CHAPTER 81: HELLHOLE QUEST COMPLETE.

They staggered as a soft light washed over them. Warmth surged through their battered bodies — cuts knitting shut, bruises fading, bones snapping back into place. Every wound vanished in an instant.

The best reward for ranking up.

Savier let out a breathless laugh. "That felt awesome! Like putting your old body back on — fresh, clean, not wrecked to hell!"

Johnquis watched him, a quiet smile tugging at his lips. Savier’s excitement reminded him of his own first time, just days ago, when he hit his first rank-up. That rush. That warmth. That feeling like you finally belonged.

Savier was staring at his system message like a kid seeing a pair of tits for the first time.

[CONGRATULATIONS!]

- You have accumulated a total of 20,000 Feed Count.

[RANK UP: UNRANKED → BRONZE]

[Feed Count: 21,800/70,000]

[Reach 70,000 Feed Count to rank up to STEEL]

[SYSTEM NOTICE]

Since you ranked up, you have unlocked your Bronze skill.

"WOHOO! MY SECOND SKILL!" Savier jumped. "Better be something devastating, I swear, I’m gonna blast that tanker’s rock ass to the moon! Perfect for our duel!"

The Tanker slowly turned his head, just slightly with a low, guttural grunt.

Johnquis chuckled. "Alright, what’d you get? What’s the skill?"

Savier grinned, cocky as ever. "Nah, not telling. You’ll see it when it’s aimed at your tanker’s face."

He rubbed his hybrid blade, eyes wide with pride. "And would you look at that—my hybrid baby just got a brand-new look."

The blade pulsed in his grip, twitching with excitement, almost like it shared his joy.

Johnquis turned back to his system screen.

[CONGRATULATIONS!]

- You have accumulated a total of 70,000 Feed Count.

[RANK UP: BRONZE → STEEL]

[Feed Count: 72,000 / 120,000]

[Reach 120,000 Feed Count to rank up to SILVER]

He stared at the text, expression flat. Something about it didn’t feel right. Then...her voice again.

The queen’s hiss slithered through his memory.

"If you strip away your... slaves... You’re nothing. Just a bloodless little boy hiding in a shell of borrowed power."

It echoed deeper than it should have. Because it might’ve been true.

He was quiet a moment, lost in thought.

"...I’ve been ranking up fast. Too fast. Ever since I enslaved Dancer like it was like a dream. And now with the Tanker... I’m grinding like crazy."

He looked down at his hand. At the glowing, evolving chains.

"I admit it. It’s because of them."

A bitter exhale escaped his nose. "Without them... would I even become the kind of strong Jiana wanted me to be?"

[SYSTEM NOTICE]

-Since you ranked up, you have unlocked your Steel skill.

[SKILL: CHAIN TRAP LVL 1 - Blood Cost: 5%]

- Channels blood into the end of the chain, morphing it into a brutal hunting trap.

- Enemies caught are immobilized briefly, left wide open for follow-up attacks or execution.

He read the description, then scoffed under his breath. "Another one made for them... Made to immobilize. Made to trigger the chain slave."

He flexed his hand. The chain shifted, tightening like it heard him.

"Every upgrade I get... it’s like this system’s not building a fighter. Not an Eater Blade. It’s making a slave master. Someone designed to bind what we’re supposed to destroy."

A beat of silence. His jaw clenched. "I’m not the weapon. They are."

He looked up, eyes cold. "What am I really? What are you trying to make me into, huh?"

His stare went blank, lost in thought. The queen’s words lingered, coiling in his head like a curse.

It was just a mind game... But it stuck. Hard to forget. Harder to ignore.

Especially when it might’ve been the truth.

The nest groaned.

With the queen dead, her power collapsed like a lung punctured and deflating. The once-pulsing walls of webbed flesh shriveled and cracked. Eggs that hadn’t yet hatched crumbled into dust, their shells caving in as if something had sucked the life straight out of them. The air lost its heat. The stench of death thickened. The heart of the nest, once a breathing, growing thing, now looked like a burned-out husk.

The queen’s body, tangled into the walls like a spider web woven from meat, started drying out. Her stretched flesh split in places. Long veins withered, draining away what little life remained. She was turning into mulch. Into trash. Into something less than dead.

Savier turned in place, slowly watching the destruction like someone witnessing the end of a storm.

"...Damn. She’s really gone."

Through it all, Johnquis stood still, lost in thought. Barely blinking.

Behind him, the Tanker tilted his massive head.

He stared at his maste and tilted his head again. A sound came out of his throat. A heavy, confused grunt. Then another. He reached out, slowly, like a dog unsure whether to bark or whimper.

The Tanker could feel it, the weight in his master’s chest. The doubt. The anger. The fear. It reached him like a scent in the wind.

He lowered his hand. Stayed quiet.

Savier walked over, grinning until he saw the look on Johnquis’ face.

"Hey, hey! Yo, champ. You in there?"

No response.

Savier waved a hand in front of his face. "Hellooo? You rank up and immediately go emo? Who hurt you?"

Still nothing.

Savier snapped his fingers loud and fast right in front of his eyes.

"HEY! Snap out of it, goth prince. We just beat a queen! You’re supposed to be fist-pumping or laughing like a maniac not staring into the void like you dropped your whole playlist."

Johnquis finally blinked. Slowly. Then looked up.

Savier raised an eyebrow. "There he is. Welcome back. I know that look. That’s your brooding face. I’ve seen it too many times already—right after every time someone bullied you back in school. About things they didn’t get... things they couldn’t see."

Voice softening just slightly. "But I saw it. I always did. You weren’t weak, the system is to be blamed. We cannot control what it throw to us and making us. But just so you know, you always know that every thing is happening for a reason, it has a purpose... I’m here, man. You don’t have to carry it alone."

"Now don’t get all teary on me. I’m not good with words. But if you want, I can hug you... kiss you... maybe even a little munch-munch on the cheek."