Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 125: The Belly of the Beast

The tunnel wasn’t just dark. It was a suffocating, pressurized blackness that felt like being swallowed by a whale.

Primrose held Caspian’s hand so tight her knuckles were white. They were sliding down a steep, slick chute of ice carved by Caspian’s magic, plummeting deep into the bowels of the mountain.

"Brace for impact!" Konrad’s voice echoed from below.

THUD.

Primrose landed on something soft. Or rather, someone soft.

"Oof," Rurik grunted from beneath her. "Watch the ribs, Fox."

"Sorry!" Primrose scrambled off him, adjusting her dress.

She looked around. Caspian conjured a ball of blue witch-light, illuminating their surroundings.

They weren’t in a cave. They were in a ruin.

The walls were made of ancient, black stone blocks, each one larger than a carriage. The ceiling was lost in the shadows high above. The air was stale, smelling of ozone and rot.

"The Old Foundation," Freya whispered, her hand resting on her sword hilt. "I thought these were just legends. The fortress built before the fortress."

"It’s not a legend," Konrad muttered, scanning the dark corners. "It’s a prison. And we just broke in."

Little Astrid stood close to her mother, dragging her heavy steel sword. Her yellow eyes were wide, darting at every shadow. She looked terrified, but she didn’t whimper. She just gripped the hilt tighter.

"Tracks," Rurik growled.

He was already moving. He knelt by a patch of dust, sniffing the air.

"Vali was here," Rurik said, his voice tight. "I smell him. And I smell... burning."

"Burning?" Primrose asked. "Like fire?"

"Like ozone," Rurik clarified. "Like magic being eaten."

They moved out.

Rurik took point, his senses dialed to eleven. Konrad covered the rear, his massive claymore drawn. Caspian and Freya flanked Primrose and Astrid in the center.

The ruin was a labyrinth. Corridors twisted and turned without logic. Staircases led to nowhere. Doors opened into solid rock.

"This architecture is hostile," Caspian noted, frowning at a wall covered in jagged, glowing runes. "It is designed to confuse intruders. Or keep something in."

"Vali!" Rurik shouted, his voice echoing endlessly down the stone halls. "Vali! Can you hear me?"

Silence.

Then, a sound.

Skritch. Skritch. Skritch.

It sounded like hundreds of tiny claws on stone.

"Movement," Konrad hissed. "Three o’clock."

Out of the shadows poured a wave of darkness. But as they got closer, Primrose realized what they were.

Snow Rats.

Usually, they were pests the size of a kitten. These were different. They were the size of dogs. Their fur was matted with black oil, and their eyes glowed with the same violet light as the Void.

"Corrupted," Freya cursed. "Defensive formation!"

"I got them!" Rurik roared.

He didn’t use a weapon. He used his claws. He lunged into the swarm of rats, tearing them apart with brutal efficiency.

Konrad swung his claymore, cleaving three rats in half with a single blow.

Astrid let out a war cry that was half-scream, half-roar. A rat lunged at her. She swung her heavy sword clumsily but with desperate force.

CLANG.

She smashed the rat against the wall. It squealed and dissolved into black smoke.

"Good hit!" Freya shouted, stabbing another rat. "Keep your guard up!"

Caspian didn’t draw a weapon. He simply raised a hand. Water coalesced from the damp air, forming razor-sharp whips. He lashed out, slicing through the corruption with surgical precision.

Primrose stood in the center, clutching her bag of snacks. She felt useless. Everyone was a warrior. Everyone had magic or claws or swords. She had... dried pork belly.

Think, Prim, she told herself. You’re not a fighter. You’re a support class. What do you do when the tank is busy?

She saw a rat sneak past Rurik’s guard, aiming for his ankle.

"Rurik! Six o’clock! Low!" Primrose screamed.

Rurik didn’t question her. He stomped his boot down, crushing the rat instantly.

"Thanks, Fox!" Rurik grunted.

"Left flank! Konrad!" Primrose yelled, pointing.

"Got it!" Konrad swung his blade.

She became their eyes. She called out targets, warned of blind spots, and kept the formation tight. She wasn’t fighting, but she was leading.

The skirmish lasted two minutes. When the last rat dissolved into smoke, the hallway was silent again.

"Is everyone okay?" Primrose asked, her voice shaking slightly.

"Minor scratches," Konrad grunted. "Nothing deep."

"Vali?" Rurik called out again, ignoring the blood on his claws. "Vali!"

They pushed forward, following Rurik’s nose. The scent of ozone grew stronger. The air grew colder.

Finally, they reached a massive, circular chamber. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

It was empty.

No throne. No altar. No Vali.

Just a dead end. A solid wall of black stone, smooth as glass, blocked their path.

"No," Rurik whispered. He ran to the wall, slamming his hands against it. "The scent stops here! He has to be here!"

