Chapter 268: In The End
If Shatterbay hadn't already been in ruins, the shockwave from the collapsing portal would have finished the job. Wild mana arced through the expanding blast, carving a massive crater into the ground beneath it as the destruction spread across nearly the entire city.
Buried beneath a pile of rubble, Seo-jin took a slow breath, trying to steady himself beneath the weight of the broken stone.
'That was intense.'
[Bit of an understatement.]
Shoving aside the chunks of stone and charred debris, Seo-jin pulled himself free, the cold night air biting against his exposed skin. Looking around, he saw that some of the Brood had already recovered. Pain's armor was mangled, Panic's restraints had been scorched down to nubs, and smoke drifted from Hex's multiple mouths. Everyone looked worse for wear, but they were alive.
A sudden surge of worry hit him as he scanned the sky, searching through the drifting smoke. His stomach tightened when he realized Grimm was nowhere to be seen.
'Grimm! Where are you?!'
There was no response at first. Instead, a deep rumbling traveled through the ground beneath his feet. Turning toward the coastline, Seo-jin watched Grimm rise from the dark water, his enormous body emerging like a mountain of skulls.
'Here. Everything hurts, but we made it.'
'Let Snare out, then get out of the city until it's over. Keep the humans safe.'
'What if you need—'
'Do as you're told!'
'Yes, Master.'
Watching the ghost open his enormous mouth and Snare's golden horns emerge before Grimm took to the sky again, Seo-jin felt a twinge of guilt for yelling at him. Still, he'd proven himself too weak to stand in this fight. Against enemies of a lower rank, the ghost was a nightmare, but against those of equal or greater strength, his combat abilities were severely lacking.
[He's moving.]
He didn't need Ruby's warning. He could already feel the fluctuations rippling through the air.
About a hundred feet away, waves of black aura rose into the air. A single flap of the Chairman's wings swept the surrounding dust and debris aside, revealing the heavily wounded man beneath.
His skin was covered in burns, and one hand had been reduced to a smoldering stump. Seo-jin could tell immediately that the human was back in control, but the man's usual calm demeanor was nowhere to be seen.
Seo-jin was still weighing his next move when the sound of shifting stone far to his right caught his attention.
"Father!"
Breaking into a run toward the Chairman, Yu-na scrambled over the broken ground.
Her father raised his remaining hand as his black aura began to tremble around him.
"Stay back!"
She stopped immediately. She seemed completely lost, unsure whether to approach him or obey. When her eyes met Seo-jin's, he could still feel the bottomless hatred she now held for him.
"Is this what you wanted?! We'll kill you for this!"
The bitterness in her voice was impossible to ignore. She was lashing out, but Seo-jin had always known this day would come. He'd hoped she might understand, that she could see past what he was and decide it didn't matter. Judging by the way she looked at him, killing her would probably be his only option now.
Which was why he found his own actions so strange when he suddenly shot forward and tackled her out of the way.
A split second later, the ground where Yu-na had been standing erupted into a towering column of black fire.
"Let me go! I'll fucking—!"
Tossing her aside, probably harder than he'd intended, Seo-jin turned back toward the Chairman. He braced for the pursuit he expected, but the man hadn't moved.
"Get away from me, Yu-na! Stay back! I-I can't—!"
Clutching his head, Mr. Woon began lashing out again. Another stream of black roared toward them, and Seo-jin grabbed Yu-na by the hair, hurling her clear of its path.
He barely had time to raise Butcher's Wrath before activating Rend. Still in their mace forms, the weapons swelled in size and absorbed the brunt of the attack, but the impact from the flames exploding still sent him flying.
'Everyone stay back! Let them fight it out!'
Twisting through the air, he threw both maces out to his sides, sinking them intk the ground and dragging their spikes to slow him. Stone and concrete tore apart, sending chunks of debris flying as he fought his momentum.
His feet finally caught the ground, and his talons carved deep trenches through the rubble before he came to a stop.
'Wasn't he supposed to get weaker?!'
[He's not done!]
He looked up just as the Chairman's wings snapped open—
A blast of pressure tore across the clearing, ripping loose stone from the ground and sending it hurtling in every direction. Seo-jin crossed his maces in front of him, shielding his face as chunks of concrete hammered against them.
Then the Chairman was gone.
A thunderous crack rolled across the city as the man shot through the air, his enormous black wings folded behind him. He struck the side of a fallen skyscraper and punched straight through it, sending glass and concrete spilling into the street below.
'Keep him in sight!'
Seo-jin launched after him, with Pain and Panic following close behind. He hadn't made it halfway across the clearing when another explosion shook the city.
