Chapter 213: A Mother's Duty
The five realms. Beast, Fae, Abyssal, Light, and Hell. Of them all, Hell was the one most closely tied to humanity. Since time immemorial, the realm of demons had lingered at humanity's doorstep. Each realm existed on a separate layer of reality, but Hell and Earth were the only two that shared a border. With such close proximity, demonkind had been meddling with humanity since the first human souls gained consciousness.
Leading that charge was Baal. He was among the first demons to discover humanity and one of the first to make them his full-time hobby. Demon Lord of the Second Layer, his domain was Greed. Of the six Demon Lords, he was the weakest physically, but none of the others would dare confront him directly. Baal's power was never in himself. It was in the countless treasures he had gathered over untold millennia.
All of them were fiercely guarded and hoarded within his domain, inside his gold tower, known as Babel. Some claimed the tower was the actual Tower of Babel itself, but no one knew the truth except Baal.
The Second Layer outside the tower was a barren wasteland. There were no fleshfields or bone yards like the Maw, only an endless frozen landscape stretching beneath a gray sky. Beyond Baal's sight, nothing was allowed to live or grow.
No armies gathered at his feet. No legions carried his banners or chanted his name across the wastes. Baal would not tolerate even the slightest chance of someone taking what belonged to him, so the layer remained empty. Only ice and wind remained. Ice that froze flesh solid the instant it touched you, and wind that cut exposed skin like razors.
Today was different.
For the first time in over a century, Baal's voice was speaking to something other than himself or his treasures.
At the top of the tower, in a chamber walled with mirrors and floored with polished black marble that reflected every flicker of light, Baal stood in all his glory.
He was a patchwork of flesh, bone, and clothing. Nothing about him looked uniform. One arm was covered in thick white fur, another in overlapping violet scales, a third appeared carved from golden bone, and a fourth reflected light like polished black onyx. All four arms sprouted from his back, each gripping an object. A mirror, a book, a quill, and a dagger. Dark auras bled from every artifact, warping the air around them, yet where normal arms should have been, he had none. Only a robed torso remained.
His robes looked as though they had been assembled over centuries. Brass sleeves hung from mismatched fabrics, covered in dangling trinkets that softly clinked whenever he moved. Colors, materials, and patterns collided without any attempt at cohesion, each piece seemingly taken from somewhere else and stitched into the whole.
His face resembled a dried corpse. The skin was gray and mottled like sludge pulled from a sewer drain, covered in faded tattoos that crawled across his cheeks and scalp. Eyes of actual jewels sat within his sockets, two large topazes catching and reflecting the light of the mirrored chamber. Rising from his skull were two massive horns, smaller horns circling their bases like fangs. Floating between them hung a golden crown, perfectly still despite the faint currents of power that drifted from it.
Floating before him, a pale grey soul flickered weakly in the air, its light wavering like a candle caught in a draft. Between the demon and the ethereal mass hovered a small bean of pink flesh. It slowly pulsed, wet and alive, each faint contraction accompanied by a soft, fleshy sound.
"Your memories are worthless!"
His voice came out distorted, the shout producing a visible wave that rippled the air and slammed into the soul, causing its pale light to flicker violently, almost snuffing it out.
The arm holding the book craned forward. The tome opened on its own, pages rustling as they turned one after another until they stopped on one almost completely covered in black.
His jeweled eyes glowed as he studied the page in silence. Slowly, thin lines of blood began lifting from the parchment, rising into the cold air.
Bloodlight.
The same as Seo-jin's.
"If only that imbecilic mortal had summoned me sooner. But you aren't a complete waste."
Leaning closer, he took a long sniff of the soul floating before him. The motion made his body tremble, his expression tightening in what looked disturbingly close to pleasure.
"Breeding with a demon. I don't judge you. I have dabbled myself with numerous species, humans quite often. So don't worry, I'll make sure to raise him as if he were my own."
The hand holding the mirror creaked forward and positioned it beneath the floating bean of flesh. The mirror's surface flashed brightly for a moment before the growth was pulled inward, vanishing into the glass.
"Did you know a human giving birth to a demon's child is a death sentence for the mother? So consider this a mercy. Being devoured from within, although beautiful, would have been much worse for you."
From within his robes, a grotesquely shriveled arm emerged. The skin matched his face, gray and corpse-like, covered in the same faded tattoos and markings. Reaching forward as his arm cracked, he wrapped his fingers around the soul.
The instant he touched it, the soul twisted and bucked as if trying to escape. A woman's agonized scream echoed through the chamber, and for a brief moment Lynn's face surfaced within the pale light, twisted by rage and fear.
