Chapter 291: Bitch of Beastslayers
Thin lines of blue light continued spreading through the micro-batch.
Inside the cauldron, the stabilized carrier cycled through its stored responses to scent, movement, shared pain, and recovery. The signals crossed the linked formula matrix one by one, separated on the far side, and returned without collapsing the bridge.
[Repeatable alchemical lineage recognized.]
[Lineage Function: Accelerated or falsified maximum-bond recognition.]
[Hidden Class Acquisition: Not granted.]
[Eligible players must still trigger and complete the Beastslayer class event.]
The lower chamber held barely enough stabilized carrier for one testing ampoule, and nobody had gained a class. The copied matrix was the real result. Just Die now had a repeatable bridge capable of imitating the maximum bond between a player and an intelligent beast.
Given more live-bond blood and high-density catalyst, they could push every eligible player toward the same sacrifice event Raze had completed.
A dark border formed around the sponsor record attached to the project.
[Restricted-development review initiated.]
[Prohibited live-bond material confirmed in repeatable lineage.]
[Originator liability trace initiated.]
[Original Project Sponsor: Victoria]
The trace started before Victoria could move. Across the cauldron, Raze watched her name settle at the root of the project.
Beneath it, the funding record unfolded one layer at a time. Her research access appeared first, followed by the authorization for the hidden facility and the field result that had convinced Just Die to continue. A weapon-recovery transaction routed through Endless Rain’s Auction House joined the same chain, linking Deadmaw’s return to the Beastslayer success that followed Ashy’s death.
More branches filled with the names of alchemists, guards, and Just Die officers who had kept the program running. Raze’s branch was the largest after Victoria’s, but the sponsor seal at the root still belonged to her character.
The record called Ashy a field result. It showed the class change and Deadmaw’s return, but nothing about the hyena following Raze into poisoned water. Victoria had once preferred records that left those details out. Raze kept one hand near Deadmaw and said nothing.
The system had locked in the project’s origin. The formula was the only part Victoria could still stop.
The alchemist began copying the recovered ratios onto a restricted formula slate while another worker secured the proof ampoule inside a padded clamp. The stable carrier still fed both, so neither the formula nor the ampoule could be sealed yet.
If Victoria broke the live array now, the unfinished formula and the only micro-batch would fail with it. Once the seal closed, they could carry the method out in a black case and rebuild the project somewhere else.
She snatched a loose length of copper tubing from the ruined measuring table and drove its broken end toward the copying array.
"Destroy the formula. The Beastslayer program ends here."
Raze swung Deadmaw through the copper’s path and knocked it aside before it reached the array.
The broken tube folded around the Legendary greatsword and spun from Victoria’s hands. Raze stepped into the space in front of the array, placing the weapon she had bought back for him between her and the formula.
No one moved to help her. The combat captain blocked the stairway while the quartermaster lifted the tray of recalled stock out of Victoria’s reach. Without drawing their weapons, they left her no route that did not pass through Raze.
He rounded the station and stopped with Deadmaw’s point against the center of her chest.
"Every Beastslayer in this guild came from the result you wanted," Raze said. "You left us to build it, and now Emperoar finds the room, so you walk in and decide we have gone too far."
His shoulders stayed rigid while the pale eye in Ashy’s face stared at her over the blade. He was waiting for her to defend herself or make a move he could answer with violence.
"I should have stopped it before Emperoar got here," Victoria said. "Move."
Raze jerked Deadmaw toward the glowing matrix. "You think breaking that saves the next beast? The formula only brings a player to the class event faster. It doesn’t make the choice for them. If they sacrifice their beast, they do it because they want the class."
"You’re faking the bond and rushing them to that choice before they understand what the bond was worth. By the time they do, you’ll already have another recruit."
Raze stared at her across the blade. "I reached the choice without your formula."
Victoria looked at the ruined hyena face on his shoulder but did not answer.
Deadmaw’s point bit into her coat, and Raze raised his voice. "Don’t look at that armor and pretend Ashy gives you the right to judge me."
The alchemists continued transferring the successful sequence into the restricted formula slate. The matrix locked into place one section at a time while Raze kept Victoria away from the controls.
The last section was almost complete. Once it sealed, destroying the proof ampoule would no longer erase the method.
Victoria lunged for the emergency release beneath the cauldron. If she opened every lower valve at once, the carrier would flood into the neutralizing channel and pull the live matrix with it.
Raze caught her before she could reach the lever and clamped her wrist against the housing. Victoria swung her free hand toward the broken pressure tube, but he drove his shoulder into her and knocked her away from the cauldron.
She struck the stone beside the ruined measuring table, and the impact cost her only a sliver of HP.
Raze stood over her with Deadmaw in both hands and Gravefang still across his back. Victoria’s level was so low that Deadmaw alone was enough.
Beyond him, the sponsor trace burned above the cauldron with Victoria’s name at its root. The copied formula was nearly sealed below it.
"Destroy the matrix," she told the alchemist. "Do it now. Whatever Raze offers you, the system will keep your name attached to this project."
The alchemist’s hand paused above the controls. His eyes flicked to Deadmaw before he completed the next seal without looking at her.
Raze lowered the Legendary blade until its point pressed against her black hunter coat.
"You wanted proof," he said. "Now you have an entire guild of it. Thanks for that, Bitch of Beastslayers."
He drove Deadmaw through her body and into the stone beneath her.
Victoria’s HP vanished in a single strike. The edges of her vision darkened, though the formula matrix and originator trace remained bright enough for her to see the final notice.
[Condemned Brand Acquired: Mother of Beastslayers]