Chapter 131: Breach

The strike force fanned out. WHOOSH! Veyra’s bow sang, arrows glowing green as they cut the air. Soren’s Emberblade lit the ground in flames as he dashed forward to directly confront the enemies with his powerful Aspect. Torren’s Pyreaxe roared to life, carving a path through the first wave. Clayton moved like a storm. BOOM! BOOM! He held nothing back. Everywhere he went, destruction followed as roots tore through the earth, pulling enemies down. Vines lashed, crushing metal and bone alike. Against the humanoid machines, they didn’t falter as this elite group from the Rootsite utilized their full power to stand their ground. The battle at the gate was a brutal welcome, but they didn’t fall. They recovered, then... Step by step, they pushed forward. High above, in the highest chamber of the Nexus Engine, Korrath watched it all transpire. His mechanical fingers tapped the armrest of his throne. You would think, why not join the fray to kill his enemies immediately? Korrath had his reasons and they were valid reasons. He already felt first-hand through his Avatar how ridiculously powerful Clayton was. Not just that, his Aspect was not really a combat-related Aspect. Rather, it was more of a utility one. Korrath was more a mechanic than he was a warrior. Around him, the heart of New Chicago pulsed, the beat syncing with his own. His eyes gleamed with murderous intensity. "They’ve come far," he muttered. "Let’s see how far they can fall." ... The battle at the gate began with a scream of metal. It wasn’t the scream of steel tearing under pressure, rather, it was alive. The gates of New Chicago twisted open like jaws, plates folding and sliding back, cables flexing like tendons. The sound echoed down the outer streets, bouncing off towers of bone and steel. From the mouth of the city, they came. Dozens at first... Apostates, mercenaries, drones, mechanic constructs. Then from mere dozens, they graduated to hundreds. The Biomechanical soldiers led; these monsters were part machine, part plant, part nightmare. Their armor was a patchwork of bark plates and alloy grafts. Roots sprouted from their limbs like exposed veins, pulsing with faint crimson light. Weapons grew from their hands, living spears with serrated vines that hardened to blades, and whips that lashed like snakes. The largest of them stood at the center. A jagged crown of metal and bone grew from its head, and the voice that came from behind its mask was deep and metallic. "Verdant Lord... you should have stayed in your hole". Clayton’s eyes narrowed. "We didn’t come this far to turn back." Torren stepped forward, Pyreaxe blazing with flame as he tapped into the Luminous Seed wells of his Aspect power. Veyra’s bow was already drawn, a glowing arrow nocked and humming with power. Soren’s Emberblade crackled with heat, his eyes locked on the nearest cluster of enemies and filled with intense bloodlust. Kaelin’s voice came from nowhere and everywhere at once, hidden by the Ashveil. "Flankers on the left wall. I’ll take them." He said, then he was gone again. Kaelin moved like a shadow, or maybe a ghost. He was untraceable. Since becoming Luminous Seed, his ability with his Aspect skyrocketed. Clayton didn’t give the order to charge. He moved first. Roots erupted from the cracked pavement, sweeping across the front line of biomechs, wrapping around legs, tearing apart weapons. The defenders shrieked in voices that were both mechanical and organic, a chilling mix that vibrated through the air. The strike force followed without hesitation. Torren swung his Pyreaxe in a great arc, flames igniting the enemy line. Soren cut through two biomechs in a single motion, sparks flying where his blade met steel. Harrick’s spear drove into the chest of another, a burst of verdant energy ripping through its frame. Above them, Veyra’s arrows flashed through the air, each one striking with enough force to shatter steel. Her Genesis Ember-infused tips pierced armor like paper, leaving smoking holes in their targets. The fight became chaos. Clayton tore a path toward the gate itself, his Aspect in full bloom. Thick vines lashed out like whips, snapping limbs from bodies. Thorns grew in an instant, shredding armor and cutting through muscle. One of the larger biomechs lunged at him, its weapon-arm shifting into a spinning blade. Clayton stepped into it, Regalia’s strike shearing through its torso in a clean, decisive cut. He didn’t stop. The defenders fought with ferocity, but they were meant to intimidate, not to hold. Korrath hadn’t committed his elites to the outer gate. He was drawing them in. Clayton knew it, but he didn’t care. They broke through the first wave in minutes. The gate’s mouth loomed over them; towering plates of black alloy, cables twitching like exposed nerves. And as they passed beneath it, the city swallowed them