Published at 30th of May 2026 7:10 am

Chapter 211: The Mind And Eye

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Chapter 211: The Mind And Eye

Speed was an issue, but muscle for muscle, Pain wasn't lacking when compared to the crab demon. After getting the clear from Seo-jin, his fists and claws slammed into the boss with deafening impacts, shaking the flesh beneath their feet. Pain used his size and aggression to crowd the demon up close, never giving it room to build momentum.

A scream ripped from one of the worm-like growths extending from its back. It had lunged for the fiery broodling, only to end up with a mouthful of burning charcoal. Smoke curled from its teeth as it recoiled.

Crawling over the boss himself, constantly shifting positions, Panic was like a spider on drugs. Any gap, any opening, he was already there, biting, slashing, and forcing the demon to react. At the moment, his fangs were buried deep in the demon's armpit, black fluid running down his jaw.

Bloodlight suddenly flared across the boss's chitin. Snare had activated [Mark of Dread], branding the creature with glowing sigils. Its AGI dropped by five percent, its DEF by ten, while his brothers gained a ten percent increase to their critical chance.

Watching the fight unfold, Seo-jin began to develop a strange suspicion. He wasn't certain yet, but the longer he watched, the more he felt there was something off about the crab demon's speed.

[The fire neutralized the plants in your body. You're good to go.]

Sending his thoughts about the boss's speed to Snare through the broodlink, he tightened his grip on the maces and charged forward, wet flesh squelching beneath his feet as he joined the fight.

He still hurt from the multiple bleeding holes covering his body, but thinking about more plants feeding off him only pissed him off more. Before he could worry about his wounds, he had frustrations he needed to vent first.

Forced to remain behind and provide support, Snare swallowed his frustration. Scraping a chunk of meat from the floor, he began eating while keeping his eyes fixed on the battle.

The first pulse of healing from Feed spread through Seo-jin's skin and damaged ribs, easing some of the fire burning inside them. Grateful for even that small relief, he swung a mace at one of the demon's legs.

'Keep him off balance.'

A command from the Broodfather was gospel to Pain and Panic. Without hesitation, both doubled their efforts.

The three of them hit the demon from different angles.

Seo-jin drove forward from the front, his maces hammering into chitin with enough force to crack the meat below. Pain stayed close, trading claw for claw, fist for fist, refusing to give the creature room to breathe. Panic never stopped moving. One moment he was on the ground, the next he was on its back, then hanging from one of the worm-like growths with his teeth buried deep.

The clearing shook. Root ribs cracked. Chunks of flesh and splintered roots rained from above.

Whenever the demon tried to focus on one of them, the other two were already there. A mace smashed into its side. Claws ripped through its armor. Fangs found gaps.

The pace kept climbing.

Across the clearing they went. Up the root ribs then back down again. The fight became a blur of bloodlight, claws, and flying meat.

For the first time since it had emerged, the crab demon was being pushed back.

Green blood sprayed from dozens of wounds. Cracks spread across its chitin. One worm-body hung torn open. Another dragged behind it, leaking fluid across the roots.

Even its movements were becoming more desperate.

'Keep it up!'

Seo-jin roared as both maces crashed down.

Then the entire fight changed.

A flash. A single mistake, and Pain disappeared. The impact sounded like a bomb going off.

The large broodling folded around the hit and launched backward, bouncing off a root rib before vanishing into the distance. Blood and fire exploded through the air behind him.

The opening was instant.

Panic lunged to fill it.

Too late.

The creature sprang backward. Once, twice

Then it vanished.

One moment it was there. The next it was gone.

Seo-jin skidded to a stop, breathing hard as his eyes swept across the clearing.

Nothing.

The hairs along the back of his neck stood up.

"Where is it?!"

Looking around and sniffing frantically, Panic couldn't spot a thing. His claws flexed against the meat below as he spun in place.

"Gone. Maybe it's scared?"

As if answering him, Panic vanished from where he stood. The sound reached them a heartbeat later. The impact folded the broodling in half and launched him through the air before he could even understand what happened.

