Published at 21st of September 2026 8:43 am

Chapter 251: The End Has Come

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Chapter 251: The End Has Come

The sky was falling.

At least, that's what it looked like to Seo-jin. The attack coming from above had swallowed everything in sight.

"He's slowshit!"

Mid-sprint, his observation was cut short as one of the Cardinal's many eyed and winged tentacle-like appendages slammed into the ground where he'd just been. The impact punched through the street, the blast wave hitting Seo-jin from behind and pelting his back with chunks of concrete. He was lifted completely off his feet and thrown crashing through a building.

Tumbling through walls and open air, he twisted his body and drove Butcher's Wrath into the ground the moment he cleared the other side. Both spiked maces bit into the street, ripping deep trenches through the concrete as they dragged him another hundred feet before he finally stopped.

"Gotta get close."

Fangs showing in a grin, Seo-jin ripped the maces free and launched himself toward the retreating limb. He leapt onto its surface without slowing, talons striking hard as he sprinted up the massive appendage toward the Cardinal's main eye, his body little more than a black and red blur against its flesh.

[Incoming.]

"I know!"

It was almost impossible to miss. When the entire sky was filled with eyes and they all started lighting up, you knew something was about to happen. Light swelled inside every pupil around him, the brightness stinging his eyes as he kept running.

The angel was gauging his speed, he needed to use that timing against it. He just had to wait for the perfect moment

Beams of Light erupted from every eye, filling the sky around Seo-jin from every direction.

[Spider Step // Activated]

[Movement Speed +25%]

[Cooldown // 2min 59sec]

Black silk wrapped tightly around Seo-jin's legs, and his next step nearly tore his feet out from under him as his speed jumped.

Explosions ripped through the air around him as he sped between the attacks, each passing beam washing his skin with heat before detonating somewhere behind him. The limb beneath his feet shook from the impacts, forcing him to adjust his stride as he ran, but it didn't take long to clear the onslaught. But he knew his trick would only work once.

'This is gonna hurt!'

He was close enough now that the main eye filled most of his vision, while the wind tore harder at his blackened skin as he climbed into the clouds. Beneath his feet, the limb began rising like a massive wave, its surface tilting steeper with his every step as it prepared to snap taut and throw him free. Seo-jin waited until it reached the top of its bend, then threw every bit of his strength into a jump straight toward the Cardinal's eye

And activated his Title.

[Brood King / Second Effect // Activated]

[Broodspawn // Tomb]

[Mutation Bloodline // Mountain Giant (High-Lord)]

[Duration // 59sec]

[Cooldown // 59min 59sec]

When he'd established his Kingdom by creating his first Genesis Pool, Seo-jin's Ashking Title had evolved with it. No more borrowing individual skills. Now, for a full minute, he could borrow a Broodspawn's entire Mutation or Class.

He'd wanted to save this for the Chairman, but right now, holding back wasn't an option.

[Mountain Giant (High-Lord) Mutation Aquired]

[All Racial Abilities Granted]

[+15 Vit]

[+15 Str]

His body began expanding midair, bones lengthening and muscles tearing themselves apart to accommodate the sudden growth. The pain of swelling past a hundred feet ripped through him so violently his jaw locked, but through it all, he kept his eyes fixed on one thing as demon form changed with the size.

Thick crags of armor-like flesh pushed out across his shoulders, chest, forearms, and legs, overlapping in heavy black plates. The glowing scars across his chest stretched with him, their thin lines widening until several of the markings opened into deep pools of bloodlight.

His horns thickened, their bases spread across more of his skull before the black lengths extended farther and curved above his head. Behind his shoulders, the scars where Tiamat and Bahamut rested flush against his body split open without releasing them. Instead, each scar widened into a molten pool of bloodlight magma, the surface rolling and bubbling against his back without spilling a single drop.

It took only a couple breaths, but by the time the transformation stopped, there was little about the hundred-foot demon that looked simply enlarged.

Watching the transformation as his body shook, Cardinal Chelk's aura exploded, along with his voice.

"By the Light, I will slay you!"

The pressure hit Seo-jin hard enough to slow him midair, the pressure from the angel snapping against his body as Light gathered within the Cardinal's enormous eye. Even after growing past a hundred feet, Seo-jin was still nothing against Chelk's true form. Reflected in that massive gold iris, his horned body looked like a fly coming straight for it.

Seo-jin didn't care.

Bloodlight gathered around Butcher's Wrath as he pulled both maces behind him, their handles creaking beneath his grip. Using Sovereign Flesh, his arms thickened to support the growing weight as both weapons rapidly swelled, expanding until their spiked heads were nearly as large as his transformed body.

[Tyrant's Aura // Activated]

[Hellfire // Active]

[+20% Melee Damage / +10% Attack Speed]

[Cooldown // 29sec]

Black flames and bloodlight erupted, immediately flooding toward Butcher's Wrath. In an instant, the auras wrapped around both maces, swallowing their metal beneath layer after layer of condensed bloodlight and raging flames until their shapes merged into two massive, flaming blood-spikes.