"So bold for one so weak. Your emotions will serve as the perfect nutrients. Rejoice, human. In this way, you will still be able to fulfill your purpose as a mother."
Bringing Lynn's soul closer to the mirror, a twisted grin spread across Baal's dried features.
"This Seo-jin... I wonder how he'll react when he finds out his child was force-fed his own mother. I truly can't wait."
Pressing her soul against the mirror, he watched as tendrils of wet flesh pushed through the glass and wrapped around it. Lynn's terrified scream rose once more before the tendrils dragged her into the mirror's surface and swallowed her whole.
Watching the surface for a moment, the grin slowly faded from the demon's face. His gaze drifted back to the black page within the open book.
The bloodlight continued to rise from the parchment, crimson reflections sliding across the mirrored walls. Layer upon layer of red light circled the chamber until it looked as though the room itself had begun to bleed.
"Come find me soon, old one."
Rising from the page, the bloodlight suddenly spasmed and roared. Chains burst from the darkness below, snapping around the aura before violently dragging it back into the book.
----
"What the hell was that?"
Min stood at the bottom of the crater that used to be the cultists' camp. Around her were the brood and Teal. Both of them had been caught off guard when the broodlings suddenly went quiet, each one radiating enough bloodlust to make the air feel heavier.
Straightening his back with a groan, Synapse seemed the least affected.
"Our father. We can feel him through our connection. I have never felt such anger before. Whatever is happening, it is strong enough that it is affecting us as well. Some of us more than others."
He pointed toward Bile and Widow.
The masked broodling sat curled into a ball, rocking back and forth while muttering to himself. Widow seemed even worse. She didn't respond when anyone spoke to her, and even Lynn's death hadn't appeared to reach her. She stood off to the side fidgeting, her claws flexing and relaxing while her eyes flickered in every direction.
They were supposed to be moving out. Even though Min felt like Lynn's death had become an anchor around her neck, making her hesitant to leave, she knew staying here was asking for trouble. The sounds of battle would draw attention sooner or later, and she didn't have the time or patience to deal with Bile and Widow's bullshit.
"We gotta get the fuck out of here before another fights starts. Can you get them moving?"
Shaking his head, Synapse glanced down at himself before looking back toward Widow.
"Communication isn't a broodling's strong suit. Our only option is to force them to move, but as you can see, the physical requirements are beyond me."
The thought was laughable. The size difference between Synapse and Widow alone was ridiculous, and that wasn't even considering their actual strength stats. Realistically, the only ones capable of moving her and Bile right now were Min or Tomb.
Feeling her blood pressure climbing, she drew in a breath and looked up to shout at Tomb—but Widow didn't give her the chance.
She finally spoke, though it sounded more like a hiss than actual words.
"Father isn't here, but I need to go home. Home! I can't wait anymore!"
Her aura erupted. Black and green chitin cracked along her body with sharp popping sounds as her frame suddenly bulked. Thick ropes of saliva dripped from her fangs, splattering onto the dirt while her head whipped from side to side. Then she dropped into a crouch and launched herself upward, landing on the edge of the crater.
"Goddammit! Stop her—!"
But Min's order died on her lips. At first she thought the broodling was abandoning them, but Widow stopped at the edge of the crater instead. Turning her back toward the center, her swollen thorax expanded, then violently contracted as a thick surge of webbing blasted into the air.
Leaping from edge to edge, the mutated broodling moved with frantic speed. Thread after thread stretched across the opening until the sunlight above began to dim. Within seconds, the entire crater was disappearing beneath layer upon layer of dense white webbing.
"Don't move until I say!"
Widow's voice carried a desperate edge, each word rushed as if she were trying to beat an invisible clock.
Watching her race overhead, Min felt her jaw tighten hard enough to ache.
"What the hell is she doing?!"
"It appears our sister can no longer wait. We will soon have new numbers for the brood."
"Wait—! You mean—"
"She is preparing her web in order to give birth. We need to remain here while she does this. If we move, she may mistake us for intruders. During the birthing process, her instincts will override her reasoning."
Min turned toward Synapse, her face suddenly pale. She even jumped when Sin began speaking from the other side of her, his voice cutting through the growing shadows beneath the web canopy.
"Praise be the Broodfather. All of us should strive to increase His flock as she does."
Hearing the familiar fanaticism she'd encountered far too many times in her life, Min felt a chill crawl across her skin. The absolute certainty in Sin's voice made it worse.
"You got a priest class, huh?"
"Something like that. The doctrine is still gestating. Soon I will be ready to spread His word."
"Where the fuck do you guys even get this shit?"
