The Fleshcrafter declared, "Now then, disciple... why don’t you show me what your little Hydra can truly do?"
Lazek Oberon stepped back, his dark grey cloak fluttering as he leaned against a massive, protruding root of the ancient tree. His five-meter-tall calamitous chimaera stood as a silent, grotesque sentinel behind him, its multifaceted eyes, leaking thick green mana, remaining fixed on the horizon.
Its presence alone was enough to make the surrounding air heavy and stagnant, a physical weight that suppressed the weaker Feral beasts still lurking in the undergrowth.
Grandmaster Echidna and Grandmaster David stood paralysed, their primary beasts, the Stone Rhino and the Vine Deer, fearful of the sheer density of the Grandmaster’s aura. Fabio, Paula, and the rest of the Wolfberg mercenary team were equally catatonic.
They had witnessed Kale carry sixty-kilo weights as a child and survive the Swamp Hatchery, but standing between two Fleshcrafters on a blood-soaked battlefield felt like standing at the centre of a world-ending storm.
Kale Ardentis did not hesitate. His light green hair whipped in the wind, and his eyes, now narrowed into draconic slits, shimmered with the Absolute Affinity of a Hexarion Human.
He felt the Beast Force pathways he had carved into his own flesh hum with readiness. On his shoulder, Neo shifted its three heads, all six eyes locked onto the fresh wave of predators emerging from the dense foliage of the Tigerwood Forest.
"Neo, Maximum Compression," Kale whispered.
The palm-sized Nemesis Hydra shot off his shoulder like a green arrow. As it moved, it let out a roar from all three heads... a sound that was a discordant mix of a dragon’s growl and the hissing of a vengeful serpent.
[Beast Ability: Monarch Beast activated].
A visible ripple of supreme pressure slammed into a vanguard of Feral-rank Shadow Sabres that were charging toward Reserve Line 4. The Sabres, beasts that usually thrived on the fear of their prey, skidded to a halt, their legs buckling as their bloodlines recoiled from the presence of an ultimate predator.
Before they could recover, Neo was upon them. Despite its size, the Hydra’s physical might was nonsensical.
It used the Draconic Body trait to tank a swipe from a Sabre’s claws, the green shimmering scales reflecting the strike without a single scratch. With a violent yank of its four lizard-like legs, Neo tore the throat out of the lead Sabre, while its other two heads independently snapped the necks of two more.
"Amazing..." Grandmaster David breathed, his eyes wide as he watched the tiny creature move with a speed that left trails of green starlight in the air. He had spent his life in this forest, but he had never seen such efficiency. Neo wasn’t just fighting; he was harvesting.
Kale didn’t let the momentum die. He channelled his Beast Force and mana through his internal pathways, his body operating at 150% capacity. He blurred into motion, appearing behind a cluster of disoriented Sabres. Using Lesser Mana Manipulation, he coated his daggers in a vibrating, high-frequency edge of pure mana that hummed with a deathly song.
SQUELCH. SQUELCH.
Kale became a methodical slaughterer, his daggers severing hamstrings and piercing core-centres with surgical precision.
He was no longer the frail boy who needed protection; his evolution into a Hexarion Human had granted him a physique that pulsed with raw, supernatural power and senses that could peer through the very flow of energy in the air.
The slaughter of the Ferals, however, only served to provoke the heavier hitters of the Tide. From the lightless gaps between the roots, four Alpha-rank Thorn-Husk Bears emerged. Their hides were reinforced with jagged, mana-conducting bark, and their eyes were bloodshot with madness.
"Alphas!" Fabio roared, finally snapping out of his daze and ordering his Pyro Cobra to prepare a searing whip of fire.
"Stay back," Kale commanded without looking back, his voice cutting through the sounds of combat like a cold blade.
Neo descended from the upper branches, its wings creating a violent gust of wind. It landed directly in front of the four Alphas, its small frame looking laughable against the three-meter-tall bears. But the Hydra’s heads rose high with distinct draconic arrogance.
[Beast Ability: Rattling Roar].
All three maws opened wide, and a concentrated psychic frequency shattered the air. The Thorn-Husk Bears let out wretched agonal screeches as the shockwave turned their primitive brains to mush.
