CHAPTER 60: FALL OF THE KING

DING!

~----~

[Codex Entry Unlocked: Genesis Ranks and Aspect Hierarchy]

The Genesis Collapse forged a hierarchy of Aspects, fixed at Awakening, their power denoted by six ranks. Only Genesis trial completions; rare, grueling ordeals can elevate an Aspect’s rank, a feat few achieve. Each rank defines an Aspect’s potency, akin to divine decrees.

Awakened have a fixed number of Genesis Embers that they can fill at each rank to grow more powerful.

[Aspect Ranks:]

*Initiate Ember: Foundational Aspects, primal and raw. Common. Max Genesis Embers: 1,000.

*Luminous Seed: Potent Aspects, refined and versatile. Max Embers: 1,000.

*Verdant Warden: Commanding Aspects, ecosystem-shaping. Max Embers: 1,000.

*Prime Synchron: Harmonious Aspects, bending natural laws. Max Embers: 1,000.

*Protocol Bearer: Pinnacle Aspects, near-divine authority. Max Embers: 1,000.

*Architect: Also called Legendary or Mythic Aspects. Divine-like, reality-altering. Max Embers: 6,000.

Genesis Embers fuel Aspect growth within rank limits, with Architect Aspects holding unparalleled potential, their 6,000 Ember cap a testament to their godlike power. Clayton Hunt’s Verdant Tyranny, an Architect rank Aspect, marks him as an outlier, its divine potential unmastered but vast.

...

[User Status: Genesis Embers Accumulated: 104/6,000]

[NOTE: Embers from corrupted Aspects (Apostates) risk drawing Earthcore Nexus’s hunger, awakening ancient horrors.]

~----~

’Another f*cking Codex entry?’

’How does it help me when I’m f*cking fighting for my life?!’ Clayton almost growled out loud.

’Aspect Ranks? Great, but I still got to fight for my goddamn f*cking life!’

He staggered in the tram hub’s ruins, Regalia of the Verdant Warden trembling in his bloodied grip, Heartseed Core a dying ember at 99% Genesis Threshold, Aspect Strain catastrophic.

The Codex’s revelation, his Verdant Tyranny being an Achitect rank Aspect, divine-like, with 104 Genesis Embers against a 6,000 cap taunted him with unclaimed power. And yet, that was the thing.

Unclaimed power meant it was not his yet!

It was yet to be claimed.

’Damned f*cker!’ Clayton cursed in his mind.

The Ironblood Null Shrikes’ Genesis Disruptors pulsed, nullifying his Aphid Network, Spore Plague Lord, and 19 Initiate Ember minions; 8 Thorn Hounds, 6 Howl Shriekers, 4 Ash Sprites, 1 Spore Drifter, leaving him heavily outmatched.

His only ally, the Echoes of Ruin Apostate fled, already about to leave the vicinity though Clayton doubted that the Ironblood would let her escape so easily.

But for now, he could not exactly rely on her.

Even in her desperate escape attempt, her Aspect which Clayton already guessed was a high ranked one by now continued the desperate struggle; spectral tendrils fraying, her psychic screams weakened by Disruptors, and yet her malice mirrored his spite.

The Shrikes; four left, led by a wounded Captain Vex closed in, Null Blades glowing, blood and slag pooling under Mycoglyphs’ fading light.

"You don’t get to cage a god," Clayton spat, blood crusting his lips, dark humor a dying spark. "Not after 330 years of a f*cking trial!"

His Aspect flickered, partially recovered, Core Maw humming faintly, Spine Bloom twitching, but Aphid Network stayed dark, Plague Lord a fungal statue, its Toxic Spore Shroud inert.

The Ironblood were his enemy, their Disruptors a blasphemy worse than Apostates’ corruption; tech stripping his divine Architect soul, his Rootsite’s anchor, and his Verdant Lord form’s cradle of power.

’Damn you if you think I’d die without putting up a fight!’

He was desperate, but he would fight till the end.

He’d fight, die if he must, to protect his 100 square kilometer throne.

Was he scared? Yes, he was scared to death but at this moment, his spite burned hotter than his panic.

...

The hub was a crucible of desperation.

The Apostate failed to escape, one of the more powerful Shrikes blocking her path, forcing her back into the battle.

She was angry. She was frustrated. She was desperate.

She wove spectral tendrils, psychic knives slicing a Shrike’s exosuit, blood spraying, her voice a banshee’s wail.

"You’ll choke on our ruin!"

Echoterra’s betrayals fueled her power.

Desperate and with her life on the line, her Aspect blossomed like never before, and yet it was still not enough.

Beside her again, Clayton loosed another Spine Bloom arrow, venom-sap searing Vex’s shoulder, Bloodthorn Fang sizzling her exosuit’s joints.