whole. The air changed instantly. Hotter. Thicker. Every breath felt like drawing in smoke and oil. The streets were narrow canyons of metal and root, the walls lined with pipes that pulsed faintly. Overhead, cables hung like black vines, dripping with some oily substance that sizzled when it hit the ground. Soren looked around, his jaw tight. "Feels like we’re walking through its veins." "We are," Clayton said. "Stay close." From the rooftops, more biomechs dropped down. These were smaller, faster spider-like creatures with bladed limbs and faces like cracked porcelain masks. They didn’t attack in waves, they attacked all at once. One landed on Harrick’s back, its bladed legs stabbing for his neck. Lorn’s vines snapped upward, yanking it off him before it could strike, crushing it into the wall. Kaelin reappeared from the shadows, driving a dagger through another’s core. "They’re herding us," he said. "Driving us deeper into the city." Clayton met his gaze. "Good. That’s where we want to be." At this moment, he didn’t let panic overwhelm him. He could only stay optimistic and to keep on pushing forward. The deeper they went, the more the city seemed alive. Buildings shifted subtly when they passed as if watching them. Pipes rattled when they drew close, carrying faint whispers that weren’t quite words. Every few minutes, a low hum pulsed through the ground, growing stronger as they approached the Nexus Engine. Veyra’s eyes narrowed as she scanned the rooftops. "We’re being watched. Korrath knows every step we’re taking." "I know," Clayton said. "We’re in his domain afterall. Let him watch". Two blocks in, they hit the first choke point. The street narrowed between two towering structures, their surfaces crawling with metallic vines. The gap was no more than twenty feet across. From both ends, heavy thuds shook the ground. Two Siege Goliaths emerged; massive biomechs built like walking fortresses. Each one carried an arm-cannon that glowed with an orange light, and their bodies were layered with plating thicker than a man’s chest. The first cannon fired. Clayton’s vines shot up in an instant, forming a wall of bark and root. The blast hit with a deafening roar, ripping apart the barrier but sparing the team from the full force. "Break them fast!" Clayton shouted. Torren was already moving, flames erupting from his Pyreaxe with every swing. He hammered the first Goliath’s leg, the metal groaning under the heat. Veyra released three arrows in quick succession, each one slamming into a joint and bursting with green light. In between the attacks, Kaelin appeared on the Goliath’s back, daggers flashing as he severed the cables along its spine. The machine roared and collapsed, its arm-cannon firing into the ground before going dark. The second Goliath turned its cannon toward Clayton. But... too slow. Roots exploded from beneath it, wrapping around its legs and yanking hard. The massive machine toppled sideways, and Harrick drove his spear through the crack in its neck plating. A surge of verdant energy lit the gap from within, and the machine went still. The street beyond was clear, but they could hear movement ahead. "We’re getting close," Lorn said, wiping metal dust from her hands. "How close?" Soren asked. Lorn looked down, feeling the pulse through the ground. "Close enough to hear its heart." They pushed on. With every block, the Nexus Engine grew larger in the skyline. The spire’s rotation was slow but constant, its gears grinding loud enough to shake the air. Vines of black steel ran from it into the buildings, feeding power into the city’s bones. Clayton’s eyes stayed on it. That was the target. Everything else was noise. From above, a voice rolled through the streets; cold, mechanical, and amplified by the city itself. "You’ve come far, Verdant Lord. But every step you take feeds my roots deeper. Every drop of blood you spill makes my heart stronger. When you fall, I will grind your fortress into dust and feed it to the Nexus." Korrath’s voice. Clayton didn’t stop walking. "Talk while you can, Korrath. You won’t have the breath for it later." The streets ahead darkened. Shadows lengthened, stretching toward them, even though there was no sun to cast them. Kaelin froze. "Not good. Not shadows." The ground ahead shifted, metal plates peeling open like petals. Then from the gaps, new defenders rose; sleek, armored biomechs with long, hooked blades for arms and masks shaped like screaming faces. They were facing all of Korrath’s army here in his home. This time, it was not just parts or battalions anymore, but the real thing. Veyra drew back her bow, feeling her arms already tingling from blood loss. "And here I was thinking the welcome party was over." Clayton stepped forward, Regalia in hand. "It’s just beginning." They charged. And somewhere deep in the Nexus Engine, Korrath smiled.