CHAPTER 58: NULL AND FURY

The Rootsite plaza in the Forgotten Atlanta Expanse reeked of venom-sap and fungal decay, Verdant Bastion’s thorned turrets casting jagged shadows under flickering Mycoglyphs.

Clayton stood atop a turret, blood crusting his lips, Regalia of the Verdant Warden trembling in spear form, his Heartseed Core teetering at 99% Genesis Threshold.

The Spore Plague Lord, a Luminous Seed Spore Crown Behemorph, loomed beside him, its Toxic Spore Shroud dissipating, Mycotic Tendrils still.

It was only now, after the battle came to an end that Clayton truly realized the feat that he managed to achieve.

’I truly tamed a Luminous Seed Behemorph with my Aspect’.

Remembering the Luminous Seed Behemorph in action against the Apostates, Clayton realized just how broken his Aspect was.

His 19 Initiate Ember minions; 8 Thorn Hounds, 6 Howl Shriekers, 4 Ash Sprites, 1 Spore Drifter all panted, their Aphid Network humming with loyalty.

The decay-kin Apostate lay dead, 25 new Genesis Embers burning in Clayton’s Core Maw, their corrupted potency a stark lesson: some Aspects dwarfed others, like stars against candles.

’Do Aspects have ranks?’ It was a stray thought.

In reality though, Clayton stared straight at his enemies, keen on adding fuel to fire to intimidate them.

The outskirts taught him never to show weakness, especially not when you’re winning already.

"You may be stronger than my thorns," he muttered in a taunting voice, dark humor raw. "But you’re still mulch".

The three surviving Apostates, Echoes of Ruin, heat-kin, and cold-kin fled, shaken and terrified, their spectral cloaks trailing, heat and frost fading into the ruins 200 meters out.

Clayton’s Territorial Sentience tracked them, but his Aspect Strain was catastrophic, blood dripping from psychic wounds.

He could not pursue. He dared not pursue.

He’d won, but the Expanse’s roots stirred, Earthcore Nexus’s hunger a low growl, cosmic horror whispering of worse to come.

Then, suddenly, a new vibration hit. Mechanical, precise.

’...!’ Clayton’s danger instincts spiked from 10 to 100 in an instant.

Tremor Sensed pinged six figures, 500 meters south, moving fast.

The Null Shrikes, Ironblood Remnants’ elite, emerged from the ruins, their sleek exosuits glinting, Null Blades glowing, Genesis Disruptors humming like executioners’ hymns.

The moment Clayton detected those strange weapons in their hands, his breath hitched, goosebumps rising all over his skin.

Captain Vex led, her vox crackling, gray eyes locked on the Apostates’ trail.

"Traitors first," Vex snapped. "Cut their escape. Disruptors online".

The Shrikes surged, exosuits blurring, prioritizing Apostates over Clayton’s Rootsite, their zeal hotter for Genesis-corrupted traitors.

Clayton exhaled, a moment to breath, his Plague Lord and minions ready to defend. But the Disruptors erupted...

’I have to...,’ Clayton could not complete the thought.

BZZZ!

The Disruptors erupted, a pulse rippling within 50 meters, invisible yet crushing.

Clayton’s Verdant Tyranny Aspect, his connection to Aphid Network, Verdant Bastion, Core maw, it suddenly vanished, nullified, locked away like a severed limb.

His Hive-Sight went dark, Symbiotic Command silent, Root Web numb.

The Plague Lord froze, tendrils limp, minions growling but disconnected.

DING!

~----~

[Aspect Status: Nullified]

[Genesis Threshold: 99%]

[Aspect Strain: Catastrophic]

[System Warning: External disruption detected. Core connection severed. Survival probability: 30%.]

~----~

Clayton staggered.

’W-w-what the heck!’

Clayton’s chest tightened, breath shallow, vision blurring, hyperventilating. He suffered; it was a panic attack, raw and alien.

He’d faced Echoterra’s Spore Choir, Scorchpath’s ash, but this was worse; crippled, human again, 330 years of power suddenly stripped.

His Regalia felt like dead wood, Heartseed Core a dull ache.

He staggered, clutching the turret, spite warring with fear.

"Damn... tech-junkies," he gasped, humor choking. "Cheating bastards!"

His hate for the Ironblood Remnants rose to an entirely new high.

The Shrikes ignored him, closing on the Apostates 150 meters out, where the ruins met a shattered tram hub.

The Apostates spun, cornered, their Aspects flaring with desperate bloodlust, fury, and spite.

The Echoes of Ruin Apostate roared, spectral tendrils erupting like a storm of ghostly knives, psychic screams shredding the air - ’Betrayers die!’, each thread a memory of fallen trial-mates, slicing exosuit joints.

The heat-kin’s Ember Cascade ignited, flames sculpting a molten serpent, its jaws snapping at Vex, melting stone to slag.

The cold-kin’s Frostbite Veil crystallized, shards spiraling like diamond daggers, piercing a Shrike’s visor, blood spraying.

The Shrikes countered, Genesis Disruptors pulsing, weakening Aspects but not stopping them.

Vex’s Null Blade flared, severing Echoes tendrils, Embers bleeding like starlight, each cut a wound to their souls.

Her exosuit hissed, molten claw grazing her arm, but she lunged, blade slashing the heat-kin’s cloak, Embers spilling.

Two Shrikes flanked, Disruptors narrowing the pulse, forcing Frostbite Veil shards to crack, their Null Blades carving cold-kin’s arm, frost dimming.

A third Shrike fell, spectral knives piercing his chest, blood pooling, his Disruptor clattering.

The tram hub was a maelstrom; spores clashing against frost, flames scorching spectral threads, Null Blades glinting through psychic screams.

The Echoes Apostate’s tendrils wove a shield, her eyes blazing, psychic voice a banshee’s wail – ’We’d burn you all!- as Ember Cascade’s serpent coiled, slag dripping, stone exploding.

The cold-kin’s shards reformed, a glacial spear impaling a Shrike’s leg, his scream cut short by a Null Blade counter, severing her fingers.

Vex’s vox roared, Disruptors intensifying, the Apostates’ Aspects flickering, their bloodlust unbroken but strained.

It was a brutal showdown of Aspects versus old-world tech.

Clayton watched, panic clawing his chest, Regalia useless, Plague Lord a statue. His Spore Crown minion’s fungal core pulsed faintly, Mycotic Tendrils twitching, but Disruptors locked it down.

His 19 minions growled, instincts intact but leaderless.

The Earthcore Nexus’s hunger surged, Mycoglyphs flaring like dying stars, cosmic horror alive in the clash; Genesis against nullification, life against erasure.

Clayton’s spite burned, hatred for the Shrikes’ tech matching the Apostates’ fury. He couldn’t fight, couldn’t lead, but he wouldn’t break.

The Echoes Apostate screamed, tendrils lashing Vex, psychic knives cracking her visor, blood trickling.

Vex’s Null Blade severed a tendril, Embers bursting, but Ember Cascade’s serpent struck, melting her exosuit’s arm, servox sparking.

The cold-kin’s spear shattered, Disruptors nullifying her Frostbite Veil, a Shrike’s blade slashing her thigh, frost fading.

The Apostates fought like caged beasts, bloodlust a red haze, but the Shrikes’ tech was relentless, Disruptors tightening, Null Blades carving Embers.

The hub’s ruins crumbled, slag pooling, frost cracking, spectral threads fraying, the outcome teetering on a razor’s edge...