CHAPTER 66: THE HUNTER’S GAMBLE [2]

Clayton pressed on, Shedskin’s stealth cloaking his hunt, Aphid Network growing; 3 new minions, Genesis Embers ticking up.

Clayton’s Aspect was truly one of a kind.

He took a desperate gamble to hunt amid the chaos, amid the Apocalypse in the Forgotten Atlanta Expanse, but due to the divine nature of his Aspect, he was getting more than thrice the benefits that a normal Awakened should have gained.

Not only was he growing stronger by absolving more Genesis Embers through kills, raising his counter 1 Embers at a time, but he was also growing his army.

After all, his Architect rank Aspect gave him the ability to have his own army through his Aphid Network, almost like a taming Aspect.

’What’s life without taking risks?’ Clayton thought as he felt himself drowning deeper in the murderous frenzy of risking his life for gains.

’Life itself is a risk’.

While he hunted, the Plague Sovereign’s spore storms roared, moving 60 kilometers south, closing on Ironhold-3.

Echoes of Ruin, as Kaelith, pulsed 50 kilometers north, also wanting to take control over the Forgotten Atlanta Expanse.

Her dual Aspects, Echoes of Ruin and Verdant Warden stirred the Rootbound Clans, unaware of Clayton’s gambit.

She already informed her clan members of the threat of the Verdant Warden Behemorph. And now, she was trying to hash a plan to weather the disaster that was rampaging through the Expanse.

...

Ironhold-3, Command Bay, 50 Kilometers South.

Commander Vrenna slammed her mechanical arm on the holo-screen, Ironhold-3’s uplink crackling, Verdant Warden’s spore storms 50 kilometers away.

Vex, bandaged, leg dragging, stood with Drayce, Rhea, and Sylas, their Null Blades useless, Disruptors dead.

Tension and desperation hung in the air.

Bastion-7’s fungal crater haunted them, Ironblood zeal fracturing.

"It’s heading to Ironhold-3," Vex rasped, blood crusting her face. "How on Earth? F*ck..., it doesn’t matter. We can’t fight that". She declared.

Vrenna’s eyes blazed. Suddenly, she was uncertain.

She was a mighty Commander of the Ironblood Remnants with hundreds of battles against the Behemorphs under her belt. And yet, at this moment, she found herself dealing with uncertainty.

It was not because she was incompetent. Rather, it was because she could already sense the dissent humming in the air, insidious like a virus.

The growing dissent threatened to tear them apart.

The Ironblood under her and the Ironhold-3 Commander were now in a delicate and fragile balance. She feared that if she kept giving orders and pushed them too hard, they would fracture, and that would spell their doom.

The other Commander staying silent didn’t help her cause either. ’That bastard...!’ She cursed.

Dissent, she feared that outcome above anything else. This was why she was hesitant and uncertain.

In the end, she sighed. "Evacuate to Ironhold-4. We regroup or die".

Drayce muttered, Furnace Core dim. "Run again? F*ck! We’re cursed". He clearly didn’t buy into the idea.

Ironblood Remnants viewed themselves as superior, their beliefs as the one true belief. Running away from a Behemorph didn’t sit well with most of them, especially Drayce.

But they could not refuse their Commander’s orders.

Rhea’s silence cut deeper, dissent simmering as klaxons blared, Ironblood scrambling for evacuation.

On another side, the Herald of Disaster kept moving.

The Plague Sovereign surged, tendrils shattering ruins, Sporebloom Maws devouring drones, Reality-Warp Spores twisting time.

It reached Ironhold-3’s perimeter, still dozens of kilometers south, its fungal nexus pulsing, spore storms breaching steel walls, Mycoglyphs screaming, Earthcore Nexus’s hunger a dirge for Ironblood’s fall.

...

While dissent brewed among the Ironblood in their stronghold, Clayton prowled the ash-choked ruins of the Forgotten Atlanta Expanse, Shedskin’s fungal chitin plates rippling with adaptive camouflage, thorned vines coiling like a ranger’s cloak.

