed is also reduced by –10%.]
[Name // Ruin Crescendo]
[Type // Active]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // 1s]
[Cooldown // 25s]
[Effect]
[Release a focused sonic blast dealing 100% Sonic Damage / Damage increases by +10% per enemy listener at the moment of release (max +50%)]
[Enemies affected by Dissonant Verse take an additional +20% damage.]
"A song heard by one is noise. A song heard by many is command."
[A music-based class. Huh. Unexpected. Might not be useless.]
His temper curdled as he stared at the text. He'd wanted raw force. Fire ripping air apart. Lightning carving lines through flesh. Turning enemies into animals and crushing them while they bleated. Not killing things with rhythm.
'Sounds stupid.'
But the longer he sat with it, the less certain he felt. Mages were everywhere. Systems spat them out by the thousands. Making one later wouldn't be hard. This, though, he'd only heard of a few music classes. That didn't mean they were trash. Either it was rare because it failed, or rare because it worked too well to spread.
Hex's stress levels were spiking enough to bleed through the link. Seo-jin exhaled through his nose and waved him over. The fight was already done. The apes had folded once their alpha dropped, and with Min tearing through the stragglers, cleanup had been fast and ugly.
"I'm not pissed at you. Get over here."
Hex crossed the field without hesitation, skittering over torn bodies and shattered bone like the ground meant nothing. He stopped directly in front of him, posture rigid.
"Broodfather? I—I think something happened."
Seo-jin rubbed at his temples, dragged the frustration out, then let it go.
"I know. You hit ten. You got your class."
The words rippled through the brood. Pain, Panic, and Snare grinned. Bile and Widow stiffened.
The elder three didn't worry. Level ten meant progress. Graduation. They were already considering how hard the congratulatory beating should be later.
Bile and Widow felt it differently. Hex had been their marker. Same growth band. Same pace. Mentor and rival both. Watching him cross the line first burned.
Neither of them realized how close they were to following.
He dismissed the panel and let the choice notification hang. Accept or refuse. He had no sense for the cost of denial. Would it lock Hex out of a class entirely. Strip him down to mutations or dead ends. He wasn't gambling blind on that. Not without knowing how this even happened.
"Explain something first. A music class. How did you even come across that?"
Nothing in their routines pointed that way. No rituals. No songs. No exposure. It shouldn't have been possible.
Hex straightened fast, posture swelling with pride. That alone made Seo-jin uneasy.
"From you, Broodfather. Everything we are comes from you."
Before he could stop him, Hex began to hum.
The sound hit him like a hammer. A rough tune. Half-formed. Familiar.
The melody he'd idly made up while browsing the auction. The one he'd hummed while inspecting the Veilstill Sight-Wraps.
The system laughed, sour and wet in his head.
[You fucked yourself! HA!]
A headache flared behind his eyes.
"Stop."
Hex cut off instantly. He stiffened, then bowed low, spine tight, head down.
"If that displeases you, I will—"
"It's fine. This isn't on you."
Hex stayed bowed, but the tension bled out of his shoulders in small increments.
Seo-jin looked over the battlefield. Torn bodies. Cooling blood. A ruined street choked with bone and fur. None of it registered...all because he'd absentmindedly hummed a tune.
He exhaled slow.
'So this was how it works. Influence without intent. Inspiration without control.'
He almost laughed.
'If that's the case, there's no managing this. I try to steer them and I'll fail. I sneeze wrong and one of these idiots finds enlightenment.'
The irritation burned off as quickly as it formed.
"Fine."
That was one less illusion to maintain. The brood would grow how they grew. His job wasn't to sculpt every step. It was to make sure waste didn't survive.
He tapped the option.
[Yes.]
The interface collapsed, swallowed by a violent flare of light around Hex. His body rose off the ground, spine arching as pressure climbed inside him. Color tore through the air in rapid succession, red, then black, then white, each grinding against the next as the swirl tightened around him.
Min tipped her head back and drained her ale, then flung the empty aside. She wiped her mouth with a gauntlet smeared dark and watched without blinking.
'What's happening? Can you read it?'
[Not precisely. But the energy profile is consistent. He's acquiring a class.]
"A class?! You've got to be fu—!"
She stopped herself mid-word. Her gaze snapped to Snare, then to Panic, then to Pain. None of them reacted. None of them looked surprised.
'…That's insane. I thought they just evolved or something. Maybe pick up skills. Classes aren't something summons get.'
[Then we should stop calling them summons.]
The answer sat heavy. Even without her system's readout, she could feel it. Whatever Seo-jin had unlocked, it wasn't normal. It felt uncomfortably close to creating Users from nothing. As the light around Hex began to thin, heat prickled along her neck. Her pulse climbed.
Bloodlust stirred.
The glow burned out.
Hex settled back onto the ground, changed in ways that weren't subtle, but weren't monstrous either. His skin had deepened to a darker red. Muscle packed tighter. The most obvious shift sat at the sides of his head, ears elongated and sharpened, tapering to cruel points.
[System // Notification]
[Broodling / Hex // Hellchanter Class Acquisition Successful]
[WIL Stat Unlocked / +2 VIT / +4 AGI / +4 INT / +25 WIL]
Seo-jin felt it without turning. The shift rippled through the link like a struck nerve. The brood felt it too.
Lesser broodlings shrieked and twitched. Auras bled outward from their commanders. This was the path they'd been promised. This was why they endured.
Growth.
Strength.
They needed it.
Seo-jin lifted his gaze toward the horizon, Soul Sense stretching ahead, and there it was. Movement. Pressure. Opportunity. Hex's first test was already forming.
He turned back toward Shatterbay, teeth showing in a slow, ugly smile.
"I'm getting closer."