Published at 1st of July 2026 7:17 am

Chapter 221: Pieces Moved

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Chapter 221: Pieces Moved

It was surprising, but also something Seo-jin had hoped would happen. Even though the bug queen had wiped the broodling's consciousness, she hadn't wiped away the broodlink. At her core, the body was still his.

Looking at her new host body as if it were covered in filth, the Vent Matriarch's bloodlust exploded.

"What trickery is this?! I am the first! I do not!"

"Shut up."

A hard slap across the Matriarch's face sent her spinning into the dirt. Before she could roll over, Seo-jin planted a foot between her shoulder blades and pinned her down.

"You will do whatever I want you to. I have your child, remember? I have eaten your kind before, and believe me, I would love to crack your baby open and eat out her fucking guts with a spoon. But as long as you behave, everything will stay happy. Won't it?"

She didn't answer at first, but when Seo-jin pressed down harder and her bones began to creak and crack beneath his foot, she forced out a reply.

"Yes! Very happy"

He was tempted to keep the broodling under his heel a few minutes longer while he checked her profile, but the sounds of battle from the brood had started to intensify. Distant roars and impacts rolled through the trees, and the scent of blood on the night air had his hunger talking.

Lifting his foot from her back, he gave her a quick kick, sending her skidding through the dirt to a stop at his other newborn's feet. Hiding his smile, he turned to the winner.

The broodling stood there, confused. Scratching at his lip while it tried to heal through Feed, he stared at his defeated brother, who was no longer there but somehow still was.

"As your father and your King, I order you: from this day forward, you will keep an eye on her. Do not trust her. Remember and report everything she does and says. You are never to allow her to leave your sight. Do you understand?"

Snapping to attention, the broodling bowed so fast his horns nearly hit the ground.

"I understand!"

"Good. If you fail at this for even a second, I will skin you and use your skull for soup. Do this well, and I will reward you with the title of General."

Words failed the broodling. Even though he barely understood the concepts involved, whatever a General was, he had never wanted anything more in his minute-long life.

"You both will need names first."

"I already have a name. Save your"

A solid fist slammed into the bridge of the Matriarch's nose, immediately followed by a punch to the stomach that folded her and drove her to her knees. Enraged, the new broodling stood over her, his eyes bleeding bloodlight.

"Disrespect toward the Broodfather will be punished. That was your warning."

[Oooh. I like this one.]

'He's not bad.'

Looking over the new addition, Seo-jin decided to actually think about a name instead of tossing one out. It didn't take long for the perfect answer to land.

"Law. Law will be your name from now on."

Looking up from the Matriarch, the bloodlight leaking from Law's eyes faded. In its place came a brightness that made it obvious the broodling was extremely satisfied.

"And you will be Bug."

"Bug?! Are you"

The Matriarch's complaint died the moment Law's eyes settled on her. Grinding her jaw until it clicked, she kept silent. She just had to bide her time. A day or two at most, and she should recover enough strength to slaughter the broodling. With John, it had been different. She had been able to transfer the remainder of her power to him, but that power couldn't be moved twice. Now, in her second host, she would have to start from scratch.

As if sensing her thoughts, a crimson glow flared from Seo-jin's hand. Two vials of black liquid appeared in his grip. Handing them to Law, the broodling accepted them gently.

"Drink these now."

Without hesitation, as if something might snatch them away at any moment, the broodling shoved both bottles into his mouth whole and began crunching through the glass. Blood ran from the corners of his lips as sensations crashed through him. Pain and pleasure. Warmth, then surprise.

His eyes detonated with bloodlight as the two Experience Potions took effect.

Each vial granted two thousand experience. With both downed, Law jumped straight to level nine. Flipping open his panel, Seo-jin quickly assigned the eight AP Law received: two to Intelligence, two to Vitality, and four to Strength.

