Chapter 600: Chapter 600 - Taming the Swarm - 15 - Descent

"Ren." Julius’s voice reached him as if coming from very far away, though he stood only a few meters distant. "What’s happening?"

Ren turned slowly to look at his allies. Julius, Selphira, Zhao, all of them watched him with expressions of concern and fascination at the same time.

"The artifacts," Ren said, his voice strangely distant, as if he were speaking through an echo. "They all seek to reach the castles."

"How do you know that?" Selphira asked, her eyes studying the patterns spreading across his skin.

"Because I’m connected to them," Ren replied simply. "And they’re connected to me."

Selphira and Julius exchanged a look loaded with meaning.

"Are you... still you?" Julius asked directly.

Ren considered the question carefully.

The roots pulsed more strongly, and he felt that the moment of decision was now. The hybrid power that had been accumulating in his system had reached a critical point. Every cell in his body thrummed with energy that demanded release.

Through the network, he could sense how the scorpion-creature was growing desperate, preparing to resume its relentless march toward the objective with or without him.

The fourth artifact was close... Once that fusion was completed, they would have four artifacts united in a single entity.

And then they would head toward the castles, toward the people.

"I have to go," Ren murmured, taking a step toward the wall’s edge.

"Ren!" Julius shouted, reaching out toward him. "You can’t face that alone!"

"Wait!" Selphira added.

But Ren barely heard them.

The roots beneath his skin pulsed with energy that made his entire body glow with purple light. The patterns extended to his eyes, transforming his vision into something that could perceive the flow of energy itself.

Every cell of his body vibrated with hybrid power that demanded liberation, that roared to be used.

Those who had shouted and those who had realized what was happening, Zhao, Selphira, and Julius, were about to grab him.

But he channeled part of the accumulated energy toward his legs, combining wind and the new hybrid force in a single explosion of propulsion. The impact pushed back the three powerful adults and completely destroyed the summit of the ice wall where he had been standing, sending crystalline fragments in all directions.

The frozen platform, which had withstood the weight of hundreds of people and the siege of enormous creatures, simply disintegrated under the force of Ren’s launch.

Selphira had to create a shield with the same ice in an emergency maneuver to protect the group from fragments of her own creation.

Ren had shot through the air like a purple projectile, his trajectory perfectly calculated to impact directly against the scorpion-creature’s center of mass. Elements swirled around him as he flew: wind that increased his speed, wood and rock that hardened his body like living armor, fire that supported the wind’s propulsion.

The impact was catastrophic.

Ren struck the creature with the force of a meteor, drilling directly through its exoskeleton and creating an explosion of elemental energy. The abomination, which literally weighed hundreds of times more than him, staggered backward while roaring in pain and surprise.

But Ren didn’t stop there.

Using the creature’s moment of disorientation, he channeled his earth control to create a series of enormous holes beneath the abomination’s hind legs. The ground opened while explosions of wind and fire attacked its joints.

The scorpion-creature collapsed to one side. Ren took immediate advantage, as he ran along the beast body his hands glowed with elemental combinations he had never attempted before.

Fire, light, and minerals fused into superheated plasma that cut through corrupted flesh like butter. Wood, darkness, and water combined into black sludge that devoured exposed flesh. Bolt after bolt of pure energy pierced the exoskeleton, creating wounds that smoked and bled.

But the artifacts themselves remained intact, pulsing with their own energy while the surrounding flesh slowly regenerated.

Ren dodged a claw that passed centimeters from his head. "The artifacts are still invulnerable," he murmured in that strange, cold voice.

The creature managed to get back on its feet, quickly adapting to Ren’s tactics. Its movements became more defensive, protecting the areas where the artifacts were connected while using them to create barriers against elemental attacks.

But Ren had found his rhythm.

The hybrid power coursing through his veins didn’t just give him strength, it gave him understanding. He could see the creature’s regeneration patterns, predict where new tissues would form, anticipate weak points before the creature itself knew them.

He moved like never before. It wasn’t just speed, it was perfect fluidity. Each step, each leap, each attack flowed into the next in a dance of destruction that was both beautiful and terrible.

His attacks became more sophisticated. Combinations of four simultaneous elements that created entirely new effects.

The creature roared in frustration as each regeneration was immediately followed by a new attack that caused even more damage.

But Ren was losing energy fast...

And then, as if the roar had been a signal, the small mutant creatures that had been advancing toward the wall went mad.

Hundreds of them swarmed around the battle, forming concentric circles.

And then the scorpion-creature opened all its mouths at once and released another shriek that wasn’t just sound.

The shriek hit Ren with force, but this time it managed to affect him. During the last few minutes of intense combat, he had been constantly discharging the hybrid energy, bringing the internal sensations down to a point where he could perceive them again.

They were terrifyingly intense.

And now, with his system less overloaded, he could feel every nuance of the sonic attack.

It was overwhelming.

The pain wasn’t just physical. It was as if every fiber of his being was being unraveled and reassembled. His connections to the elements wavered, his control over the roots faltered.

His perfect fluid motion stuttered, then stopped entirely.

He was paralyzed.

The ground trembled as another massive form approached from the north. Through the network connection, Ren could feel its hunger, its desperate need to join with its siblings and become something greater.

In that moment of vulnerability, the fourth artifact arrived.