His Core Maw snapped, absorbing stray Embers from the dead heat-kin and cold-kin, easing Aspect Strain slightly. They were no allies, enemies even but in the face of a common enemy, they set their hate aside to cooperate and fight together.

Their spite held them and kept them pushing, barely clinging to life, but Disruptors choked their Aspects, Null Blades carving Embers like executioners.

Vex lunged, Null Blade slashing Echoes’ tendrils, Embers bleeding starlight, her psychic shield cracking.

"Traitor die!" Vex roared, visor cracked, blood trickling, leg charred from molten slag.

A Shrike flanked them again, Disruptor pulses narrowing, forcing Clayton’s Spine Bloom thorns to wither, Core Maw faltering.

Echoes’ tendrils lashed, impaling a Shrike’s arm, his scream cut by a Null Blade counter, severing her cloak, Embers spilling.

Clayton vaulted rubble, arrow grazing a Shrike’s chest, venom-sap sizzling, Tremor Sense blurring under Disruptors.

The Expanse quaked, a bone-rattling tremor shaking the hub.

Mycoglyphs flared like dying stars, Earthcore Nexus’s hunger surging, sentient roots recoiling in terror.

And under all that commotion, something stirred.

A third party stirred.

An Ancient horror stirred, an ancient being at the 3rd rank of the Genesis Ranking. A Verdant Warden rank Behemorph, its presence a cosmic nightmare, alien and vast.

Clayton never thought a being of this rank was in the Forgotten Atlanta Expanse, but here it was, live and direct.

BZZZ!

The pressure of its existence, its awakening, its ancient, malevolent aura, pressed on the humans like a burden, filling them with terror.

Slumbering for eons, the fungal colossus shifted beneath the ruins, tendrils probing, spores older than Earth’s Genesis Collapse whispering annihilation.

The battle’s commotion; Aspects, Embers, blood had roused it, but its awakening was slow, gradual, giving the Shrikes time to end their prey.

Even in the face of a World-ending titan like this, the Ironblood Remnants still wanted to complete their mission.

DING!

~----~

[Behemorph Detected: Vardent Warden Rank]

[Crown Type: Unknown]

[Danger: CALAMITOUS]

[SYSTEM WARNING: Awakening incomplete. Engagement not advised.]

~----~

Clayton’s panic spiked, his Architect Aspect a caged god, but spite roared louder. He bellowed, Core Maw devouring a stray Echoes tendril, Spine Bloom firing thorns at a Shrike, venom-sap grazing his chest.

Echoes fought on, tendrils weaving a psychic lance, piercing a Shrike’s leg, blood pooling, but Disruptors tightened, her Aspect flickering.

Vex’s Null Blade slashed, Embers bursting, forcing Echoes to retreat, spectral cloak fading into the ruins amid her psychic screams.

"This isn’t over, Ironblood!"

It was a vow of vengeance carved in malice.

And once again, she tried to escape, trying to take advantage of the commotion caused by the awakening of the ancient Behemorph to slip past the tight cage of the Ironblood.

And once again, Clayton stood alone, Regalia trembling, Aspect a dying ember.

Vex advanced, exosuit hissing, Null Blade glowing with anti-Genesis runes, Disruptor pulse crushing his Core Maw.

"Verdant Lord," she said, voice as cold as ash. "Your reign ends here".

"You shouldn’t have come here".

Clayton’s response?

Well, the moment that the Verdant Warden Behemorph awoke, literally right on top of his Rootsite, he knew that he was f*cked.

He smirked, spite his last breath, Architect soul unbowed. "Try taking a god’s crown, junkie".

Vex lunged, Null Blade piercing his Heartseed Core, Embers erupting. 104 Genesis Embers erupted, radiant, a fleeting supernova against his 6,000 cap.

CRACK!

Clayton froze as he felt something crack inside of him... his Heartseed Core.

Pain consumed him, his life flashing before his eyes: from Echoterra’s Verdant Cradle burning, to his sister’s voice fading in Scorchpath’s ash, to returning to Earth’s collapse after 330 years of exile.

His Regalia clattered to the ground, Rootsite’s pulse dimming, Earthcore Nexus’s hunger silent.

Clayton Hunt, outlier, king of thorns, Verdant Lord, collapsed, blood pooling, his divine Architect defiance snuffed out.

DING!

~----~

[System Alert: Host Status – Terminated]

[Genesis Embers Released: 104]

~----~

The hub quaked, the Verdant Warden’s tendrils stirring, it’s slow awakening a dirge for a fallen god.

Clayton died.

...

[Sorry if updates have been a bit shaky. I’m dealing with stress and a little sickness. Hopefully, I’ll be better soon.]