Chapter 106: Battle for Atlanta [1]

The Mycoglyph-powered truck screeched to a halt, its roar drowned by the cacophony of war. BZZZ! It was chaos on the battlefield. Not just Clayton. As soon as the Mycoglyph-powered military truck screeched to a halt, its inhabitants jumped out of it, dividing into two teams that charged in different directions. Whereas Clayton, Torren, and Veyra let loose immediately, unleashing the full power of their Aspects on any hostile force in front of them, the trio of Kaelin, Soren, and Lorn did something else. Instead of attacking, they blended into the chaos, slipping through. They snuck towards Clayton’s Rootsite. The Rootsite, Clayton’s fungal fortress of pulsing vines and Mycoglyph-etched spires stood battered, its core flickering under the Earthcore Nexus’s oppressive hum. Korrath’s biomechanical army comprising Initiate Ember drones with thorned metal frames, and Luminous Seed Emberclaw Sentinels with razor vines, aided by the mercenaries wielding Pyreblade daggers swarmed, a Nexusborn Ravager’s molten vines tearing at the defenses. Clayton’s Shedskin cloaked his humanoid Verdant Lord aura as tattered rags, Thornshade Dagger humming at his hip, but this time the camouflage was not as effective. This was because he charged directly into the heart of the battlefield. His Architect Aspect burned, Hive-Sight showing his Verdant Lord form. The thorned colossus suffered from numerous lacerations and injuries across its bark, it was barely holding within the Rootsite. He also saw Soren, Kaelin, and Lorn as they slipped through the chaos. They were implementing the plan. The Aphid Network, now 32 minions fought like they could read the desperation of their master. They fought like it was their life that was on the line. They fought mad. They fought rabid. Clayton didn’t pay singular attention to one part of this battlefield. The scale of the battle was too big for him to focus on everything. All he needed to see was the vague outline of the battlefield, and to confirm that Lorn and the others were executing the plan. With that, he focused on his own task. After a slight moment of hesitation, he handed Regalia of the Verdant Warden in bow form to Veyra. "Use it. Root arrows hit hard". Veyra silently looked at him. "You lost your bow due to this cause. And I know how deadly you can be with a bow and arrows. I’m not giving it to you, I’m just borrowing it". Veyra no longer protested, and took it. She pulled the bow, expending Genesis Embers to create a root arrow. She released... WHOOSH! Her accuracy was pin-point. The bio-mechanical horror’s head exploded into bits of metal chunks. "Sweet," she grinned. They advanced. ... Rootsite Core. Lorn wove through the battlefield, Sapflow Healer vines shielding her from a drone’s laser. Kaelin’s Ashveil Cloak blurred, daggers gutting a mercenary, while Soren’s Emberblade cleaved a drone’s core. They reached the Rootsite’s heart, where Clayton’s Verdant Lord form loomed; a towering monster plant, its thorned limbs cracked, fungal flesh oozing sap, gashed by the Nexusborn Ravager’s molten vines. The mere sight of this rootbound monster was terrifying. And yet, Lorn recognized that gleam, that gleam of intelligence as its emerald eyes locked onto her. Recognizing them didn’t lessen the impact of the monster’s gaze though. She froze, awestruck, recognizing Clayton’s will in the beast’s gaze. ’Not monster, dammit, it’s Clayton!’ "You’re... him," she whispered, then unleashed her Aspect immediately. She and the others didn’t just sneak to locate the core of the Rootsite for no good reason. They were following Clayton’s plan, and in Clayton’s plan, each and every one of them had a simple and clear objective. Her immediate objective was to heal Clayton’s other body. From what she saw, the towering monster plant was silently writhing in agony. Not just physical pain, but also mental exhaustion. Even if Clayton didn’t ask, she wouldn’t leave an ally like this. Her professional sense as a healer won’t let it. BZZZ! Vines surged as she used her Aspect ability, stitching the Colossus’s wounds, sap glowing as gashes sealed. It took far longer than usual. And healing the colossus required far more Genesis Embers than Lorn expended normally for healing regular humans, but she didn’t complain. She expended it without looking back. All the while, Kaelin and Soren already joined the defense of the Rootsite alongside Clayton’s minions who were going on a rampage against the enemies. These were the same enemies that killed so many of their brothers. Clayton’s Aphid Network showed no mercy. Right at that moment, Clayton’s Verdant Lord form roared, Core Maw erupting as roots crushed a drone with terrifying power. Five more