Chapter 137: Heartfire [3]

The crack widened as Korrath’s eyes darted towards the slippery assassin. He couldn’t focus on him though because riding the momentum that Kaelin just set in motion, Soren quickly slammed his Emberblade into the gap and leaned, even as Harrick set his spear butt and shoved with all his weight at the same time. Against one of them, maybe Korrath’s extremely durable armor would have held. Against two, it would have also likely held. But against three? That was the breaking point. And still, that was not all as leaving nothing to chance, Mira charged, rapidly closing the distance to them before placing her palm on both of their backs, pouring will and power into their arms. The gap in Korrath’s chest plate stretched wider to his despair, right until something under it glowed bright and ugly. And that was when Torren came down like a falling bell. He timed it to perfection. With muscles bulging under his skin and armor, and with pupils dilated, veins popping across his skin, Torren cleaved down with his Pyreaxe, striking the crack with devastating power as it blew open. BAM! CRKSH! The sound of static electricity reverberated as a malfunction occurred. And then, finally, Korrath staggered. For the first time in this battle, his seemingly impervious defense was breached and he truly lost his footing. And that was the momentum shifted. The Rootsite warriors reacted like sharks that have smelled blood. Veyra’s world narrowed to a single straight line. She drew her bow until the bowstring hummed like a wire that was about to break, every arrow she ever fired living within that draw. She exhaled, and then she let it loose. WHOOSH! The arrow was not ordinary wood, it was no ordinary arrow. Rather, it was intent. Veyra’s intent, the Rootsite’s intent. With a bright flash of light, it crossed the chamber as a straight idea. With the others pinning him down, Korrath couldn’t even move to block the devastating arrow even if he wanted. He could only stare, helpless and immobilized, his armor breached. Then... KABOOM! The arrow struck true. It hit the open chest and went through like a hot knife cutting through butter as green fire bloomed inside Korrath’s frame and blew out the back in a fan of light. Korrath’s eyes squinted. Then the gigantic mechanical form he was in shuddered, writhing in agony and pain. He roared, the sound shaking bolts in the ceiling. And then, the Engine dimmed for a breath. "Again!" Clayton shouted. "This is our moment!" Korrath didn’t let them; he was desperate. He flung both his arms wide. It felt like a wild desperate attempt to protect himself, but it was not. Even in his desperation, he had intent... he was calling the lattice back. And this time, it was denser, brighter, and cruel than ever before as it swept the floor like a scythe. HUMMMMMMM!!! The lattice beam swept across like a Divine decree from heaven, full of destructive intent and a Verdant Lord’s last surge of power. "DEFEND!" Clayton screamed. Kaelin vanished into smoke even as Harrick and Soren dived to the ground, barely surviving the obliterating lattice beam. Clayton dropped a root bulwark and ducked under it, but he took damage across his left shoulder. His armor split from the obliterating heat of the beam as his flesh burned, and yet he kept moving. Clayton kept moving out of sheer willpower and determination. With the beam still running rampant, Soren rolled to the side, trying to escape sideways but he stripped and almost fell as the beam tore a hole through his side. Soren hissed in pain, but pain was the least of his worries because he was about to be evaporated. Luckily for him, Mira was also there as she dragged him upright with a snarl and sealed the wound in three heartbeats with her Aspect. Kaelin, like the ghost he was, was one of the only few to escape unscathed as he stayed just out of reach of the lattice beam. And yet, even under siege of Korrath’s terrifying last attack, the Rootsite force never stopped thinking of retaliating because Korrath was also in his weakest state. Veyra dove behind a torn gear and came up, already nocking her arrow. Torren stepped the through pain like it was water that he drank on a daily basis and set his stance again. "Still here?!" Korrath’s growled in a face that was now part frustration, part rage, and part madness. "Enough!" He roared and his voice reverberated like thunder through the tower. He drove a spike of black alloy down through the core ring. And the next moment, there was a reaction... The Engine swelled as Horsepower climbed. BZZZ! And then, the chamber began to push them back again. The floor began to tilt, wind rising, even as gravity bent toward the tower’s heart. "Clayton!" Torren yelled. "I see it," Clayton replied, his eyes still locked ahead with intense focus. He didn’t try to match the pull of gravity. Instead, he planted a third Seedpike. Three anchors... three beats, and then his domain heartbeat braided with the Engine’s rhythm and bit down. "Now," he said. "We take his spine!" He pointed at the core channel again. "Cut those veins!" Clayton’s voice cut through the noise of machinery and chaos and his team reacted. BUZZ! They moved, buzzing like killer bees. Torren went left, Soren went right. Harrick charged head-on, while Kaelin slipped under. Veyra? She vaulted over to the top where she could see. And then... Torren’s axe severed the first vein and bathed the rail in fire. BAM! Soren’s blade tore through the second with obliterating power, throwing sparks like a comet tail. Harrick’s spear punched the third with accuracy and sliced it open. Kaelin slid under the fourth and stabbed until it poured light like a burst artery. Veyra? From her vantage point, her accuracy was god-like as her barrage of devastatingly powerful arrows nailed the fifth to the wall and pinned it until it sputtered and died. And then, like a malfunctioning machine, the Engine lurched. The tower’s light flickered... once, then twice. Korrath’s tendrils flared and lashed in desperation. He hit Torren hard enough to break stone. Torren hit the floor, rolled, and stood up swearing even as he coughed blood and yet, he didn’t falter. Korrath aimed towards Veyra, sending his tendrils. Now, all he wanted was to take someone down with him But Clayton met the tendrils half-way. Regalia struck low, then high, then low again, slicing them apart like vegetables. And then, he charged Korrath again. Korrath tried to attack but slicing off his attacking arm, he disarmed the towering machine and went on a rampage against it. Bark armor cracked and regrew between blows as thorns bit and released. He drove Korrath back one step, then another, and then he put his heel on the lip of the central ring. "Look at me," Clayton said, simple and cold. "Not them. Me!" For the first time, Korrath faced him alone. He couldn’t look away. He came in with everything... field, blade, pulse, cloak, army. Heck, he had the home advantage. Clayton met it all with root, crown, and will. Each strike sent pain through his bones, each strike cut off a limb and pawn that he’d worked hard for decades to cultivate. Each answer sent pain back. Even when they locked weapons, they brat overpowered him. Korrath’s eyes had a complicated look in them, but then in one last act of defiance, his voice scraped like wire. "Brat, you think you’ve won? You cannot rule this world. It is made for teeth." Clayton’s eyes were steady as he stared into those pitch-black eyes. "Then I’ll grow bigger teeth," he said, then he shoved. Korrath slid back onto the ring. Veyra’s next shot hit the joint of his knee. Kaelin cut the cable behind it, and Soren split the ankle. He was being carved apart. Harrick drove the spear through the foot and pinned it to the metal. Even with death certain, he still tried to struggle. Korrath tore free, but he faltered. The Engine dimmed a second time. "Now," Lorn said softly, voice like a bell under thunder. "Finish the veins." They did. The last channels burst. Light sprayed the chamber like a storm of fireflies going dark. The Engine stuttered, and then the heart skipped. Silence hit like a blow. Then the tower roared, all at once as backup flows opened and brute force flooded the core. The floor bucked and the anchors screamed, cracks chasing themselves across the ring. Korrath straightened. The hole in his chest still bled light, but he stood straighter. "I am the city," he hissed. "You cannot outlast a city." "Not trying to," Clayton said. He lifted Regalia and pointed it at him. "We’re here to uproot one." He stepped onto the ring. Torren joined him on the left, Veyra on the right. Soren, Kaelin, Harrick, Mira, and Lorn closed the circle. Korrath raised his blade. So did Clayton. The heart of New Chicago hammered like a war drum. Metal screamed, roots answered, and Clayton charged. Time seemed to freeze...