Huh… this doesn’t look that bad, Isaac noted as he watched his new creation dance above his palm. Still not perfect, but I’m finally getting somewhere.

  Over two hours. That was how long he had spent experimenting with his Origin and the flames he could now control. For most of that time, he had made little progress, but a bit over ten minutes ago, he had finally managed to create the thing floating before him.

  From far away, it might have looked like just another flickering flame—only much darker, almost black. But upon a closer look, it was easy to realize that what Isaac held was no flame at all.

  Why?

  Because it was almost all blood. Much darker than usual and shaped like a fire wisp, but blood nonetheless. Only the bits of smoke it occasionally released pointed to what it had once been. Well, that and the warmth.

  Blood might be warm by nature, but the thing above his palm took it to another level. It was hot, burning hot. Not for him, though.

  Sure, he could feel the temperature, and sometimes, it even grew a bit uncomfortable, especially when it drifted too close to his skin. But that was pretty much the extent of it.

  No pain. No scorch marks. Just way above average temperature.

  As for how Isaac achieved this strange fusion of blood and fire? Truth be told, it was much easier than he had expected. It just took him some time to realize that he had been approaching this entire process the wrong way.

  At first, he had once more started the experimentation by trying to force fire into blood constructs in hopes that brute force would work this time.

  It didn’t.

  All his attempts accomplished was blasting him off the branch he had been sitting on. Which, in hindsight, wasn’t too smart of him. Worse, those goddamn trees were tall. Very tall. Falling from one wasn’t an experience Isaac wanted to repeat.

  So he stayed on the ground and got blasted off his feet a few more times. Then, after the tenth attempt produced no real progress, he accepted that he might need to change his approach.

  Took him long enough? Maybe, but he wanted to make sure he had tried everything on that front.

  Either way, given how unsuccessful the Interface’s method of achieving Origin Fusion had been, he decided to go outright against it. At the very least, it couldn’t hurt to try.

  And so, Isaac reversed the process. Rather than forcing fire into blood, he did the opposite. To his surprise, for once his attempt didn’t explode in his face. A welcome change of pace.

  The first try was far from perfect, though. All it really did was darken the flame a bit. So, he tried again. Again. And again. Until finally, he found himself on the right path.

  The Interface Guide might have been wrong about forcing fire into blood, but it didn’t lie about the latter having to remain as the main source of his power. Really, it was as simple as that. At least in theory.

  In practice, it took Isaac a few more attempts to get it right.

  He continued infusing fire with his blood, but once that was done, he reversed the flow. He unleashed his Origin upon the flames, forcing it to slowly consume and assimilate the lesser element from within.

  Somehow, it worked. The strange dark mass of blood shaped like a flame was proof of that.

  Of course, as he had already observed, achieving perfection would still take some time. Isaac didn’t mind that at all. Another day or two and Fusion would be his. He could feel it.

  Or maybe I can even get it to—

  Yet again, Isaac’s train of thought was cut off by an Interface notification. He narrowed his eyes.

  Warning, Hosts! A wave of powerful monsters is awakening, with a normal swarm moving to assist. Eight threats have been marked on your map. Move quickly and don’t let the Treants reach your Titan!

  The ground shook, a demonic, ear-shattering screech filling the entire Battleworld. Isaac didn’t waste time. He transformed and shot high into the sky, while also opening the map.

  Just as the Interface had warned, eight red dots were marked on it. All were quite far from the Victory Road and thus the Titan. But given their name, he doubted it would take them long to make the trip.

  Isaac scanned the horizon, searching for the nearest marked spot.

  There.

  His gaze fell on an area where several massive trees were moving, twisting, and slowly combining with one another. In a matter of seconds, a Treant stood in their place. It kind of resembled the Earth’s Titan, only without the stone and flowers.

  The beast took its first step forward, and the trees before it parted, letting it walk without any obstacles in its path.

  Not good, Isaac thought, spotting two more of those massive creatures moving a bit farther away. Analyze.

  Potential Threat: Moderate-High

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Honestly, it could have been worse. Isaac didn’t dare to say that out loud, though. Eight of those creatures, plus a swarm? That was more than enough to deal with.

  He opened the group chat with his friends and quickly sent a short message.

  “I will take care of the ones in the west. Let me know if you need help afterward.”

  Group chat dismissed, Isaac enabled Hybrid mode and shot for the closest Treant. Mana merged with Viron, some blood soon joining the two. He fed it all into his newest favorite skill combination.

  Sacrificial Cursed Draw and Obliteration.

  A crimson, shimmering aura enveloped his Legacy while a massive charge of energy gathered in his beak. He tucked his wings and dove straight for the Treant’s torso. A second later, he slammed into bark, releasing both skills.

  The massive monster staggered back and stumbled on something—maybe its own legs. Isaac pushed this advantage and fired a few exploding spears at the gouge he had created in the Treant’s body.

  It went down the rest of the way.

  It wasn’t dead, though. Far from it. That left Isaac with only one real option if he wanted to deal with this and two more Treants quickly.

  He opened the floodgates in his Core and reached for the power slumbering within.