The question was mostly for herself, but Sin answered anyway.
"Broodfather has provided the path. We must simply walk it."
Groaning, Min ruffled her blonde hair with both hands, pacing in a tight circle for a second before finally giving up and dropping onto her ass with a thud.
"Fuck it. He's gonna be pissed anyways, let's just pile on more. How's Ash?"
Turning her head, she called over her shoulder to Teal.
The woman sat against a chunk of broken earth with Ash's head resting in her lap, while Triss, now in her cat form, lay curled on the boy's chest. Teal's fingers moved slowly through his hair as tears continued to track down her flushed cheeks, occasionally dripping onto her sleeves.
Out of all of them, Teal had been hit the hardest by Lynn's death.
It had hit Min too, hard even, but she knew the life and the risks that came with it. Lynn knew them as well. Mourning could come later. Right now there were still too many problems breathing down their necks. Still, looking at Teal, she found it difficult to judge her reaction.
"Teal. Teal! How's Ash?"
Startling as reality came crashing back, Teal looked up in a daze before offering a weak smile.
"He's stable. Just dreaming...I think."
Her gaze drifted back down immediately, the smile deepening as it trembled. She looked at the boy as if he were the only thing in the world worth looking at.
"In a bit, I'll try to look into his future. Maybe I can find out some details about the curse."
Min's jaw tightened again. She knew what Teal's abilities could do, but she also knew the cost. Every use of Future Sight shaved away part of the girl's lifespan. Looking at her expression though, Min could only let out a slow breath and nod.
"That's a good idea. Keep an eye on him for me, okay?"
"Okay."
The ground trembled beneath them as Tomb was forced to lower himself onto his side, curling his massive legs toward his chest. The crater was just large enough to hold them, but already Widow was attaching strands of webbing to him, treating the giant broodling like another support beam in her growing den.
"How long is this gonna take? Any idea?"
Looking toward Synapse, Min could already see the broodling's eyes moving as he worked through calculations. Even so, the answer he gave surprised her.
"How would I know? She is the first of her kind. It could take hours. It could take months."
"Months?! You better hope not—"
"Correction. You better hope. If it is that long, Broodfather will return before then. Once he sees his mate has died and we've wasted all our time stuck down here, you will have to answer for that, as you were the one left in charge."
Min's heart skipped a beat.
The worst part was she couldn't argue, no matter how much she wanted to. Seo-jin had, in fact, left her in charge.
Looking up at the mass of limbs and webbing that was Widow, Min watched the broodling continue her work overhead. Threads stretched and tightened with each pass, the opening above growing darker by the minute. A cold knot of fear settled deeper into her gut.
"She's got three days. If she won't let us out by then, we'll force our way out."
"I'd advise against that. In her current state, any aggression directed at her will be met with extreme prejudice. You would most likely have to kill her to get through. Our best—well, your best—option is to wait this out and prevent any further damage from occurring. You can also hope that once Broodfather learns about Baal, his attention shifts toward him, which may provide you with some cover."
The name Baal sent a ripple through the group. Even if none of them matched Synapse or Snare in intelligence, they didn't need to. Every one of them understood that what they'd faced had only been a pale fragment of the real thing.
A true Demon Lord.
The gap in power felt so large it was difficult to even measure.
For a moment, she could almost hear Baal's voice again. The memory sent a chill down her spine, but she quickly shoved it aside and continued staring at the web-covered sky.
"Things are gonna get real messy when he gets back."
Shaking his head, Synapse clasped his claws behind his back. The broodling sounded almost disappointed by how much she was underselling the problem.
"I believe that is what one would call an understatement. Considering Baal's words, I think there is a part of this situation you are missing, and it is likely the most dangerous piece."
"Oh, and what's that?"
"Baal used the word mate. Considering the timing, and the fact that we were swimming inside an abyssal dungeon, the only conclusion I can draw—unless the Demon Lord possesses an extreme sense of smell—is that Lynn was pregnant."
Everything went still. Above, even Widow's spinning stopped.
A second later, the silence shattered beneath Bile's scream of fear and the broken sobs from Teal.
For Min, everything suddenly went numb. The sounds around her felt distant, muffled beneath the pounding of her own pulse.
If Synapse was right, she wasn't in trouble.
She was a dead woman.
Lost somewhere between grief for Lynn and fear for herself, she sat frozen. The rough stone beneath her suddenly felt far away, her thoughts spiraling so fast she didn't even notice the world around her had been dyed crimson.
If Min's mind hadn't already been overflowing, she might have noticed that every broodling present had begun bleeding bloodlight.
Uncontrollable amounts of it.