Initiate Ember drones and two mercenaries charged the Rootsite’s core. This time, the towering tree didn’t’ have to do much. Lorn’s vines shielded even as she kept on healing Clayton, while Kaelin’s daggers danced a dance of death, severing drone limbs, and Soren’s blade felled a mercenary. Clayton’s four Spore Plague Lords spewed corrosive spores, melting a drone, while two Thornweave Sentinels darted, thorns piercing a mercenary’s chest. The Verdant Lord form lashed out, thorned limbs impaling a drone, but a Sentinel’s razor vine grazed Lorn, her vines healing her own wound. Another Spore Plague Lord fell, spores fading, but it didn’t matter. The Rootsite defense was tighter and firmer than ever before with the addition of 2 Initiate Ember Awakened warriors and a Luminous Seed Awakened Healer. The defense held, airtight. The Verdant Lord form? With proper support for the first time since the invasion started, it finally had the leisure to properly lash out at the attackers. Clayton unleashed all the spite that he’d been cultivating for 4 days. ’Come on, bastards!’ He growled. BZZZ! With Parasitic Roots, he pierced both humans (mercenaries), and bio-mechanic constructs, draining them of life; their blood, their essence, and their battery power with ruthless efficiency. Able to focus more on his Aspect powers now, he used his evolved trait, Thorned Stem in more versatile ways, making the mercenaries pay for every time they attacked recklessly. They took damage on contact. It was terrifying, attacking only to see yourself inexplicably injured. He also utilized Spine Bloom to devastating effect, unleashing salvo after salvo of spine barrages without a care for the Genesis Embers expenditure. In his Rootsite, especially in the core, Clayton was at his most powerful. His natural Genesis Embers regeneration becomes crazily efficient. It was the catalyst that gave him such confidence to use his Aspect powers recklessly. As for his other evolved trait, Predatory Bloom, it was an emergency resort that he already used once a few days ago. 2 days ago, after countless failed attempts to overwhelm his Rootsite defense with his bio-mechanical horrors, Korrath himself finally joined the fray, going on the attack. His Aspect may be related to construction more than raw power, but still, he was a terrifyingly powerful Awakened combatant. Korrath pushed Clayton so far that he used Predator Bloom, sheathing his Heartseed Core in a hardened layer of lignified shell to protect it. It was the only reason why he was not yet dead. Korrath gave up after hours of trying to no avail to break his defenses. After that, the Verdant Lord of New Chicago changed his strategy from a blitz attack to a slow-burn guerrilla warfare. Of course, in the course of the siege, Korrath already tried to set Clayton on fire. Afterall, fire was supposed to be effective against plants. But with his Flame Resistance evolved trait, Clayton showed once again to the Verdant Lord of New Chicago that he didn’t survive his trial due to dumb luck. He was a genuine survivor. Alongside Soren, Kaelin, and Lorn, he fought desperately for his life while controlling the Aphid Network with Symbiotic Command. He fought for his Rootsite. ... Battlefield Perimeter. While Clayton’s Verdant Lord form defended the Rootsite alongside Soren, Kaelin, and Lorn, the others went on the attack. Clayton, Torren, and Veyra fought amidst the chaos, targeting Behemorphs to expand the Aphid Network. Clayton plunged into a state of combat clarity, Hive-Sight locking onto three Initiate Ember Thorn Hounds and an Emberwing. He burned Genesis Embers to utilize his Aspect powers, suppressing their wills, their forms twitching as they joined his network, taking his tally to 34. His Thornshade Dagger slashed Sentinel’s vine, venom dousing its flams, even as Veyra supported him from the side. WHOOSH! She fired Regalia’s roots arrows with devastating speed, force, and accuracy, a deadly trio for an archer, shredding a drone’s core. Torren’s Flamevine Wrath bound another mercenary, pyro-roots charring flesh, his Pyreaxe finishing the kill. Their teamwork was ruthless. Clayton’s Network surged, Thorn Hounds ripping drone joints, Emberwings diving with fiery talons. Veyra’s arrows pinned a Sentinel, Torren’s roots crushed another. They hunted Korrath, eyes scanning for the Luminous Seed Verdant Lord. He stood on a distant fungal spire, a biomechanical titan of chrome vines and blazing Embers, his gaze locked on Clayton, hunger palpable. The Verdant Lord of New Chicago could see them, but he choose not to reveal himself yet. He just watched with a cold gaze. A Codex fragment on a fallen drone pulsed: ["Korrath’s Nexus binds life to ruin, seeking Verdant essence."]