  Chimera Protocol: Life.

  Genesis roared at his command, taking control of all his power and using it to remake his body. Still high in the air, bones broke, and flesh grew outward, expanding to create the familiar shape of a Worldeater. His sight vanished, replaced by the perfect image of his surroundings in his mind.

  Then, the transformation ended.

  He dropped jaw-first onto the Treant sprawled on the ground beneath.

  Thanks to the high drop and the extreme weight of his new body, Isaac tore straight through the creature’s torso and plunged into the ground below. A kill notification flashed in his mind, but he ignored it and used his hyper senses to move right beneath the next Treant.

  There, he burst out of the ground, his mouth snapping shut around the beast’s leg. It let out a howl, but Isaac didn’t give it a chance to recover. He let go of the crushed leg and, like a snake, wrapped around its remaining body and squeezed with all his strength.

  Branches broke. Trunks shattered. The Treant released one final, wailing shriek before going still.

  Two dead. One more.

  Without another thought, Isaac released the corpse and dove back underground. The roots in his path shattered, probably uprooting more than a few trees above him. Not that any of this stopped him. Not in this form.

  Within seconds, he found himself deep below the final Treant. The creature continued walking, none the wiser of its kin’s demise. It would be its final mistake.

  Sacrificing more energy from his Core, Isaac forced his body to move even faster. He erupted from the ground a few feet behind the Treant and slammed into its back.

  They both went down, Isaac’s sizable body crushing the beast beneath him.

  Yet, unlike the others, this Treant refused to die quietly. Its long, gnarled arms bent and reached for Isaac, trying to push him off. It failed, but a few sharpened, branch-like fingers slipped into gaps in his armored flesh.

  Isaac growled and lifted his head. A split second later, he slammed it back down, using it like a makeshift hammer. The beast’s grip around the lower part of his body slackened. Then, it was gone entirely.

  Another notification appeared in his mind.

  [Lesser Treant (LVL. 48) slain.]

  Not wasting another second, Isaac let go of his Genesis. His body transformed, and he collapsed to his knees atop the dead Treant, gasping for breath. His Core burned too, just like it did after the first time he had used Chimera Protocol.

  Still, it was a small price for how fast he had dealt with those three creatures. Could he have killed them without Genesis? Definitely, but it would have taken too long, and there was still plenty left to do.

  Gotta keep moving, Isaac thought, grimacing. Everything hurt, but not enough to stop him from helping. He had Unbreakable Will to thank for that.

  And so, with a tug on his Legacy, he transformed and shot toward the Victory Road. As expected, it was filled with familiar monsters. On the way, he checked the map and confirmed that only two of the eight Treants remained. He would leave those to the others.

  Crimson Cataclysm.

  The sky around Isaac darkened. He dove at the swarm.

  The swarm didn’t last long. Once the final Treant fell, monsters stopped pouring out of the forest. From there, it was just a matter of cleaning up the stragglers before the Victory Road was empty once again.

  All in all, this fight went much better than the last one. According to Carmela’s report, the Titan had been hit only three times, and none of the Treants had even come close to reaching it.

  Not a flawless victory, but close.

  Isaac, just like the last time, didn’t stick around for long. He collected his share of Virality Gems, checked the notifications, which included another level-up, and left for the Safe Zone. There, he found a secluded spot near the field where the Warp Portals were supposed to spawn and waited.

  Truth be told, he had no idea whether he should enter one right away. Sure, he wanted to pull any of his would-be-assassins away from the Battleworld, but given what had happened over the past few hours, he might be needed here more than he had expected.

  Decisions, decisions… Isaac hummed, glancing at the timers in the corner of his vision. Twenty more seconds.

  He leaned against one of the rare trees inside the Safe Zone and waited. The timer dropped to ten. Then five. And finally, zero.

  New notifications flared to life but, for the time being, went ignored. Isaac’s gaze was glued to the field before him and to the tears in reality that had just begun to appear above it.

  One turned into five. Five turned into fifteen. And fifteen… only became thirty, to his surprise.

  He waited a moment longer, waiting for more to pop up.

  It didn’t happen.

  Huh. That’s good. Very good, even.

  Isaac pulled his attention away from the Warp Portals and finally acknowledged the new lengthy notification.

  Attention everyone! Warp Portals are now active and ready to be used. Remember: each Portal can only transport one Host before closing, and its destination is random. Moreover, every Portal must recharge before appearing again. Recharge times vary.

  About what I already expected, Isaac thought. Nothing about their low number, though.

  Hosts of Earth and Oblivis! Global Tasks are now unlocked. Be aware that each task must be completed within its assigned time frame. Otherwise, any potential rewards will be lost.

  Additionally, some tasks might be marked as “Versus.” In those rare cases, only the world that completes the task first will receive the rewards. Make sure your world is the winner.

  First Global Task: Slaughter

  For this task, Hosts must simply kill monsters of Broken Strain to fill the progression bar. Beware, kills on Battleworlds are not counted. Good luck.

  Current Progress: 0% | Time limit: <35h:37m:11s>

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