Roaring a challenge, Seo-jin threw a mace, tendons stetching in a wide arc as he tried to wrap a leg before the boss disappeared again, but the weapon struck only empty air.

His thoughts flashed through the broodlink.

'Anything?!'

Still standing outside the fight, Snare's grip on his staff had gone white-knuckled. His eyes were stretched wide, bloodlight burning in his pupils as he tracked every movement he could.

'Nothing confirmed, only theory. Need more time.'

He needed something. Anything.

Right now, Seo-jin's disadvantages were stacking too quickly. At this rate, the crab's advantage would only grow as the fight dragged on. Without more of the brood present, the healing trickling through the broodlink wouldn't keep him alive forever.

[Remember the Maw.]

'What the hells that supposed to mean?'

[It's just been born. Remember how you were when you first gained the system. Switch to a mental game.]

Heat suddenly blossomed across his back.

"Fu!"

He ducked just in time. Something tore through the space above him. It felt like a tornado passing overhead, but before he could counterattack, the demon was already gone.

From the corner of his eye, he caught the red glow of Pain's flames approaching, the larger broodling finally rejoining the fight.

'Mental game... mental game...'

He started replaying everything the crab demon had done and said. Piece by piece, he put himself back into the mindset of an imp taking its first steps toward consciousness. Using the clues the demon had already given him, it didn't take long to spot the pattern.

It was pride.

Pride leaked from every word the demon spoke.

A smile tugged at the corner of Seo-jin's lips just as Pain rejoined the fight, smoke rolling from the broodling's nostrils.

"I think your brother was right. This poor imitation is weak. I bet he's afraid. That's why he keeps hiding."

A demon of few words and completely incapable of picking up the subtext, Pain nodded immediately, sending another puff of smoke into the air.

"Hits hard though. Fast too."

A sharp pulse of irritation rang through the broodlink as Seo-jin quickly corrected him and caught him up.

Clearing the smoke from his throat, Pain nodded again.

"But yeah, smells like a coward to me."

Eye twitching, Seo-jin slowly turned away from him.

"That's what that smell was. Hey, little crab! You hear that?! My broodling here says you smell like a coward!"

Flames climbed higher around Pain as he fully committed to the role.

"Coward and shit! Mostly shit!"

This time, Seo-jin was ready.

The instant killing intent spiked, he moved.

Both maces came up. Rend activated. Muscles and tendons strained as he brought the giant weapons down with everything he had.

Blood and meat exploded across the clearing.

Pain still took a hit.

The imact drove him into the flesh-covered ground hard enough to leave a crater, roots and chunks of meat blasting outward.

Both strikes, the boss's and Seo-jin's, had sent blood flying. Some of it splashed directly into the crab demon's giant eye.

Finally, Seo-jin could see his target.

'Remember the feeling'

As the boss twisted and clawed at its face, wiping away the blood, Seo-jin moved.

In one smooth motion, he gathered his aura into Butcher's Wrath, twisted his body, and drove both maces into the demon's stomach.

The second they connected, [Aura Severance] activated.

The weapon skill was still new to him, but channeling aura wasn't. He'd been doing that well before the skill existed. This was simply the first time he'd managed it through the maces.

The effect was far beyond anything he'd expected.

Instead of cutting, the aura detonated the instant they connected. Twin bloodlight explosions erupted from the crab demon's abdomen, the shockwave blasting chunks of flesh and shattered chitin outward as the creature staggered back. The recoil caught Seo-jin off guard, his arms jolting from the force and costing him any chance at an immediate follow-up.

Before he could close the distance again, the boss vanished.

'It's the eye! It's not fast, it distorts light and senses! It's been smart about using it, but it slipped up. It has to be looking at its targets. It couldn't see me! We need to break line of sight!'

[So that's the trick. That Snare is a smart little bastard. Helps he's got those eyes. So what's the plan?]

'Aren't you supposed to have the ideas?'

[Fresh out.]

"Lippy bitch..."

His gaze darted around the clearing. Roots. Corpses. Broken ribs. Falling debris. Nothing came at first, but when his eyes climbed to the giant cage of root-bones arching overhead, inspiration struck like a hammer.

It wasn't gold, but if the timing was right, it should work.