His Regalia of the Verdant Warden, in bow form hummed in his grip, venom-sap arrow nocked, Heartseed Core steady, Aspect Strain high but manageable.

The Veil of Verdant Shroud cloaked his Rootsite 70 kilometers west, its 100 square kilometer expanse a ghostly fortress under Earthcore Nexus’s pulse.

His Architect rank Aspect, divine-like with a 6,000 Embers cap thrummed through Shedskin’s enhancements; 80% physical resistance, 70% mind and soul resistance, stealth affinity sharpening his hunt.

The Verdant Warden Behemorph, Plague Sovereign rampaged dozens of kilometers south, its Reality-Warp Spores and Sporebloom Maws pursuing Ironblood to Ironhold-3, forcing lesser Behemorphs to cower, ripe for Clayton’s gambit.

The more he hunted, the more his bloodlust grew.

"Let’s grow the pack baby!" he grinned, humor dark as slag, Territorial Sentience mapping prey. "Big mushroom’s scaring ’em soft".

The Expanse trembled, Plague Sovereign’s spore storms shattering ruins, its 50 meter fungal titan comprising bioluminescent nexus, tendrils thick as spires, and Mycotic Regalia warping reality, cowering Initiate and Luminous Seed Behemorphs.

Clayton’s plan was pure outlier madness. And somehow, he was doing it.

His Shedskin made him a ghost, Core Maw hungry, Spine Bloom precise.

Territorial Sentience pinged a cluster 5 kilometers east; a Luminous Seed Ashbloom Stalker; a hegemonic 10 meters Behemorph, with flaming spores and razor vines.

His Territorial Sentience also pinged three Initiate Ember Sporelings; 2 meters with toxic puffs, burrowed in a collapsed tram hub, trembling under Plague Sovereign’s aura.

Clayton struck!

With Shedskin’s camouflage blending him with ash, Spine Bloom firing thorns, piercing the Ashbloom Stalker’s core, it was easy work.

Its flaming spores flared, grazing Shedskin’s plates, but Core Maw snapped, devouring biomass, Symbiotic Command flooding its mind via Architect Aspect.

The Stalker roared, vines lashing, but buckled, Aphid Network sparking.

The Sporelings lunged, toxic puffs burning, but Shedskin’s resistance held, Regalia’s spear skewering one, yielding 2 Genesis Embers.

The other two submitted, the terror of the Plague Sovereign plus the pressure from Clayton pushing them over the edge, roots binding them to his will.

DING!

~----~

[Behemorphs Subordinated: 1 Ashbloom Stalker (Luminos Seed), 2 Sporelings (Initiate Ember)]

[Behemorph Slain: 1 Sporeling (Initiate Ember)]

[Genesis Embers Acquired: 2]

[Genesis Embers Total: 9/6000]

[Aphid Network: +3]

[Minions: 1 Luminous Seed (Spore Husk), 1 Luminous Seed (Ashbloom Stalker), 2 Initiate Ember (Thorn Strays), 2 Initiate Ember (Sporelings)]

~----~

"Easy, sparklers," Clayton muttered, humor sharp. "You’re mine now".

He pushed deeper, 8 kilometers east, Tremor Sense pinging a rogue Initiate Ember Thorn Skulker; 4 meters, with a spiked carapace.

Its resistance flared, spikes grazing Shedskin, but Core Maw devoured its core, Spine Bloom finishing it, Embers flowing, 3 more.

Risk burned in his veins, Shedskin’s stealth keeping him unseen, Architect Aspect thriving on the edge.

DING!

~----~

[Behemorph Slain: 1 Thorn Skulker (Initiate Ember)]

[Genesis Embers Acquired: 3]

[Genesis Embers Total: 12/6000]

~----~

Each successful hunt either magnified the quantity of his Behemorph army, or it filled him with Genesis Embers.

Either way, it was a win.

While the world of the Forgotten Atlanta Expanse was coming to an end, coming undone under the Reality-warping powers of the Plague Sovereign, Clayton got stronger one Embers at a time.

And then, his Territorial Sentience suddenly spiked...

A familiar pulse.

His eyes widened. ’It’s them!’