Ahead of him, the Chairman burst through a row of spires, his wings spreading wide as he changed direction. Black flames erupted from his body, tearing through the surrounding structures before he shot back toward the ground.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
The shout carried across the city, followed by a second voice that sounded nothing like the first.
"OH, FUCK YOU! QUIT BEING A BITCH!"
The Chairman struck the street and bounced, his body tearing through several hundred feet of asphalt before his wings caught the air again.
Seo-jin barely had time to change direction.
A massive blade of fire swept across the street ahead of him, cutting through everything in its path. He jumped, clearing the attack as it passed beneath his feet.
A moment later, the entire block collapsed.
'Spread out! Don't follow too close!'
The Brood scattered through the surrounding streets, using the stone spires to keep pace with the Chairman.
It was getting difficult to tell where the attacks were coming from.
One moment, the man would be flying toward the coastline, only to wrench himself sideways and crash through the ground. The next, his wings would open without warning, releasing a blast of pressure that tore through anything nearby.
And through it all, the black flames kept coming.
Some erupted from his hands. Others spilled from his wings or burst from the ground beneath him. Most weren't even aimed at the Brood, but that didn't make them any less dangerous.
'Widow!'
A wall of black swept straight for where Widow was perched. She leapt free as the structure disappeared within the flames, her webs catching a nearby spire and pulling her out of the explosion.
Just before the blastwave hit, Tomb raised an enormous section of earth to shield his siblings.
The barrier lasted less than a second.
The wave of pressure struck it, shattering the stone and sending Tomb falling back beneath the impact.
"I WILL BUILD MY PARADISE!"
Seo-jin turned toward the shout.
The Chairman was now several blocks away, hovering above a ruined intersection with both hands gripping his head. His wings beat out of rhythm, one trying to carry him upward while the other dragged him sideways.
"YOU SHALL NOT TAKE WHAT'S MINE!"
"TAKE?! YOU GAVE IT TO ME, YOU STUPID FUCK!"
The man jerked violently, and a stream of black flames erupted from his mouth.
Seo-jin ducked behind a broken wall as the attack swept across the street, the heat washing over his armor. The concrete beside him cracked, and what remained of the wall began to crumble.
'How the fuck are we supposed to fight that?'
[You're not supposed to. Hopefully they'll take each other out.]
Another explosion shook the street.
Pushing off the ground, Seo-jin cleared the collapsing wall just as the Chairman came hurtling back toward him—
For a fraction of a second, he caught sight of the man's face.
His teeth were clenched, blood running from his nose and mouth. One eye was squeezed shut while the other, the swollen red and yellow eye belonging to Beezle, rolled wildly in its socket.
His wings folded, and he shot past Seo-jin with enough force to rattle his bones.
'Pain! Cut him off!'
The Firstborn launched himself from a nearby spire, flames pouring from his body as he brought Surtur's Tooth down toward the Chairman's path.
He never got the chance to strike.
The Chairman's left wing snapped outward, catching Pain across the chest and sending him crashing into the earth.
"Piss off! GET OUT!"
The Chairman's other wing twisted backward, driving him into the ground.
The impact sent a rolling wave of debris in all directions. Seo-jin landed on a nearby spire, his claws scraping against the stone as he watched the man struggle to rise.
Something was changing.
The Chairman was still clutching his head, his shoulders jerking with each movement. His aura continued to lash out, but the wild fluctuations were becoming less frequent.
Seo-jin narrowed his eyes.
The swollen eye on the man's face had started to shrink.
At first, he'd thought it was the angle, but as the Chairman lifted his head, the difference was unmistakable. The red and yellow eye that had nearly tripled in size was slowly returning to normal.
[Seo-jin...]
'I see it.'
Staggering to his feet, Chairman Woon's breath was ragged. His wings twitched behind him, but this time they didn't send him flying. He managed to fold one against his back before the other jerked outward.
"WITHOUT ME, YOU'RE NOTHING!"
The words came from Beezle, but the voice was strained now, breaking between the Chairman's clenched teeth.
"You... will... obey...!"
The Chairman forced the words out through his teeth, his remaining hand digging into the side of his skull.
The enlarged eye contracted again.
Seo-jin tightened his grip on Butcher's Wrath.
"Shit."
If the Chairman regained control, they'd be right back where they started. Only this time, Desecrate was on cooldown.
'Everyone—get ready to attack.'
His command spread through the Broodlink, drawing the attention of every Broodspawn still moving.
Another violent burst of black flames erupted from the intersection, forcing Seo-jin to raise his maces as the heat swept across him.
