Published at 27th of June 2026 7:38 am

Chapter 220: Loose Ends

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Chapter 220: Loose Ends

Tomb's roar ripped across the Freelands. Trees were uprooted, the remains of nearby buildings collapsed, and splintered concrete burst into clouds of dust. All of it was just extra spectacle to help pull aggro, and the effect was immediate. As far as the eye could see, auras of different colors and strengths flared to life.

Watching it all unfold, even John felt an urge to rush in and attack.

'Why are we hiding?'

John was currently perched high in a tree. Very high. Something he wasn't exactly fond of, but with the Vent Matriarch controlling his body, he didn't have much say in the matter.

'We are hiding because that demon is too strong.'

After the fight with the cultists, John had gathered the remaining Vent bugs back into his body, scooped the little princess bug into his arms, and slipped into the Freelands. Thankfully, absorbing the bugs again had returned his body to normal. Well, as normal as it could be.

'I believe it would be best to separate from your previous family.'

'They aren't family.'

'This does not matter. What matters is putting as much distance between us and that demon as possible. I thought it might be possible to form some kind of alliance because of your past with it, but the balance of power is too one-sided. Instead, we will find a place to hide, and I will slowly recover my strength.'

'Do I get a say in this?'

'You do not.'

More roars shook the world as the brood clashed with some giant worm-like beast in the distance. The tree beneath John swayed from the force of a massive shockwave, leaves raining down around him.

'They are distracted. It is time to go.'

Still holding the little Vent bug in one arm, John leaped down. He landed surprisingly soft, knees bending to absorb the impact. He had only just started to straighten

"Going somewhere?"

John kicked, but pain was the only thing that answered him.

His vision blurred as something with teeth seized his leg and lifted him upside down. Then came the impacts. He was slammed through trees and driven into the earth again and again. Bark exploded around him, dirt filled his mouth, and each collision sent fresh agony through his body. Bones cracked. Blood flooded his lungs and spilled from his lips. The repeated slams stopped only when his leg finally tore off and his body went hurtling into a tree.

Crumpling against the large oak, he hit hard. Blood splattered across the bark as he slid down and came to a pulped stop.

Though John wasn't in control, he still felt every bit of the damage his body had taken. His mind was blinding white fire, every breath a spike of pain.

The Matriarch, on the other hand, thought like lightning. Bolts of frantic instinct flashed through her mind over and over as she struggled to force John's ruined body to move.

Two sharp stabs punched into his shoulders as Tiamat and Bahamut bit down, pinning him against the tree. Fresh pain tore through him, and blood ran warm down his chest.

As the Twinback Serpents writhed from his back, Seo-jin walked forward through patches of moonlight. He stopped directly in front of John's twitching body, bloodlight leaking from his eyes.

"What are you?"

Groaning through bloodied teeth, John's jaw clenched. The agony in his shoulders made his whole body shake, but the Matriarch still didn't give up.

"Why, boss?!"

Thick ropes of blood spilled from John's mouth as he coughed.

"Please, I didn't do anything!"

A hand clamped over his mouth. The fingers felt like a steel vice tightening around his jaw.

Lifting John's face slightly, Seo-jin leaned in.

"Lie again, and I'll kill it."

He made sure John could see the female Vent bug dangling in his grip.

His struggling stopped.

The false panic in John's eyes vanished. Coldly, he met Seo-jin's gaze and calmly waited for the demon to remove his hand from his mouth.

Seeing the threat had worked, Seo-jin released John's face, though he kept the serpents' jaws locked in place. Blood flowed from the human's shoulders as the serpents tightened their bites.

"Now, what are you, and is John still alive?"

Wincing as the Twinbacks' teeth shifted in his shoulders, the Matriarch let out a slow breath.

"I am not your enemy, and the human is still alive."

Seo-jin's eyes widened for a fraction.

"You aren't qualified to be my enemy. Avoid answering my question again, and I'll start removing legs."

Lifting the female bug, Seo-jin flicked one of its legs. The little creature hissed and thrashed in panic, and the Matriarch immediately went rigid.

"Apologies. What you call Vent bugs, I am their Queen. I am called Matriarch. Or Mother. You may call me Shi'kiar, Broodfather."

Seo-jin stared at the thing wearing John's face for a few seconds. The smell of blood hung thick in the air, sweat and desperation tainting it, but he didn't detect even a hint of deception.

"Let me speak to John."

They held each other's gaze for another moment. Then the glassy look in John's eyes clouded over for a second before snapping back into panicked focus.