Watching the bloodlight rise from the broodling's body and feeling Law's strength surge, Bug slowly sank to one knee in shock. The feeling had started as a faint irritation, but now it was building like pressure beneath the earth. She was losing control, and the odds of ever taking it back were stacking against her.

At least time was always on her side.

"Follow me. Time to meet the family."

Smiling like the devil himself, Seo-jin headed toward the sounds of carnage, the distant roars and crashes pulling at him like a siren's song. Behind him followed two very different broodlings, one keeping his eyes fixed on the other as though his life depended on it.

Which it did.

Just before they left the area, Tiamat snapped over and swallowed John in one bite. He'd survive, but when he woke, normalcy was something he'd never experience again.

Looking at the glow in the distance, Bloodlight began to leak from Seo-jin.

Nine days.

Plenty of time for both humans to finish.

----

The city of Shatterbay was oddly quiet. Since her father had laid down the order that there would be no fighting, the city had changed. With a midnight curfew added on top of that, it felt more like a graveyard than a place where life churned.

At least that's how it felt to Yu-na.

She'd hated this city for as long as she could remember. She'd dreamed of leaving this place for literally anywhere else so many times the fantasy had become redundant. But tonight, she found herself longing for how the city used to be. Alive. This dead city made her skin crawl.

She let a little of her black aura leak out, using it to fight off the cold wind and ocean spray. The full moon hung high in the night sky, seeming even larger from the jagged outcropping of stone that stretched toward the dark water.

It was a place her mother had supposedly loved. The only photo she and her sisters had ever seen of their mother showed her standing on the very rock Yu-na now occupied. She had arrived half an hour ago, but the wait didn't bother her much.

"Eight years."

She had already felt her presence, so when Hye-jin's voice drifted between the crash of the waves, Yu-na took one final moment to stare at the ocean, then turned toward her sister.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Gently hopping onto the stone beside hers, Hye-jin wore a heavy black coat that hung to her ankles, her blonde hair whipping across her cheek in the wind. She offered a weak smile as she looked out over the ocean.

"Since the last time all three of us stood here together."

Something about the way her sister looked in that moment sent a strange feeling through Yu-na's stomach. She quickly shoved it aside.

"Why'd you call me out here?"

Sighing, Hye-jin turned to face her.

"Father chose you as his successor. When were you gonna tell me?"

At last, Yu-na shifted. She took a small step back, the sole of her shoe scraping stone, her hands clenching at her sides. But she didn't look away.

"I wasn't goin to. Father wanted to tell you. I take it he did?"

"He did."

"Then why the secrecy? If you wanted to bitch me out, we could've done that somewhere warm."

Not responding immediately, Hye-jin held her sister's gaze. Then, with a soft sigh, an expression crossed her face that made something in Yu-na's chest tighten.

"Since when did it become you against us? I thought... I really believed that no matter how much we fought, it was always gonna be us against him. Is this because of Seo-jin?"

At the mention of her man, warmth rose into Yu-na's face, though her mouth had suddenly gone dry.

"I'm not doing this, Hye-jin. The old man is dying. It has nothing to do with Seo-jin. You were... we were. We were wrong about him. He told me everything, and I can't let it all fall apart because we have daddy issues. It's time to grow up."

Her heart was racing, and her palms felt damp despite the cold. Every word felt as though it were coming from someone else. For some reason standing on that rock with Hye-jin made her feel small, as if the tide could come in at any second and pull her under.

The sad expression her sister wore only made that feeling settle deeper.

Reaching into her coat pocket, Hye-jin pulled out a smooth black cartridge about the size of her pinky, a faint blue spot set into its base.

She tossed it to Yu-na.

"What's in it?"

Turning back toward the ocean, Hye-jin lowered herself and sat on the edge of the stone.

"Astral Nightshade."

Yu-na almost dropped it, jerking the cartridge away from herself as if it had suddenly become hot.

"What the fuck, Hye-jin?! You trying to wipe the entire city?!"

