Zero stepped into the guild hall just after sunrise, the faint bite of wind still clinging to his clothes.
[Challenge Timer: 27 Days Remaining] [: 49.3%]
He walked past the tables and pinched a new mission slip from the board.
Request: Beast Bloom Purge
Location: Southern Glade Ruins
Report: Astral beasts feeding on mutated plants, aggressive behavior noted.
Threat: D+ Tier
Reward: 18 Silver + Resource salvage bonus
He brought it to the counter. The clerk gave a short nod, didn't question him this time. Just stamped the paper and waved him through.
Zero left the town without delay. The streets slowly filled behind him.
The glade ruins were a few hours south. Broken stone paths cut through long grass. Vines choked old walls and statues. Flowers bloomed in strange shapes—purple blossoms with teeth, stalks that bent toward movement.
Zero stepped light.
Oathlink uncoiled slowly around his arms, the weight familiar.
[Warning: Beast Signature Detected] [Type: Astral Bloom Lynx] [Tier: D+] [Traits: Camouflage, Burst Agility, Floral Synchrony]
The first strike came without sound.
A blur of muscle and petals lunged from the left. Zero snapped his wrist. The chain caught mid-air, redirected the beast sideways. It twisted, rebounded off a stone, and vanished behind a burst of pollen.
He didn't chase.
He listened.
The air shifted. Then he turned and struck. The chain lashed right—smacked another lynx clean out of its hiding spot. [Beast Identified: Secondary Unit]
Two more crept in. He adjusted. Moved fast. Clean.
His chain flowed sharper than ever. It curved with his thoughts, snapped in wide arcs. One lynx lunged. He ducked, wrapped its limbs, and slammed it back into the ruins.
Another tried to flank. A twist—the chain split and caught it in the ribs.
But then came the pause.
Zero felt it before the system spoke.
[Environmental Shift Detected]
The flowers all turned at once. Toward him.
And from the deepest part of the ruin, something rose.
A lynx, larger than the rest, its fur braided with living roots and its jaws dripping spores. It stepped out onto the stone with unnatural grace.
[Elite Variant Detected: Bloomfang Matriarch]
[Tier: Mid C] [Threat: Elevated]
[Traits: Command Field, Regrowth, Spore Burst, Lure Pheromones]
Zero didn't blink.
His hands tightened.
The Matriarch opened its mouth and screamed. Vines lashed out.
Zero moved.
The chain danced.
The vines came fast—thick, thorned, laced with spores.
Zero ducked under the first sweep and lashed Oathlink across the air. The chain split mid-swing—one end struck a vine aside, the other wrapped a stone outcropping. He used it to launch himself left.
The Matriarch tracked him.
It didn't charge. It didn't need to.
Vines erupted from the ground, sensing motion. Flowers opened wide, spewing bursts of colored pollen that clouded the air.
[Air Quality Degrading – Minor Toxin Detected]
[Effect: Light Hallucinations Possible with Prolonged Exposure]
Zero held his breath.
Oathlink curled tight. He swung it low, carving a clean path through the mist. One lynx tried to flank from the side—he cracked the chain mid-turn and sent it flying into a tree.
He didn't slow down.
The Matriarch moved in a wide arc, almost gliding. Her root-covered legs made no sound. Vines moved ahead of her like feelers.
"She's controlling the terrain," Zero muttered.
[Confirmed: Command Field Active – Predictive Response Radius: 8 meters]
He narrowed his eyes.
"Then I stay inside the kill zone."
He sprinted forward.
Oathlink shot out, not as a weapon, but as a grappling line. It latched onto a broken archway above, and he launched himself forward, flipping through the air.
The Matriarch reacted instantly. A web of vines shot up, reaching to intercept.
But Zero wasn't aiming for her directly.
He twisted in the air, detached the chain from the arch and flung it sideways into a statue.
It shattered.
The falling debris slammed into the root-net, disrupting it. Zero landed in the opening, rolled once, and kept moving.
He got within range.
The Matriarch lunged.
Its claws gleamed not with blood, but with green light. Blossoms bloomed across its back mid-attack, launching petals like razors.
Zero crouched and spun low, chain whirling. The petals pinged off metal as the tip of Oathlink coiled around one of the Matriarch's front limbs.
He pulled.
The beast resisted—until he surged forward and twisted.
A crack. The limb gave.
The Matriarch shrieked, stumbling sideways.
Zero didn't let up.
He followed the motion, chain striking over and over in hammering waves. Once to the leg. Once to the ribs. A third time—around its throat.
It snapped the chain with a roar, the roots on its back tearing free and lashing out wildly.
Zero was thrown backward.
He hit the stone hard, rolled twice, and landed on his hands and knees.
[Peak Shardweaver: 52.7%]
He stood up anyway.
"You're not winning this."
The Matriarch crouched.
Its entire body bloomed—flowers opened across its spine, its shoulders, even its face.
[Ability: Spore Burst Incoming]
Zero didn't hesitate.
"System—Chain Pulse. All-in."
[Overclocking Oathlink Sync – Accept?]
[Warning: May cause short-term recoil.]
He nodded.
The chain gleamed. For a second, it felt hot in his hands—alive.
Then it snapped forward.
A flash of movement—too fast to follow.
The chain slammed into the Matriarch's chest, coiled once, then burst with a sharp shockwave.
Spore clouds exploded out—but not toward him. They were scattered, thrown off-course.
The Matriarch skidded back, leaving gouges in the stone. Blood—dark green and thick—leaked from its chest.
It tried to roar.
Zero was already moving. One last strike—focused, clean—drove the chain directly through its exposed neck.
The Bloomfang Matriarch fell with a dull thud.
[Target Neutralized]
[Elite Beast Core Obtained – Partial Corruption Present]
[Reward Pending…]
Zero stepped back, chest rising and falling.
His body hurt. His arms were sore.
But he stood.
The vines around the glade began to curl inward, retreating slowly. The flowers dimmed. The corrupted field was breaking.
He knelt beside the beast's core and closed his fingers around it.
"System… extract and purify."
[Warning: High Resistance Detected – Proceeding…]
Pain lanced through his arm—sharper than before.
His eyes narrowed. He didn't scream.
Then the light faded.
[Core Purified – Yield: +1 Talent Point, +18
[ Auto-Credit, 3 System Credits]
[Astral Progress: 57.9%]
Zero sat down slowly beside the body.
He didn't speak.
Didn't smile.
Just breathed.
And waited for the wind to return.