Isaac’s crimson ultimate wasn’t the only one to light up the sky. Within seconds, dozens more followed. Moons, stars, suns, and other celestial bodies. There were plenty of other area-wide abilities too, ranging from floating glowing motes to streaks of light that went on for hundreds of feet.

  Honestly, all that was kind of overwhelming… and blinding. Still, he couldn’t let that distract him. Not now. Not when the power surging through his body eclipsed anything he had ever felt before.

  Distracting they might be, but many of those ultimates were clearly boosting more than just their casters. Isaac and the other front-line fighters had to use this massive advantage to end this fight before it truly began.

  You with me?

  At this simple thought, the Symphony and the Root slumbering in his body awoke. Without another prompt, the two exchanged power and slowly became one. Symbiosis took their place and connected itself right to his Core.

  Isaac let out a loud caw.

  Let’s go.

  Blood surged around him, thick shields forming as tendrils of sand rushed toward him. Cursed Draw also flared across his feathers, shredding whatever slipped past his barriers. Still, that wasn’t enough. Never would be.

  With the force granted by the Blood Moon, Burnout, and every active ultimate surrounding him, Isaac ripped through a wall of sand and climbed higher. Below, a gaping wound in the worm’s armored hide came into view. Now, it wasn’t the head he was aiming for, but it didn’t mean he was planning to ignore it.

  Sacrificial Obliteration.

  He dropped like a meteor, crimson gathering around his beak. Sand clouds tried to get in his way, but streaks of violet and green vaporized them before they reached him. Who had just helped him, Isaac didn’t know. Not that it mattered.

  Hope it hurts, he thought, and slammed right into the worm’s damaged flesh.

  Blood exploded around him. Isaac reached for it all, molding it into a massive blade that he plunged into the now exposed dark muscles of the worm. He tried to follow up with another Obliteration, but there was no time for that.

  With a powerful beat of his wings, he shot back into the sky. Sand brushed the end of his tail as a literal tidal wave washed over the spot he had previously occupied. The combined power of the Root and Symphony had once more saved him.

  Thanks! he sent, shooting toward where the worm’s head should be. Attacking the previous spot made no sense now. Not with how much sand the monster had brought to shield it. Better to save his strength for the real target.

  And so, with Freedom mode still active, Isaac pushed even more blood into Burnout. He sped up ever so slightly, weaving in between all the chaos around him. In seconds, he had lost count of how many sand tendrils or allied skills he had dodged or blocked.

  At the very least, he was only one of the few insane enough to fly so close to the worm. Most front-liners stayed farther back to avoid the constant barrage of skills coming from the army at the border. It probably made dealing with the endless sand tendrils easier, too.

  Just hold on a bit longer.

  At last, the worm’s ruined head came into view. A few Chains of Heaven still clung to it, but they weren’t enough to stop the beast’s thrashing… or its ability to summon dozens of sand constructs at once.

  Tentacles. Flying abominations. Sand replicas of monsters Isaac had fought in the past. The worm was throwing everything it had to protect the remnants of its head.

  Not good, he thought, blasting apart three constructs with Obliteration-infused Blood Daggers. Close by, Carmela’s draconic Legacy fired a couple of golden bullets. Meanwhile, Harry’s Somnara clashed against the endless tentacles sprouting out of the ground.

  There were more people here—members of Isaac’s small team—but he didn’t waste time observing them all. Rather, he put his whole focus back on the flailing head. They needed to pin it down and break through the thick layer of sand shielding its destroyed mouth.

  Crimson Fury.

  While he doubted his blood ravens could do much here, a distraction was still a distraction. And he was proven right when a chunk of the flying sand monsters and several tendrils shot toward his summons.

  My turn.

  Back in Hybrid mode, Isaac dove straight for the head. Some sand constructs moved to intercept. He greeted them with Cursed Draw on his feathers and some blades of pure blood. A few skills from his teammates also came his way, clearing the path.

  Yet, that still wasn’t enough.

  Just as Isaac was about to slam into the sand barrier protecting the worm’s mouth, a couple of tendrils shot out of it and wrapped around him faster than he could react. In a blink, he was flung across the sky.

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  Okay, so it won’t be that easy. Got it.

  He righted himself mid-air and flew back toward the worm. No matter how many times he failed here, the mission remained the same. Kill the worm before any more of those creatures could appear. There was no time for doubts.

  Maker’s Shell.

  His Legacy liquefied mid-air, twisting into the monstrous humanoid form of his skill. Upon landing, he ripped through the first sand constructs in his way and jumped high, landing atop Somnara. He caught the eye of Harry’s Legacy above him and nodded.

  Instantly, a massive, meaty hand grabbed him.

  “Now!” he yelled, despite lacking a mouth in this form.