Instantly, John's face flushed.

"AaaaaaHhHHhhaaahahhHhHha! WHY?!"

With John back in control, the pain of his injuries hit him full-force.

"Switch back!"

Seo-jin shouted over John's screams, but they abruptly cut off as the Matriarch took control again.

"How did this happen?"

Releasing the serpents' grips, Seo-jin still kept them hovering close while allowing the Matriarch to sit upright against the tree.

She immediately began explaining her and John's situation. She told him how she had used John to escape the dungeon clear and tricked him into believing his only task was protecting the future queen resting in Seo-jin's hand. Instead, she had actually been meant to have his consciousness erased.

"Why did it fail?"

The wounds on John's body were already beginning to knit together. The Matriarch paused for a moment before answering.

"My only guess is that his Shard interfered. I still have dominance, but the human is still here. His chattering is incessant."

Tilting his head, Seo-jin caught the sudden scent of burnt flesh and the acidic tinge of spilled intestines drifting on the wind. The distraction lasted only a moment.

"Are you able to separate?"

This time, the bug queen didn't answer. Raising a brow, Seo-jin lifted the baby Vent bug a little higher.

"Speak."

His fingers morphed into claws as he held them beneath the little bug.

Bloodlust flashed from the Matriarch for the briefest instant before it was quickly suppressed.

"I'd need another host."

Squinting at the Vent Queen, Seo-jin considered it for a moment. He weighed the advantages and drawbacks, then nodded.

"I don't have much use for him, but John still belongs to me. And although it failed, you tried to kill him. For that, you will be punished. From now on your child will be staying with me."

Before the Matriarch could react, Bahamut struck. The serpent shot forward and clamped its jaws around John's throat, slamming him back against the oak hard enough to shake loose bark. At the same time, Tiamat snapped forward and plucked the baby Vent bug from Seo-jin's hand in one violent motion.

The Matriarch screamed in rage, but it quickly died in her throat. Her brows knt together as she tilted her head...her connection to her child was still stable.

Seo-jin felt like laughing, but he kept his face straight.

"The bug is fine, my serpents have the ability to store things. Like I said, your child will remain with me. Safe. As long as you do as you're told and serve me well, it'll stay that way. You understand?"

Earlier, he could tell the story the Matriarch had given him was true, but he could also tell it was full of holes. One of the most obvious involved the little Vent bug and its true purpose.

Straining against the pressure Bahamut still had on her throat, the Matriarch gritted her teeth and nodded.

"Iunder-stand!"

"Good."

Just as quickly as it had struck, Bahamut released her and pulled back, dropping the Matriarch onto the ground.

Looking off into the distance, Seo-jin could see the skyline glowing with fire. It looked like a forest blaze had started, orange light flickering against the night.

Too much fun was being had without him.

"What happens to John if you separate?"

One hand pressed to her neck while the holes in her skin slowly closed, the Matriarch leaned back against the tree.

"I don't know. Most likely he will die."

Frowning at that, Seo-jin was starting to lose patience.

"Has John been listening?"

"Yes."

"Give him control."

Sighing, the Matriarch's eyes glazed over again. This time, though, Seo-jin shot forward and clamped a hand over John's mouth just as his eyes snapped open. Muffled screams started instantly beneath his palm.

"Human! Do you want to separate? Do you understand the risk?"

The agony in John's eyes stilled, replaced by a deep, simmering hatred.

He nodded.

"You sure?"

This time, John started screaming again beneath Seo-jin's hand, though not from the pain. He was yelling at him.

"Switch back."

The muffled shouting stopped. Seo-jin removed his hand and wiped it on his coat, then stepped back as the Matriarch took over once more.

"If the human dies, will you seek revenge?"

"Yes."

The two stared at each other for several seconds. Then the Matriarch sighed.

"We should have left sooner. My curiosity about you was my downfall. How embarrassing."

"Will it take long?"

Her weak smile faded. Leaning her head back against the tree, she looked up at the stars peeking through the branches.

"No. A few breaths and it will be done."

"Good. Pick a part of my body."

Frowning, the Matriarch went still.

"I don't understand."

"Just pick something. A finger. An ear. Anything."

Unable to see the trick in his question, she could only answer.

"You took our leg. I choose yours."

Without wasting another second, Seo-jin bent down and rolled his pant leg to his knee. He extended his bare leg slightly, and under the Matriarch's confused stare, his fingers morphed into claws. Then, with one clean swipe laced with bloodlight, he cut his leg clean off.