"It’s a dead end," Konrad said, his shoulders slumping. "The trail... it vanished."

"He can’t just vanish!" Rurik yelled, pounding the stone. "VALI! OPEN UP! DAD IS HERE!"

Nothing.

Primrose walked to the wall. She touched the cold, black surface. It hummed against her fingertips.

"It’s not a wall," Primrose realized. "It’s a door."

"There’s no handle," Astrid pointed out, wiping rat-goo off her sword.

"It’s a magic door," Caspian said, stepping up beside Primrose. "It requires a key. Or a specific magical signature."

He placed his hand on the wall. He poured his oceanic mana into it.

ZZZT.

The wall flared purple and shocked him. Caspian pulled his hand back, his fingers smoking.

"It rejects foreign mana," Caspian hissed. "It only accepts Void energy. Or..."

"Or Wolf blood," Konrad finished.

He stepped up. He cut his palm with his knife and pressed his bleeding hand to the stone.

"I am Marquis Konrad Jaeger," he announced. "Lord of the North. Open."

The wall didn’t budge. It didn’t even flicker.

"It rejects me," Konrad whispered, horrified. "The Ancestral Seal... it rejects the Clan Head?"

"Because you’re not the one it’s waiting for," a voice echoed from behind them.

They all spun around.

The Boss

Standing in the entrance of the chamber was a figure.

He wore a pristine white suit that looked ridiculously out of place in the dark dungeon. His face was hidden behind a simple, featureless white mask. He held a cane made of black crystal.

The Boss.

"You," Primrose breathed.

"Hello, Lady Primrose," the Boss said. His voice was calm, polite, and deeply annoying. "I see you brought the whole family. How touching."

"Where is my son?" Rurik snarled, his claws extending.

"He is safe," the Boss said, waving a hand dismissively. "Actually, he is thriving. You should be proud, Lord Rurik. He is a natural."

"Give him back!" Rurik lunged.

The Boss didn’t move. He simply tapped his cane on the floor.

BOOM.

A wall of invisible force slammed into Rurik, knocking the massive Wolf Lord backward into the stone wall.

"Rurik!" Freya screamed.

"Now, now," the Boss tutted. "Let’s be civilized. We are just having a conversation."

He walked further into the room, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he was surrounded by five deadly warriors.

"You can’t open that door," the Boss said, pointing to the black wall with his cane. "Neither can you, Marquis. Or you, King of Fish."

He looked at Primrose.

"And certainly not you, little glitch," he sneered.

"Why do you want him?" Primrose stepped forward, blocking Astrid with her body. "Vali is just a child. What do you want with him?"

"I don’t want to hurt him," the Boss said, sounding almost sincere. "I want to hire him."

"Hire him?" Primrose blinked. "He’s five! He eats crayons!"

"He is the Vessel," the Boss corrected. "He is the only being in existence capable of holding the Void without breaking. Do you know how rare that is? I have been searching for a container for centuries. And here he is, running around in a daycare, wasting his potential on... finger painting."

"He is a child!" Freya shouted.

"He is a weapon!" the Boss shouted back, losing his cool for a second. "And weapons belong in the hands of those who know how to use them!"

He regained his composure, smoothing his suit.

"He is behind that wall," the Boss said softly. "He is currently undergoing... calibration. The Void is filling him up. It’s testing his capacity. If he survives the process, he will be reborn. He will be my masterpiece."

"And if he doesn’t?" Caspian asked coldly.

"Then he explodes," the Boss shrugged. "And takes this mountain with him. But I’m optimistic. He has the Red Eyes, after all."

Rurik stood up. He was bleeding from the mouth, but he was smiling. A terrifying, wolfish smile.

"You made a mistake," Rurik said.

"Did I?" the Boss asked.

"You think Vali is just a vessel," Rurik growled, cracking his knuckles. "You think you can fill him with darkness and control him."

Rurik laughed. It was a dark, jagged sound.

"You clearly haven’t met his Nanny," Rurik said. "Vali doesn’t listen to anyone. Especially not guys in cheap suits."

The Boss tilted his head. "We’ll see."

Suddenly, the black wall behind them groaned.

CRACK.

A fissure appeared in the smooth stone. Purple light spilled out.

"Ah," the Boss clapped his hands. "It’s starting. Calibration is complete."

The wall crumbled.

And there, sitting on a throne made of shadows, was Vali.

But he didn’t look like a scared child.

He was sitting casually, one leg crossed over the other. His clothes were torn. His silver hair was floating as if he was underwater.

And his eyes... his eyes were two burning suns of crimson light.

He looked at the group. He looked at his father. He looked at Primrose.

Then, he looked at the Boss.

Vali smiled.

"Hi," Vali said. His voice echoed with a hundred other voices. "I’m hungry."