With a flick of her free hand, black smoke spilled from her fingertip, wrapped around the device, and gently lifted it into the air.

"Not the entire city... just dad."

The words were spoken casually, but their impact was anything but. The idea hit Yu-na like a punch to the chest. Astral Nightshade was one of the deadliest natural poisons in all the realms. Found only in the Realm of Light, it was an extremely rare plant that only grew in shadow, something even rarer in a realm made entirely of light.

Her head was spinning. The thing hovering beside her was the equivalent of a natural disaster. The moment Astral Nightshade touched light, it exploded and released its poison. It spread through the air for miles, and anyone who inhaled even a single molecule was doomed to one of the most painful deaths imaginable. The afflicted underwent what was called Rapid Metamorphosis.

Bodies would swell grotesquely, tumors and poison-filled boils erupting across their flesh. Then, after that explosive and agonizing process, the body rapidly healed and returned to its original state, only for it to happen again. The cycle repeated over and over, multiple transformations occurring in mere seconds. There was no cure. Only endless pain until the victim eventually starved to death.

"How long have you had this?"

"Got it during that last Light dungeon."

The memory surfaced slowly as Yu-na struggled to focus. The last Light dungeon had appeared almost a year ago.

"Why haven't you used it then? You hate him the most. With this, you could've killed him whenever you wanted."

Leaning back, Hye-jin looked up at the stars. The moonlight washed across her face, leaving her expression unreadable.

"Not sure. Every time I worked up the nerve to do it, I lost it at the last second. Every time. Kept telling myself it was cause I didn't want to kill anyone else, or that the timing wasn't right. That he'd stop it somehow. Now I know it was all bullshit."

Her brow tightening, Yu-na shook her head at the weight of the moment, then stepped over and sat beside her sister on the cold stone.

She didn't say anything. She just waited.

Hye-jin stopped looking at the stars and leaned over, resting her head on Yu-na's shoulder.

"You think mom loved him?"

Pushing a strand of hair from Hye-jin's face, Yu-na rested her own head against her sister's.

"Yeah. Up until the very end."

Her father's memories replayed in her mind. The look on her mother's face had been filled with sadness and regret, but even if Yu-na didn't want to admit it, she had seen a deep love for their father in her mother's eyes.

Sitting up, Hye-jin suddenly grabbed Yu-na by the head, pulled her close, and kissed her forehead.

"We'll support you once you take over Chairman. Or would that be Chairwoman? But don't expect us to bow or call you boss. I'm still older than you."

Pinching her thigh, Yu-na made Hye-jin yelp. She quickly pushed off the rock before Yu-na could retaliate, disks of blood appearing in the air beneath her feet.

"Give the Nightshade to Father. Tell him maybe if he wasn't such a dick, his kids might actually support him. Even if we still hate him."

Eyes widening, Yu-na made the Astral Nightshade float toward her sister.

"You do it. You guys can bond over genocide."

"Lick my clit, bitch."

The words were playful, but before Yu-na could respond, Hye-jin threw up a middle finger, and the blood disks beneath her feet rapidly expanded and swallowed her.

"You?! Flat-assed bitch!"

Smiling as she shouted after her, Yu-na drew the Nightshade back and tucked it into her inventory. Only after the flash of system light swallowed it did her ass finally unclench.

Looking back out over the ocean, she felt a steadiness she hadn't known in a long time. She hadn't realized how much she'd worried about how her sisters would react to the news of her succession. Reaching back to rub her neck, she shook her head and smiled faintly, determined to get her sister back the next time she saw her.

She could also ask how she'd gotten that mark on her neck.

"Wonder if she finally found a man... doubt it."

She decided to stay and wait for the sun to rise. "Tomorrow her" could deal with the Nightshade and everything that came after. For now, she was content with being a little sister. She wanted this feeling to last.

She had no idea that while she sat there watching the water, her sisters were watching her from a rooftop miles away.

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