Unable to guess what the demon was doing, the Matriarch simply watched as Seo-jin took his leg in both hands, cracked it, then tore it in two.

Tossing both bloody pieces to the ground, he licked his own blood from his hand.

[Summon Broodling // Activated]

His eyes flared, and both chunks began to spasm. Skin popped, bones cracked and reshaped, and in a matter of moments, two new broodlings crawled from the piles of flesh.

Since his class evolved, all of his previous class skills were gone except Summon Broodling. Though now, instead of a hard limit, the number he could summon from his own flesh was linked to his Flesh Stat.

His limit was now forty-five.

Already, Seo-jin's leg was beginning to heal as health flowed through the broodlink. Setting the half-formed foot of bone on the ground while flesh wrapped around it, he ignored the pain and stepped toward his two new sons.

Both looked like standard broodlings. He had expected something different since his class had advanced, but both stood hunched and scarred, their skin only slightly different shades of brown. The only unique feature was their horns. Both had matching sets. One had a longer horn on the right and a shorter one on the left, while the other had the opposite. Each pair curled forward from the brow.

Both knelt the moment they saw Seo-jin. Both opened their mouths to speak, but before either could, their father spoke first.

"Fight each other. No killing."

The command...no, the whole damn process had the Matriarch's mind spinning. It wasn't the summoning itself that shocked the queen, but the manner in which it had been done. To cut off his own limb and toss it aside as an ingredient, as casually as plucking out a hair, added an entirely new layer of wariness and respect to her thoughts of the demon.

The fact that both broodlings attacked each other without hesitation only made that feeling heavier.

The fight was feral and short. The one with the longer horn on the left got the jump early, forcing his brother onto his back. After that, it took only a few hammering blows, flesh thudding against flesh, to end the fight.

"Enough."

After a final double-fisted slam to his brother's face, the broodling with the longer horn on the left got to his feet and knelt before his father.

Pointing at the defeated broodling, Seo-jin looked at the Matriarch.

"There's your host. Make it quick."

Shaking her head, the queen started to say something, but the look Seo-jin gave her said everything she needed to know. Her input wasn't needed. His orders only needed to be followed.

"As you wish."

Crawling over, she placed her hand on the broodling's chest. Then, in a move that Seo-jin couldn't keep a straight face through, she bent down and went mouth to mouth with the unconscious newborn.

A fat, bald human kissing a broodling.

[Gross.]

'Luckily he's passed'

Before the thought could finish, it got worse.

John's body swelled. In one violent expansion, it tripled in size, and what looked like Vent bugs began crawling beneath his skin, their bodies bulging and writhing under the flesh.

Seo-jin couldn't help but take a step back. Whatever happened next, he wanted no part of it getting on him.

Then, like an undulating wave, John's body convulsed toward the broodling below. The broodling woke just before whatever was about to be force-fed into him hit.

Unlucky for him.

The only grace was the transfer didn't take long, but the images Seo-jin witnessed were going to stick with him for a while.

Like a deflated husk, John's body flopped over. He was pale and heavily wrinkled, and whatever life force he had left was dimming fast.

Rushing to his side, Seo-jin begrudgingly pulled a health potion from his inventory. With a flash of system light, he bit the top off the vial and poured the golden liquid into John's mouth. Another flash replaced the spent vial with a pink one, and he fed him the mana potion as well.

If he lived, he'd owe Seo-jin even more now. Those were High-grade potions.

The effect was immediate. It wasn't enough to heal him completely, but John's life force stabilized. Color slowly returned to his skin, and his body began to relax. Satisfied the human would make it, Seo-jin turned to the Matriarch and found her sitting upright in her new body. Green bile ran from her mouth as she raised her claws in front of her face. She flexed her hands, looked down at her legs as she rose to her feet, then quickly twisted to examineher tail as it snapped through the air.

"The potential... it's... endless..."

"Did you succeed completely?"

Throwing out a kick, she cracked the air with a sharp snap.

"Yes. I am now the sole owner of this body."

"Wrong. I'm the owner. Don't forget that."

With that said, both Seo-jin and the Matriarch were surprised by what happened next.

The bug broodling dropped to one knee, bowed her head, and spoke without thinking.

"Yes, Broodfather."

A large, toothy grin spread across Seo-jin's face.

In that moment of submission, he'd felt it. She'd wiped the broodling's consciousness, but she hadn't wiped the broodlink.

His plan had worked.

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