Without wasting a second, he pushed the details through the broodlink.

Off in the distance, the newborn demon remained hidden among the shadows, keeping the enemy in sight while buying itself time. From farther away, it was easy to watch the battlefield. Easy to watch all of them.

Almost all.

The rabid one was missing from view, but that hardly mattered. Including the one carrying the stick, the two didn't feel particularly threatening.

Roots buried in its flesh pulsed as they fed it energy. Even so, its body was cracked in places, green blood leaking from the seams. Rage dulled the pain, but It didnt remove it.

"Imitation? Me? Impossible! I am perfection. He is the imitation."

One of the roots withdrew from its body, stretching upward to gently wipe blood from its eye.

"Correct. Perfect. Heal. Kill. Grow."

A sudden flash of fire caught its attention.

The large burning one had charged the base of a root rib. The impact exploded through the structure. Wood cracked like thunder, and the massive rib splintered apart.

"What are they doing?"

"Patience. Heal."

Another explosion rolled through the clearing.

Then another.

Each impact shattered another rib. Great sections of the cage began collapsing, broken roots and splintered debris crashing into the clearing below. One after another, the supports came down.

The realization struck like a brick.

For the first time, the debris blocked its view.

Seo-jin disappeared.

"They figured it out!"

Getting to its feet, the roots tore free from its body before the healing could fully finish. Green blood dripped from the wounds as it stretched higher, trying to look over the fallen debris. Even standing at full height, it couldn't see them anymore.

"Pointless! I just need to!"

"Still hiding?! Is this what you were born to do? Hide like a little bug scared of being stepped on?! This is boring! Fighting cowards like you is like fucking a corpse. Where's the fight?!"

Pain's brow rose as he nodded thoughtfully. His brother really did have a way with words.

"What do you know about fucking?"

Snare nearly blushed at his father's question, though he kept his composure.

"Just what I've read."

"Hmm."

Maybe one day he'd grow what he needed and be able to enjoy it himself. A father could only hope. He was a demon, but he was still a male.

"Spread out. Remember the plan."

"Yes, Broodfather."

Pain and Snare immediately broke in opposite directions, disappearing behind the fallen ribs and shattered roots. Sending a quick thought through the broodlink to Panic, Seo-jin let his bloodlight leak freely. Like smoke from a chimney, crimson aura bled into the air, broadcasting exactly where he was.

"You know, when I ate your mother, she put up a decent fight! She almost killed me, actually! Shame she gave her life for a pathetic coward like you. I bet she wishes she could take it back. I know I"

"QUIET!!!"

The word slammed through the clearing hard enough to rattle Seo-jin's teeth and shake loose bits of flesh from the roots overhead.

He smiled anyway.

Then the detonations started.One. Then another. Each blast of sound came from a different point, growing closer with frightening speed. Chunks of debris exploded apart as the crab demon tore through the collapsed battlefield like a freight train, smashing through roots and shattered ribs in a straight line toward Seo-jin.

But he didn't move an inch. The Broodfather only smiled, bloodlight curling from his body.

BOOM!

Fire filled his vision as Pain's charge caught the demon mid-rush. Timing it perfectly as the boss passed a fallen rib, the broodling came in from the side with enough force to launch the demon like a cannonball.

Instead of pressing the attack, Pain dimmed the glow of his body and vanished back into the rubble.

"See?! So disappointing! All that time and effort wasted on crap like you!"

A roar answered him, followed by an explosion of shattered roots and debris from where the boss had landed. When the demon rose, its massive eye was completely bloodshot. Visible waves of bloodlust rolled from its body.

"Shut your filthy mouth and die!"

Like cracking whips, both worm-like appendages lashed forward from its back. Their attention locked directly onto Seo-jin as their jaws spread wide, each mouth revealing a bloodshot eye of its own. In the span of a heartbeat, the demon's head and both worm-eyes flashed

The curse from earlier, the one that had forced roots to tear from Seo-jin's body, struck Snare in full as he stepped in front of him.

A moment of calm...not enough for Snare to say anything, but enough to know he succeeded.

Without a word, his body vanished in a explosion of vines.

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