Chapter 200: Chapter 200: The Heir’s Command
The cavern erupted into chaos.
The first of the cocoons split with a wet, tearing sound, spilling its occupant onto the ground in a flood of black ichor. The creature that emerged was no longer human. Its limbs were too long, its joints bending at unnatural angles. Where its face should have been, skin had stretched and melted, leaving only a gaping maw lined with jagged teeth.
It shrieked. The sound wasn’t just noise—it was a vibration that made the bones in Min-joon’s chest rattle. More cocoons burst open, one after another, until the cavern floor was a seething mass of crawling, twitching, shuddering bodies.
Dozens. Then hundreds.
"Shit," Keller hissed, snapping his rifle to his shoulder. He fired three rounds into the nearest creature. Bullets punched through its chest, spraying ichor across the stone floor. The thing staggered but didn’t fall. It lurched forward with jerky, spiderlike movements.
Min-joon screamed, scrambling backward until his back hit the cavern wall. "We—we can’t fight this many! Hyung, what do we do?!"
Lin didn’t move at first. His chains writhed wildly, slamming into the stone and sending cracks racing through the floor. His crimson eyes glowed like coals, but his jaw was locked tight, his body trembling as if caught between two storms—one outside, one inside.
The abyss whispered in his skull, a hundred voices clawing for dominance.
Chained heir. Chained heir. Claim us. Lead us.
And beneath the chorus—Jin’s voice again. Clear. Almost gentle.
Lin... don’t run. Command them.
Lin’s breath caught, his chest tight. He wanted to scream, to deny it, to push it all away. But when his gaze swept the cavern, when he saw Min-joon trembling in terror, Keller firing into a sea of creatures he could never hope to thin, and Hwan standing almost serenely as if waiting to see whether he’d rise or fall—Lin understood there was no choice left.
The abyss wouldn’t stop. The nest wouldn’t stop. Unless he did something no one else could.
Slowly, deliberately, he stepped forward.
"Lin!" Keller shouted. "What the hell are you—get back!"
But Lin didn’t answer. He raised one hand, and the chains coiled upward like a crown of serpents, their tips glinting in the crimson glow.
The swarm froze.
Every creature, every malformed abomination that had been shrieking and writhing, turned toward him in unison. Hundreds of eyeless faces, hundreds of slack jaws dripping ichor. They knelt without kneeling, their limbs folding down into grotesque crouches.
Min-joon’s breath hitched. "They... they stopped..."
The whispers grew louder in Lin’s head, no longer chaotic but united. Command us, heir.
For the first time, Lin spoke not to his companions, but to the abyss itself.
"Obey me."
The chains lashed out at his words, striking the floor with a deafening crack. The creatures echoed his motion, slamming their limbs into the ground, the cavern reverberating like a living drum.
Keller lowered his rifle slowly, disbelief etched across his face. "Holy shit..."
Even Hwan’s usual smirk faltered, replaced with something closer to awe. "So... you’ve done it. You’ve bent them."
Lin’s eyes narrowed, his voice rumbling low. "No. I haven’t bent them. I’ve claimed them."
The swarm stirred again, their bodies shifting in perfect rhythm with the sway of his chains. They were no longer advancing, no longer random—they waited.
"Lin..." Min-joon whispered, terrified yet amazed. "You... you’re like them now."
The words cut deeper than Min-joon intended, but Lin forced himself not to flinch. "No. I’m still me. But I’ll use what the abyss gave me. If I don’t, it will consume everything."
Hwan tilted his head, his crimson eyes glowing faintly brighter. "Careful. You walk a thin line. Today, you command. Tomorrow, you may kneel."
Lin turned on him sharply, chains snapping in warning. "Then I’ll burn the abyss before I bow to it."
For a moment, silence. Then, slowly, the swarm parted. The creatures pulled back, crawling and dragging themselves along the cavern walls, clearing a path toward the far side.
Lin’s chest heaved with every breath, sweat dripping down his temple. The control wasn’t absolute. Every second was like holding back a tidal wave with his bare hands. But for now, it worked.
"Move," he ordered.
Keller hesitated, then nodded. He put a steadying hand on Min-joon’s shoulder and pushed him forward. The group advanced cautiously, flanked by rows of abominations that hissed softly but did not strike.
As they walked, the whispers returned. Softer this time, threading through Lin’s mind like poisoned silk.
Chained heir. You are ours. Lead, or fall.
He clenched his jaw, forcing the voices down, clinging to the echo of Jin’s voice like an anchor.
The far side of the cavern opened into another tunnel, this one descending even deeper. The air here was heavier, thick with heat and the stench of decay.
Keller glanced back at the swarm still kneeling in the cavern. "So... what now? You just leave them there?"
"They’re not soldiers," Lin said quietly, though his voice shook with strain. "They’re prisoners. I won’t use them unless I have to."
"Prisoners?" Min-joon repeated softly, glancing at the creatures with sorrow in his eyes. "But... they used to be people. Maybe they still are."
Lin didn’t answer. He couldn’t. Because part of him hoped Min-joon was right. And part of him knew the abyss never gave back what it took.
Hwan walked beside him, a sly smile tugging at his lips. "You’ve stepped into your inheritance, Lin. The abyss will never release you now. You’re too valuable."
Lin shot him a look of pure venom. "If I ever think you’re enjoying this too much, I’ll use them on you first."
Hwan chuckled, but the edge of unease flickered across his face. "Fair enough."
They descended deeper, the walls pressing closer, the whispers never fully fading. At the bottom of the sloping tunnel, they came to a chamber unlike any they’d seen yet.
It was vast, circular, with a pit at its center. From the pit rose a pulsating mass, a grotesque heart of flesh and stone. Veins stretched outward from it into every wall, feeding the nest above. The air shimmered with heat, and the sound of a heartbeat echoed through the chamber.
Min-joon clutched Lin’s sleeve, trembling. "What... what is that?"
"The source," Hwan whispered, eyes gleaming with dark reverence. "The heart of the nest."
Lin’s gaze hardened. His chains slithered restlessly. The whispers in his head rose into a roar, the abyss’s will slamming against his skull.
Chained heir. Protect us. Become us.
Lin bared his teeth. His voice tore out of him like a growl.
"No. I’ll end you."
The heart pulsed faster, louder, as if in challenge. The chamber shook, flesh tearing, walls quaking. From the pit, tendrils lashed upward, massive and glistening with ichor.
Keller raised his rifle, his voice sharp. "Guess this is where the real fight starts."
Lin stepped forward, the chains unfurling into the air like a storm.
"For Jin. For Min-joon. For everyone the abyss has taken." His crimson eyes blazed brighter than ever.
"I am no heir. I am your executioner."