  Somnara drew its arm back and hurled him straight at the worm. Again, sand constructs tried to intercept, but Isaac tore through them like the living bullet he had become. At the same time, a barrage of multicolored bullets slammed into the back of the worm’s flailing head, shoving it directly into his path.

  Then the tentacles came again.

  But Isaac was ready.

  With a twist of Blood Manipulation, he shifted just enough for the first tendril to miss. The others slammed into his body like spears, punching clean to the other side. Now, for most, this would have been the end. Not for Isaac, though. Not when he was in Maker’s Shell.

  He reached for a bit of Viron and detonated the sand lodged inside him. A heartbeat later, he landed atop the worm.

  It didn’t like that.

  Before he could even think of activating a single skill, almost all nearby constructs went right for him. Worse, where the worm’s movements had been wild before, now they became outright erratic and violent. He barely managed to hold on as the creature writhed beneath him.

  Oh, shit!

  For once, Isaac thanked the heavens he had no stomach in this form. With the sand hammering into his back and the worm’s violent thrashing, he would have thrown up a dozen times by now. Or maybe he wouldn’t, who really knew at this point.

  Either way, getting on top of the monster didn’t actually let him do much. The real benefit was that his teammates could finally focus less on the constructs and more on the worm itself.

  And sure, based on the way the creature’s movement grew only more wild, it was suffering. But Isaac also couldn’t hold on like this forever. Maker’s Shell would run out of power sooner or later.

  For a moment, his mind went in circles, trying to figure out how to capitalize on his position. Then a stranger's voice made the decision for him.

  “Oi! Jump!”

  Trusting his instincts, Isaac did just that. He had barely pushed off the creature when a glowing, yellowish arrow whizzed past him and slammed into the monster’s shielded mouth. At first, nothing happened. Then, an invisible force smashed down on the worm like a hammer, driving its body into the ground.

  That’s our chance.

  The others must have realized it, too. Within seconds, multiple ultimates lit up the area and went right for the thick layer of sand. Isaac followed right after in his Legacy, Mana and blood-enhanced Cursed Draw bleeding into Obliteration.

  The Ultimates struck first, destroying most of the barrier. Isaac finished the rest.

  He transformed and burst through—straight into the worm’s ruined mouth, straight into its body. And he didn’t stop there.

  On and on he went, the Root in his hand a whirlwind as he swung at the fleshy insides of the worm. Blood erupted everywhere, and despite his manipulation skill fighting him, Isaac drew on it all, shaping the lifeforce of his own enemy into blades that stabbed even deeper into its body.

  Finally, though, he stopped, a river of blood still trailing behind him. His boots sank into the writhing flesh beneath as the muffled echoes of battle rumbled from outside.

  He exhaled and reached for most of the energy left in his Core—blood and Viron both. Mana Surge followed.

  Die.

  Sacrificial Crimson Cataclysm.

  Normally, this skill would affect a large area, especially with how much power he had poured into it. But here, there just wasn’t enough space for it to form. Thus, what followed wasn’t a crimson rain dropping from the sky. No, it was an implosion of blood that took the shape of a tsunami.

  A tsunami that exploded the moment it touched the enemy.

  And well… the enemy was everywhere here.

  Isaac smiled.

  Boom.

  For a moment, red was all he could see as the world around him trembled. Then, the blood began to settle, and light reached his eyes. Still, he didn’t move and simply watched the chaos around him.

  He now stood among a sea of torn flesh and red sand. Two massive parts of the worm lay only a few feet apart. His Crimson Cataclysm had done it—ripped the beast in two. The worm didn’t move. The sand beneath it was still.

  [Fledging Worldeater (LVL. 67) slain.]

  There was more. So much more demanding his attention. Yet, before Isaac could summon those notifications, his almost empty Core stirred.

  No… it wasn’t the Core, but the Scar slumbering within.

  “The blood, Child. Give us the blood,” it whispered.

  Somehow, Isaac understood immediately what it meant. His lone manipulation skill stirred to life again, reaching for the blood spilling from both parts of the dead worm. To his surprise, the liquid obeyed without a fight, rushing toward him and sinking into his skin.

  The Scar flared once more.

  Isaac’s hold on the worm’s blood strengthened. Where before it had flowed in small streams, now literal rivers poured out of the corpse. Still, the Scar wanted more. Needed more.

  So he gave it all there was, his focus only on the blood. Hell, he barely registered it when a small crowd gathered around him, watching him with varying expressions. Some tried to approach, only to be held back by one of his friends.

  He would have to thank them.

  Later.

  Bit by bit, though, the pull weakened until it vanished completely. Isaac groaned and dropped to his knees, hands on the ground. His insides burned as the Scar in his Core flared up like a star. He felt its edges tear as something inside tried to escape.

  He reached out and offered his mental hand.

  The thing took it.

  Isaac’s world went dark as a final whisper registered in his mind.

  “Well done, my Child. The Genesis is yours.”

  Blood Genesis unlocked, Chimera Protocol.

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