Pain emerged from the rubble of the collapsed spire, his damaged armor hanging from his body as flames began spreading across his shoulders.
Panic appeared on the opposite side of the intersection, his remaining restraints twisting together as he crouched against the side of a broken wall.
Above them, Widow climbed onto the remains of a skyscraper while Hex raised his axe, the mouths along his body opening as he prepared to play.
Fang slipped into the shadows beneath the surrounding debris.
Synapse took position farther back, his rifle already trained on the Chairman. Tomb planted his feet against the fractured street, while the rest of the Brood began closing in from every direction.
Seo-jin could feel them all through the Link.
Some were injured. Others were barely standing. But every one of them was waiting for his command while Sin's prayers flowed through their bodies and souls.
The Chairman looked up.
For the first time since Beezle had taken control, his gaze settled directly on Seo-jin.
The swollen eye contracted again.
'All of you. Everything you've got.'
Seo-jin raised Butcher's Wrath, Bloodlight flowing across the massive maces as his aura surged around him.
'NOW!'
And the entire Brood attacked at once.
----
Watching helplessly as her father came under attack, Yu-na might have cried if she'd had any tears left. Instead, the image of her sister's lifeless face kept flashing through her mind. Ji-yoon's skin had been so pale. Far too pale.
Shaking her head, she stumbled over the broken ground and nearly lost her footing. She managed to catch herself, only for another tremor to send her tumbling.
"God dammit!"
Screaming into the dirt, she forced herself back up just in time to see her father high above the city. He held one of Seo-jin's demons by the throat, then suddenly tore its head off and flung the pieces away. With another flap of his wings, he shot toward the ground and disappeared from sight, though the sounds of fighting continued to ring in her ears.
"Hye-jin, we gotta—!"
Turning around, she searched the surrounding ruins, but her sister was nowhere to be seen.
"Hye-jin!"
She'd been right behind her. Yu-na broke into a run, barely avoiding a chunk of rubble as it crashed into the street ahead. She hardly noticed the debris falling around her, even when a stone struck her jaw. Her head spun from the impact, but she kept running, shouting until her throat burned.
"Hye-jin! Hye-jin! Where are you?!"
A flash of crimson lit up the night, and a wall of energy tore across the ruins directly in front of her. She waited just long enough for it to pass, then leapt across the gap it left behind and kept running.
"Hye-jin, where—!"
Nothing around her was flat anymore. Collapsed buildings blocked the streets, and enormous stone spires rose between the ruins, leaving her with only narrow gaps to see through. When she caught movement ahead, she immediately skidded to a stop.
The moment she realized what she was looking at, her knees gave out. She couldn't think of anything to say, couldn't even make herself look away. She could only stare as the bug demon ate Hye-jin's body.
The same one that had killed Ji-yoon.
She heard every crunch, every wet slurp, and every giggle that escaped its mouth. Somehow, the fighting seemed to have quieted just enough for those sounds to reach her, each one carrying across the broken ground.
The demon held Hye-jin's naked body suspended by her ankles, one foot planted against her head as though it were nothing more than a ball. Its mouth was buried between her legs, chewing through her crotch while blood ran down what remained of her body.
"I—I... Hye-jin—I can't—I can't... I—I... stop..."
About halfway through her, with another pull, the bug demon finished tearing her sister in half and tossed the remains aside, scattering blood across the rubble. Even through her shock, Yu-na could see it celebrating, the bugs that made up its body moving with excitement.
Still on her knees, she collapsed onto her hands and vomited. Her breath came in short, uneven gasps, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make her limbs respond beyond trembling. Even when she heard the demon approaching, she remained where she was, coughing and gasping.
"You better pray, little Woon. Once he tosses you aside, I will find you."
Something cold and sharp touched the back of her neck and dragged down her back. She screamed inside her mind, unable to force a sound past her lips.
"She begged for you. But you never came."
A sudden rush of air buffeted her body, and when it passed, she knew she was alone.
Forever alone.
She continued staring at the ground, her hands pressed against the dirt as tears finally began falling from her eyes.
Explosions continued in the distance, and the ground shook beneath her with each impact. The fighting hadn't stopped, but none of it mattered to her anymore.
A burst of black System light appeared in her hand.
"I'm sorry, Mom."
Tightening her grip, Yu-na struggled to her feet. Her legs trembled beneath her, and she barely managed to stand.
But she was too far from the fighting.
She needed to get closer.
With barely enough strength left to remain standing, she began shuffling forward through the rubble, her fingers clenched tightly around a small metallic case.