They were frozen in absolute paralysis for exactly half a second... a window Kale and Neo had perfected in their private training.
In that half-second, Neo became a whirlwind of green scales and jagged fangs. It used the All Devour trait, its maws unhinging unnaturally wide to rip the pulsing, dark red cores directly from the chests of the still-standing Alphas.
[The Nemesis Hydra has devoured four Alpha-rank Cores].
[Ape-might trait integration: 5% progress].
[Physical Strength increased by 3%].
Lazek Oberon, who had been watching with his usual expression of terminal boredom, suddenly straightened. His eyes, glowing with violent, dark flames, narrowed as he observed the Hydra’s internal biological processes.
He could sense Neo’s four hearts and four brains pulsing in perfect synchronisation. Most chimaeras suffered from a lack of biological stability, their souls constantly fighting their grafted bodies.
But Neo was a masterpiece of biological harmony, skipping metabolic bottlenecks and integrating traits with a terrifying efficiency that defied the laws of Artificing.
"Marvellous... It’s already integrated the Octagon trait’s healing factor," Lazek murmured, a rare, prideful grin touching his lips. He saw Neo’s scales, which had been slightly dulled by an Alpha’s desperate counter-bite, glow with green light and repair themselves instantly.
The sight of the Alphas being turned into snacks broke the remaining morale of the secondary horde. But Lazek was no longer content to just watch. His murderous rage, which had been boiling since he found Kale on the verge of death, demanded more fuel.
"Well done, disciple," Lazek said, his figure blurring as he used a high-level Martial technique integrated with elemental propulsion. "But you are still too slow. Let me show you the majestic art of clearing trash."
What followed was a display of power that the forces of Greenroot Guild would remember for a long time. Master and disciple became two overlapping storms of slaughter.
Lazek was an executioner of obsidian death, his Void Shackles manifesting from thin air to drag Ravager-rank beasts into the light where his bare hands could crush their skulls. He used no complex spells, simply coating his feet in darkness mana and moving through the herds like a dancer through a ballroom of victims.
Beside him, Kale and Neo moved as one soul. Kale’s mana-enhanced daggers mirrored the strikes of Neo’s three heads. When a Ravager-rank Shadow Sabre tried to ambush Kale from the left, Neo used its wings to shield its master, its Draconic Body absorbing the impact before it counter-bit the beast’s head off in one clean motion.
The Wolfberg mercenaries watched, faces stark pale, as the ground of the root-plateau was painted black, red, and green. The iron scent of blood was so thick it became a physical mist.
Echidna looked at the palm-sized Hydra and then at the five-meter chimaera behind Lazek. Both were biological war machines that offended the design of the World Will.
"They aren’t just Artificers," she whispered, her voice trembling as she clutched her Stone Rhino’s horn for stability. "They are the architects of a new order."
Rando, watching from a distance, could barely reconcile this Kale with the one who had entered the Swamp Hatchery just days ago. The boy was no longer just a talented apprentice; he was a force of nature.
Every movement Kale made was efficient, every strike from Neo was lethal. There was no wasted energy, only the cold, calculated deletion of anything that stood in their path.
As the last of the Alpha-rank beasts in the vicinity was torn apart by Neo’s maws and Kale’s daggers, the sector finally went silent. The mountain of carcasses was so high it blocked the view of the forest floor.
Lazek stood in the centre of the carnage, his grey attire remarkably spotless. He looked at Neo, which was currently cleaning its central head, and then at Kale, who was wiping his bloodied daggers with a fresh cloth.
"Sector cleared," Lazek noted, the violent obsidian light in his eyes slowly fading back to boredom. He patted Kale’s shoulder, a gesture filled with a rare, unspoken respect.
Kale sheathed his daggers, his green eyes meeting his master’s. He felt Neo’s shared satisfaction through the bond, a dark pride that mirrored his own. The slaughter had only been the beginning.
With Lazek’s knowledge and Neo’s potential, the path forward was no longer a desperate crawl for survival... it was a march toward godhood.
The Fleshcrafter stated, "Okay, disciple, you go on and rest for now. I will need to have a talk with the Guildmaster, and then you will tell me everything. From start to finish."
Kale hesitated for a moment as if wanting to say something, but in the end, he closed his mouth and said nothing.