Seo-jin swung, and Chelk's pupil contracted

And the Light inside it fired.

Seo-jin's entire view turned white as the two attacks met head-on.

Crimson and white exploded as the two points of Butcher's Wrath punched into the attack, splitting the beam. The force crushed against his arms and shoulders hard enough to make his bones groan, while streams of Light tore past both sides of his body and burned across his skin.

[-232HP]

[-170HP]

[HP // 2178/2580]

[SM // 100/100]

Damage notifocations kept stacking, but Seo-jin kept moving

Until both burning blood-spikes broke through.

[+3510 Damage Dealt]

[+3510 Damage Dealt]

Chelk's roar nearly deafened him as he drove the hundred-foot maces into the angel's eye. The impact shuddered through Seo-jin's arms before a river of golden blood flooded around him, its heat immediately eating into his skin.

'Now!'

At his signal, Seo-jin's back spasmed

Tiamat and Bahamut surged free with a roar, their enormous heads driving into the wound and through the deluge of the angel's blood until their teeth struck something solid. Both Serpents bit down, sinking their fangs into the damaged flesh and anchoring themselves.

[-278HP]

[-32HP]

[-212HP]

[-67HP]

[HP // 981/2580]

[SM // 100/100]

With his health falling, Seo-jin tensed his entire body and pulled Butcher's Wrath back into his flesh, the oversized weapons rapidly shrinking as the angel's blood continued burning

"You shouldn't have come here, Chelk! Regret it in Hell!"

Using every ounce of their strength, the Serpents pulled, practically tossing Seo-jin horns and claws-first into the open wound.

The burning Light of Chelk's attack vanished along with Seo-jin as he disappeared inside.

"Spawn of Hahn'mak! Yu dare?!"

The angels voice cut off, replaced by a scream of pain that hit the ground below with a visible shockwave.

Still carrying the size of Tomb's Mutation, Seo-jin forced himself deeper, swimming through a sea of connective tissue and burning fluids. Fibrous strands stretched across his shoulders and horns, clinging to his skin until his claws tore through. There was no air, only the pressure of flesh closing around his hundred-foot body and the constant burn sinking through his blackened hide.

Stopping suddenly, he decided he'd moved deep enough

[Savage Feed // Activated]

Sinking his claws into the surrounding tissue, Seo-jin braced. He felt the skill start, the familiar breaking and tearing of his jaw. His body jerked, his veins burned. Then everything stilled

Opening on its own, Savage Feed bit down.

Flesh tore free by the ton. Another bite followed before the first had gone down, then another, his arms pulling him deeper while his jaws ripped apart everything within reach.

Chelk's body convulsed.

The movement slammed Seo-jin, but it only gave him more to grab. He buried his claws deeper and continued feeding while golden acid poured over his face. What had burned like fire seconds earlier disappeared down his throat along with strips of connective tissue and chunks of angel meat.

Somewhere beyond the mountain of eyeball surrounding him, Chelk was screaming.

Seo-jin couldn't hear much of it anymore. The sound reached him as a deep vibration passing through the flesh while Savage Feed drove him farther in.

----

He was dying. As an immortal being, the Cardinal had never truly understood the concept. He had lived for thousands of years without once facing an opponent capable of pushing him this far, yet as more of his body was consumed from within, he instinctively knew his death was near.

"Pleeeaaasse! Spare me! I'll do anythAAGHH!"

Parts of him were disappearing faster now, each loss sending fresh, searing waves of pain through his enormous body. With no sign of the demon slowing, Chelk's eye swept across the entire city in less than a second before locking.

"Stop now or I'll kill your allies!"

Swinging one of his massive limbs, the tentacle-like mass displaced enough air to hammer the ground below, forcing Min and Snare to brace as the pressure nearly drove them to their knees.

Which made Chelk's surprise even worse when his attack slammed into an invisible force, the impact shuddering through his body as if he'd struck a wall.

His massive eye immediately scanned the rooftop again, its pupil dilating as it focused on the figure who hadn't been there a moment before. An old white-haired woman stood between him and the others, with a large black dog at her side.

"You stupid bitch! Don't interAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!"

Massive teeth suddenly punched out through his eye from the inside, tearing away a huge chunk before disappearing back in and tunneling toward the edge. Bite after bite forced Chelk's attention back to himself as he slammed his wings against his own eye and thrashed, desperately trying to dislodge the demon while showers of golden blood rained onto the city below.

"Lord Orashal, save me! Father!"

The Cardinal's voice cut off

His body went still.

What remained of his pupil twitched...then folded in on itself as his massive eye collapsed.

----

Below, Min was making sure she didn't shit herself when she noticed the new additions to the rooftop.

