CHAPTER 65: THE HUNTER’S GAMBLE [1]

Clayton stood in the Rootsite’s chamber, the Veil of Verdant Shroud cloaking his 100 square kilometer domain, Verdant Bastion’s thorned turrets and venom-sap pits spectral under Earthcore Nexus’s pulse.

He looked into the distance, dazed.

His humanoid form was scarred, his Flame-Resistant evolved trait active, Heartseed Core all steady, thrumming with Architect rank Aspect power, divine-like but strained, his Genesis Embers at 4 after Revival’s cost.

The incomplete System message from moments ago lingered, its glitch recording his death as self-inflicted, unraveling a new Artifact, his first since Regalia of the Verdant Warden.

And it left him stunned.

His new Artifact was Shedskin, born from his fall to Vex’s Null Blade.

Clayton was still confused. ’What the actual f*ck?!’

~----~

[System Notification: Artifact Acquired – Shedskin]

[Artifact Type: Armor]

[Rank: Initiate Ember]

[Origin: Host termination mis-recorded as self-inflicted due to Revival.]

[NOTE: Humans are not supposed to come back to life after dying. You’re an outlier, you’ve defied the Absolute Law of Death, and hence the reward.]

...

[Artifact: Shedskin]

[Traits: Enhances Architect rank Aspect. Grants all-round defensive traits, including high resistance to physical, mind, and soul attacks. Increases stealth affinity, amplifying Veil-based abilities.]

[Design: Ranger’s armor, thorn-woven, fungal-plated, adaptive camouflage.]

[Status: Unbound. Equip to activate.]

~----~

Clayton froze, staring silently at the full message.

But then, his lips suddenly curled, humor dark as ash. "Die and get a fancy coat? Hehe, System’s got a sick sense of humor".

He paused. "Should I kill myself again?"

He summoned Shedskin, roots weaving from his Rootsite’s chamber, Core Maw shaping the Artifact.

It materialized; a ranger’s armor, lithe and predatory, plates of fungal chitin shimmering with bioluminescent veins, thorned vines coiling like living seams, adaptive camouflage rippling to match shadows.

He donned it, Heartseed Core syncing, Architect Aspect surging.

Shedskin’s defenses hardened; his skin suddenly tougher than the normal boost of his Flame-Resistant trait, mind shielded from psychic knives, soul anchored, forming a defensive bastion.

The first thought that came to his mind. ’That bastard, Echoes of Ruin won’t find it easy to mess with me anymore’. He grinned like a mad man.

For the first time in what felt like forever since returning to earth, he no longer felt fully exposed and vulnerable against a changed world that wanted to devour him. For the first time, he felt protected.

’I guess the system can be caring sometimes, huh?’

His soul was now anchored against Echoes of Ruin’s ilk.

His Veil of Verdant Shroud tightened, stealth affinity sharpening, Rootsite’s cloak near-impenetrable. Spine Bloom thorns felt keener, Core Maw hungrier, his divine Aspect amplified.

And then...

DING!

~----~

[Shedskin Equipped!]

[Aspect Enhancement: +20% to Veil-based abilities, +15% to Core Maw efficiency, +10% to Spine Bloom precision.]

[Defensive Traits: 80% resistance to physical attacks, and 70% resistance to mind/soul attacks.]

[Genesis Embers Remaining: 4/6000]

[Aspect Strain: High]

~----~

Territorial Sentience flared, mapping the Verdant Warden Behemorph, the Plague Sovereign 80 kilometers east, its rampage a cosmic horror.

The 50 meter fungal titan’s Mycotic Regalia spore shroud warped reality, tendrils thick as spires tipped with Sporebloom Maws, bioluminescent nexus pulsing annihilation.

Its path veered south, spore storms dissolving ruins, Mycoglyphs shattering, Earthcore Nexus recoiling.

Initiate Ember and Luminous Seed Behemorphs cowered; Thorn Strays burrowing, Spore Crowns trembling in the wake of its passage, its reality-warp Spores mutating the Expanse into a fungal wasteland.

Clayton’s vision traced its trajectory; toward Ironhold-3, 100 kilometers south, the Ironblood Remnants’ heart, where Null Shrikes fled from Bastion-7 alongside the rest of the Ironblood in that district.

"Big mushroom’s hunting tech-junkies," he grinned, Regalia humming, Shedskin’s camouflage rippling. "Gives me an idea crazier than dying".

Yes, an idea formed in his mind. A crazy one.

The Plague Sovereign’s aura suppressed Behemorphs, forcing them into hiding, suppressing them; perfect prey for an outlier king.

Perfect prey for a king crazy enough to move while the Sovereign still moved.

His brain surged with ideas.

Clayton’s crazy plan?

Hunt cowering and suppressed Behemorphs, taking advantage of their moment of fear and weakness, subordinate them to rebuild his Aphid Network, and kill those who resist for Genesis Embers.

Also, to find and regain his connection to his first subordinated Behemorphs.

With Shedskin’s stealth and defenses, he’d strike while the Expanse quaked, his Rootsite cloaked, his Plague Lord and 19 minions still out there, a faint pulse in Territorial Sentience hinting at their survival.

The Ironblood would face the Plague Sovereign’s wrath, buying him time, exactly what he needed to go crazy.

He vaulted from the chamber, Shedskin blending into shadows, Regalia in bow form, venom-sap arrow nocked.

Tremor Sense guided him 10 kilometers east, where a Luminous Seed Spore Husk hid; 8 meters, fungal shell, with a Toxic Bloom aura had hid in a ruined spire, trembling under the Plague Sovereign’s pressure.

Clayton’s Core Maw snapped, Spine Bloom firing, thorns piercing its shell, Symbiotic Command flooding its mind via Architect Aspect.

The Husk thrashed, spores burning Shedskin’s plates, but its will buckled, Aphid Network sparking as Clayton overwhelmed the Behemorph.

DING!

~----~

[Behemorph Subordinated: Spore Husk]

[Genesis Rank: Luminous Seed]

[Aphid Network: +1]

[Minions: 1 Luminous Seed]

[Aspect Strain: High]

~----~

And just like that, Clayton subordinated a new Luminous Seed Behemorph.

Crazy!

Of course, he took advantage of the current circumstances to do it. But most importantly, after struggling to take down the Plague Lord the first time, he was better at it now.

His will was firmer now, stronger, and more resilient.

"Welcome to the team, stinkball," Clayton smirked, moving on to the next.

He noticed them soon enough; a pack of Initiate Ember Thorn Strays; 3 meters tall, with spiked vines, cowered in a tram pit.

He struck, Core Maw devouring one’s biomass, Spine Bloom killing another, Symbiotic Command binding two.

A rogue Ash Stalker resisted, its flames snuffed by Shedskin’s resistance, Regalia’s spear piercing its core, yielding 3 Genesis Embers.

DING!

~----~

[Behemorphs Subordinated: 2 Thorn Strays]

[Genesis Rank: Initiate Ember]

[Behemorph Slain: 1 Thorn Stray, 1 Ash Stalker]

[Genesis Embers Acquired: 3]

[Genesis Embers Total: 7/6000]

[Aphid Network: +2]

[Minions: 1 Luminous Seed, 2 Initiate Ember]

~----~

His plan was working.

Amid the chaos ravaging through the Forgotten Atlanta Expanse, leaving destruction in its wake, a hunter took a desperate gamble, a gutsy gamble, and it was working.

Clayton pressed on.