Eater Blade: Grinding in Apocalypse-Chapter 57: DOWN TO THE HELLHOLE.

Johnquis stood there, eyes flicking between the flickering quest screen and the grate where the Digger had vanished.

The hum of the system wall crackled.

Savier leaned forward, his grin softening into something almost boyish. "Come on, Johnkiss. Look at us! Duo for life, right? This hole? This freaky seven-year roach nest? It’s meant for us. I’m telling you — you, me, her..."

He jabbed a thumb at Dancer, who didn’t even blink. "...nobody’s stopping us."

Johnquis raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "You gonna carve that on our graves too?"

Savier chuckle. "Yeah, laugh it up. But you know I’m right. You and your chain. Me and my big mouth. Dancer with her murder-feet... We were always gonna be the ones to clear this kind of rot. We promised back then, remember? We’d be the saviors of this rotten apocalypse."

Johnquis’s eyes cut to him, sharp. "No. You promised that. Just because your name’s Savier, you idiot."

Savier barked a laugh, a little too loud. He bumped his shoulder into Johnquis’. "My name was given by the god itself. Savier — savior of the apocalypse. Sounds good, yeah?"

Johnquis just gave him a deadly side-eye.

"Maybe. Or maybe I just know you’d get yourself killed without me."

Savier leaned in closer. "Hey. Your count’s almost Steel, Johnkiss. Just 2,000 more feed points and you’re past the gate. Then they’ll send you up there. You know what’s waiting in the Middlelands."

Johnquis paused, realizing what this quest might push him to.

Savier’s grin softened, crooked with old loyalty. "Jiana’s up there, yeah? You really wanna stay down here in the gutter, eating scraps? She’s waiting — probably with other guys. You ever think of that? Because I do. And when I do, I wanna blast the heads off every guy who thinks about touching my dear Jiana..."

Johnquis took a deep breath, still turning it over. "Ugh, fuck you. Stop bringing up Jiana."

Savier didn’t stop. "This hole? This is the push, man. You know it. One nest. One run. We clear it — you see her again. Jiana, Jiana, Jiana..."

He mocked her voice. "Big brother, please?"

Johnquis’s jaw flexed. He stared at the flickering quest screen. His hand hovered over the [ACCEPT] icon, but didn’t touch it yet.

Savier suddenly puffed his cheeks out and dropped to a half-crouch, trying to match Dancer’s pose. He made big, wide puppy eyes, a mock whine buzzing at the back of his throat.

"Pleeease, oh mighty Johnkiss, great Chainmaster! Let’s go squish the bug nest! Pleeease! I’ll be good! I’ll even give you my half of the payout! I’ll never touch your noodles again—"

Dancer’s heel blade swished. Then she did the impossible — she let out the tiniest, miserable huff. Not quite a whine, not quite a growl. Her nose twitched once, twice, tasting the scent drifting up from the burrow.

For a heartbeat, her eyes softened. That cold, slit-pupil predator’s stare flickering into something like a stray dog begging for scraps.

Johnquis looked between Savier’s stupid, exaggerated pout and Dancer’s sharpened "I’m-starving-master" face. Savier even folded his hands under his chin like some demented schoolgirl, batting his filthy lashes.

Johnquis almost cracked a smile. "Unbelievable. Two monsters giving me puppy eyes. One’s got fangs, the other’s got fleas."

Savier puffed his chest out. "Hey — takes one mutt to save another, huh? Come on, Chain Boy. You know you wanna... enter that hole."

Dancer’s claws tapped the concrete in impatient agreement, her shoulders giving a sharp, pleading twitch like she’d wag one if she could.

Johnquis let out a slow, tight breath — the ghost of a smile tugging at his mouth as he hit [ACCEPT]. The hollow chime echoed through the ruined station.

[QUEST CONFIRMED – D-TIER]

Objective: Locate and destroy Eater Nest

Location: Sector 6 – South-North Station

Bonus Condition: Eliminate all higher Eaters

Feed Count Reward: +6,000 (on success)

Johnquis eyes locked on the fizzing hex wall. "You trip, Savier. I’m not carrying your corpse back."

Savier whooped and grabbed Johnquis by the shoulders. "That’s what I’m talking about! We’re gonna wipe this hole clean."

Before Johnquis could shove him off, Savier leaned in and planted a quick, messy kiss right on his mouth.

"For luck, Chain Boy."

Johnquis recoiled, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "You’re disgusting."

Savier just smiled, turning to Dancer. "Hey, Dancer — your turn!"

Dancer crept forward, nose twitching. She tilted her head, eyes locked on Johnquis like he was fresh meat. For a second, she almost seemed to smile. Then she leaned in, lips parting like she might actually do it.

Johnquis shot Savier a glare. "The fuck are you teaching my Dancer, huh? If she bites my face off, I’m killing you first."

Savier laughed, half-hiding behind Dancer’s shoulder. "Go on, girl. Give him some love."

Dancer’s nose brushed Johnquis’s jaw, hot breath fanning his cheek. She hovered there, then let out a tiny, rumbling purr. Her eyes flicked up, hungry, waiting for his permission.

Johnquis just sighed. "Forget it. Let’s go kill some bugs before you two start licking me all over."

Savier laughed and threw an arm around him, dragging him toward the hole. Dancer slunk after them. The system wall that had been blocking them flickered out as the quest confirmed.

The second the quest wall fizzled out, Savier was already halfway over the rim of the hellhole, eyes wide like a kid about to cannonball into a sewer.

He shot Johnquis a devil’s grin. "Last one down’s a limp dick!"

Before Johnquis could cuff him, Savier threw himself in headfirst — boots smacking the rusted and wet edges as he vanished down the greasy dark. His holler echoed:

"YEAH—BABY—SLIIIIIIDE—"

Dancer padded up, sniffed the hole once and gave Johnquis a flat, unimpressed stare. She tensed her shoulders, bared her teeth in a grin that showed way too much fang... and dove in after him.

A second later—

"HHRRRGK—!"

Savier’s shout cracked through the shaft like a clogged drainpipe.

Dancer slammed right onto his chest mid-slide, her claws scraping sparks as she straddled him with perfect predatory balance. Savier’s eyes rolled back, nose smashed flat against her inner thigh as they hurtled down together.

"OH MY GOD—BLESSED BE—MOTHER OF MONSTERS—"

He was practically moaning, his voice muffled every time her thick butt cheeks slapped across his mouth.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel