Chapter 300: Hunting

Words : 1123 Updated : Oct 3rd, 2025

Chapter 300: Hunting The forest, or what initially looked like one, was coming alive. And for some reason, it was the literal kind. The canyon writhed as the giant tree groaned, and the moss-tangled ground trembled beneath their mechas. The very air turned viscous as an earsplitting shriek rippled outward from the tree Butler Gary had so innocently sliced. Echoes rang through the canyon, waking more than just dust and grime. And at that point, one could visibly see the land bulging, as if something was threatening to come out from beneath it. They didn’t wait to find out. "Everyone move!" Xavier barked as the roots the size of a tank began to uncoil. Mechas fired into motion. Thrusters flared. The entire party launched back into evasive formation midair, feet avoiding the spore-laced ground. Because that would likely be a death sentence. The moment the bark monster shrieked, the environment began reacting—not like a beast but like a biome that had decided to go to war. D-29 displayed prompts in the cockpit. "HOST! Spore count rising! Ground contact is inadvisable! Host! HOST! I was not designed for this level of evasive maneuvering!" "Of course you are!" Luca shouted back as he followed Xavier’s lead. "Host! There was no test run!" "Well, consider this the first run, then!" While the rest of them shot through narrow passes between root-pillars, Butler Gary took rear guard duty, his blade drawn and gleaming with sap. The very air behind him distorted as massive tree limbs began dragging themselves across the ground, their movement impossibly slow yet thunderous. And yet worse than the sound, the movement, and the shrieks was this pulsing call. Like it was summoning. From beneath the branches, crawling out from shimmering crimson moss and phase-bark clusters, came the first of the beasts. They weren’t large, but they came fast and in droves. Insectile and lizard-like, their carapaces shimmered with dungeon energy, eyes glowing faintly green. They moved like packs of starving hounds; worse, they weren’t just drawn to motion. They were likely drawn to whatever the hell was sticking to all of them as they moved. "Oh no. Oh, oh, oh!" Ollie whimpered over the comms. "They’re coming in swarms! We’re gonna get—!" "Above you!" Kyle shouted, pivoting his mecha as a beast pounced from the canopy. He fired a plasma net, catching the creature midair before it could reach Luca. "—EATEN!" Ollie finished. Xavier banked hard left, shielding Luca from falling debris as trunks lashed out like whips—one smashing into a stone ledge with the force of a collapsing building. "We can’t keep dodging in the open like this," Xavier growled. "The spores are increasing, and we’ve got enemies incoming from multiple directions." "We’re not touching the ground," Ollie worried, "but these spores are still clinging!" "I’m seeing corrosion buildup on Butler Gary’s leg joints!" his voice cracked. "Worse, it’s spreading at an alarming rate!" Luca’s eyes widened as he glanced toward Butler Gary’s mecha. The once-gleaming leg plating was already coated in a growing layer of luminous dust that fizzled faintly on contact. "Butler Gary," Luca said sharply, "can you burn them off?" But no one had time to figure this out because just then, another alert crackled through their mechas. The terrain beneath the ridge began to shift. Roots curled upward, and cliff edges crumbled. A floating debris bridge that had seemed stable now folded in on itself like an accordion made of stone and bark. "!!!" Kyle swore and nearly got bonked in the chin by a surprised Ollie. "Where do we go?! We’re boxed in—!" screamed the blonde passenger. A shrill mechanical chirp. Then static. Somewhere beyond the ridge, a low-pitched whine activated—sharp and alien. Then, a red-orange and triangular beacon flared as it hovered above the nearest peak. And beneath it...was a person. A woman. Helmeted, clad in strange leathers and scaled plating, riding what looked like a hoverbike with shielding woven from dungeon-spun fiber. She was signaling. "Who—?" Luca blinked. Everyone looked at the person who suddenly appeared, only to see her tilting her hoverbike, banking away—but not before waving at them to follow. She was hoping this would work. She hoped they’d trail after her. If anything, she’d understand if they opted not to do so, for human threats were sometimes, or most of the time, worse than environmental ones. But she was hoping they would because she really did not want them to die before she got to the bottom of this. However, just as she moved forward, a massive tree trunk slammed into the space where that group had been a second ago, sending shrapnel skyward and toppling three cliff perches. "Well, shit." If that was not enough to force them to make a decision, then there was nothing she could do. Thankfully, she looked like the lesser evil, and these mecha pilots followed the path she opened. That seemed enough persuasion. Xavier decided to go first, just in case this was a trap. But, simultaneously, someone surviving like this must mean there was a way around this situation. "Sid, take note of sudden fluctuations while I take manual flight control." "Yes, Master," responded the guardian mecha, who let Xavier take over the reigns as he scanned their path. The group banked after her in tight formation, evading vines and vaulting over monstrous branches. However, the persistent tree monster’s roots stretched forward like claws. Spore fog thickened behind them. And whatever doubts about not following were cleared out the moment he saw what was behind them. From the wound of the canyon burst a flurry of motion that defied natural law. Beasts poured out from the cracks in the terrain like water from a burst dam. Their movements were jerky yet fast, and Luca thought they had too many limbs and too little hesitation. And those mouths? He especially did not like those jagged teeth. But then it wasn’t just beasts gunning after them. Massive and splintering roots tore through everything, including giant boulders. Some slammed into ledges, while others were suddenly rising from the ground. And they weren’t just growing uncontrollably. They were hunting. But probably worse than both would be the spores and those vines that acted like weaving whips. One lashed past Kyle’s mecha, nicking the shoulder joint and leaving behind a thin trail of corrosion that hissed on contact. Another coiled in the sky like a serpent, trying to loop around Sid’s frame before a pulse of cold spiritual pressure blasted it back. It was clear that this tree was angry. And it was sending every root, fang, and fury it could muster to eradicate them. And at this point, even D-29 was sure that apologies wouldn’t be accepted.

Chapter 300: Hunting

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