"Granny Boil, what are you?! You goin' senile?! We gotta get you outta here! Snarewhat the fuck are you doing?!"

Anger quickly replaced Min's shock as she turned toward the Broodspawn and found him snarling, his staff held out towards the old woman as his red aura swirled.

She was about to smack him when a sudden pressure stopped her short. Turning toward the source, Min's jaw nearly dropped as she looked between Granny Boil and the barrier stretched above them.

"That's you?!"

Smiling through the deep wrinkles of her face, her eyes narrowing to slits, Granny Boil walked up beside Min and calmly looked toward the sky. The large black dog settled onto his haunches beside her and did the same.

"Watch the sky, child. Your friend isn't out of trouble yet."

Min's head practically spun as she tried to match the tiny old woman who'd cooked her so many delicious meals with the absolute brick house of a User standing beside her. Granny Boil's aura was hidden, but the pressure Min felt against her skin could only come from an A-rank. A powerful one at that.

Shaking off the contradiction, she looked up just in time to see the last parts of the Cardinal's body disappear into a giant void of teeth.

Between what was happening beside her and what was happening in the sky, reality was really fucking with her.

"Doesn't look like he's in trouble. Are the Woons coming?"

She almost looked away to scan for enemies when the mass of black in the sky suddenly burst with Light, dragging up the memory of what had happened when Seo-jin ate the cherub.

All the color drained from her face.

"If he almost died before"

Without another word, she charged forward, leaping from the rooftop as her yellow aura raged around her. Above, she could see the mass of Light that was Seo-jin beginning to fall. Beams of red laced through it from within, only to disappear each time beneath the overwhelming Light.

"You better not die, you fuckin' idiot!"

She screamed as she ran, but some of the panic loosened in her chest when a swarming mass rose through the air and cradled Seo-jin. It was John. Even from the rooftop, Min could see his bugs burning away against the Light, individual bodies turning to ash while the sheer number replacing them kept the swarm together.

She could feel multiple familiar auras and a few unfamiliar ones converging on where Seo-jin would land, all of them moving faster than she was. Still, she kept running

Until the world suddenly went dark.

"What now?!"

Stopping abruptly, she looked up. Smoke still choked the sky, but she could clearly see the sun burning behind it, which only made the sudden darkness more confusing. It was as if day had turned to night.

"Stay where you are, Min."

Spinning around, she found Granny Boil and her dog walking toward her. The old woman calmly wiped her hands on her brown apron before brushing a layer of dust from her simple grey dress.

"Your assistance is of no help to him. His Brood will keep him safe."

Seeing the blood smeared across Granny Boil's apron, Min suddenly realized she could no longer feel the unfamiliar auras converging on Seo-jin. Her awe toward the old woman grew, but even knowing that, she couldn't just stand there and do nothing.

"What are we gonna do then?! What the hell is even happening?! Why's it night?!"

"Calm down, child. All is as prepared as it's going to be, so steel yourself for what's ahead."

Feeling like the old woman was being vague on purpose, Min ground her teeth until her jaw ached.

"I'm as calm as I'm gonna get. What the fuck is going on, lady?"

Placing her hands behind her back, Granny Boil turned away from Min and calmly looked again towards the sky.

"Someone has opened a portal to the Maw."

Before Min could truly register the words, the air seemed to solidify, pressing against her skin as if the world itself had refused to move. A sound like a massive bone snapping shattered the stillness, loud enough that she flinched and clapped her hands over her ears.

Looking u, she spotted the source instantly. Directly where Granny Boil was staring, a massive swirling crack in reality hung suspended above the city. Screams were already pouring through from somewhere beyond it, followed by a wave of rot so thick that Min could taste it as the stench washed across Shatterbay in seconds.

Plants withered as it passed, paint stripped from buildings, and rusted metal rotted through completely. Within moments, what little remained of the city was pushed further into ruin as weakened foundations gave out and structures collapsed beneath their own weight.

Raising an arm and flaring her aura against the incoming waves of dust and debris, Min glanced aside when she felt the dog beside Granny Boil move.

It rose to its feet, planted itself, then barked once.

The force of it exploded outward, blasting the dust and debris away and clearing most of the city in an instant.

"Min. They're here. Stay behind us, and do not speak to them, no matter what happens. Fight in silence if the need arises."

Min's heart was having it rough. If her guess was right, what she'd just witnessed put the dog somewhere near S-rank. Reeling from the thought, she forced herself to shake it off and looked back toward the sky, where three massive demons now floated in front of the portal.

Her pulse spiked from the sight alone, and just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, a fourth figure stepped through. It was smaller than the others, a man-shaped being of pure black with two long horns bleeding smoke into the sky. Min couldn't make out anything else through the darkness covering its body until a pure white smile slowly stretched across its face. Along with a crown of black appearing over its head.

The pressure rolling from it settled over her with enough weight that there was no room left to question.

It was S-rank.

The end had come...she could feel it in her soul.

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