Chapter 45: The Lord of Ruin
BZZZ!
The Forgotten Atlanta Expanse shuddered as Clayton Hunt became something more than human, something humungous... something more like Verdant Lord.
He was the Verdant Lord, a titan of bark and thorn, towering fifteen feet above the shattered alley like a deity, his chest split with green fire, vines writhing like a god’s wrath.
His Heartseed Core roared, churning, defying the Voidstar Crucible’s nullifying wave that had nearly unmade him.
And then, roots; massive, sentient, pulsing with Territorial Sentience surged from the earth, untouched by the Ironblood’s tech, as if the Expanse itself refused to let him fall.
Commander Drayce froze, his black alloy exosuit glinting, chest-core flickering under the Verdant Lord’s gaze.
Rhea, her exosuit cracked from Clayton’s earlier vines, staggered beside the third soldier, a silent man with a plasma lance.
Joren’s body lay still, devoid of life, roots blooming from his chest.
The Genesis Suppressors hummed, but their pulses faltered against the primal fury of Clayton’s form.
"Thought you could burn me out?" Clayton’s voice boomed, no longer human but a chorus of roots and rage, laced with his Scorchpath cynicism.
"Big mistake, tech junkies".