A rough count put at least 20 exoframe giants flanking the Titan, each wielding different weapons, maintaining the same formation they had held two centuries ago when they first ventured into the city’s depths.

The Slime Mold had consumed them, and remade them into the guardians of the ruin.

Feeling the suffocating pressure bearing down, nearly 3,000 players along the street swallowed hard in unison.

Construction Boy gulped as he glanced at his RPG that looked like a toy. He muttered under his breath, “... We’re screwed.”

The monster they’d fought so hard to kill turned out to be just an elite mob.

The real boss had only just arrived.

Despite the chill crawling up his spine, Sideline Slacking gritted his teeth and grabbed his weapon.

They had already deceived Thea, luring her forces straight into the New Alliance’s trap and holding nearly the entire Tide at bay.

Now the Mother Body’s defenses were at their weakest.

If they could seize this chance to take it down, they could win the war.

At least, they could end the year’s crisis.

“Prepare for battle!”

No matter what happened, they could not fall!

...

“Holy crap... is that thing a Titan?”

Inside the Lofty Cloud weaving between skyscrapers, Falling Feather took a quick glance at the fog-covered city below and couldn’t help exclaiming in shock.

A six story tall steel giant stood motionless in the street, its square armor plates covered in scarlet Slime Mold growth like patches of moss. A deep, resonant roar rolled across the entire district.

The Death Corps brothers probably ran right into that thing.

He wanted to help them, but he had a more important mission.

“Hang in there, brothers...”

The Goblin Corps were on their way. Air support would reach them soon.

Gritting his teeth, Falling Feather pushed the throttle forward and accelerated toward the city center. The closer he got, the faster his heartbeat pounded in his chest.

Then, a soft whisper brushed past his ear.

“Yiwu!” (I see it)

The spores in the air had completely fused with the wasteland, It was like a god of this land, every breeze its breath.

This was a form of life Little Feather had never seen before.

From that overwhelming presence, it felt a flicker of primal fear. The being it was symbiotic with, Falling Feather, could never stand against It. They were too weak.

Even if all of them joined together, they couldn’t match a single strand of Its being.

“Don’t be afraid. Tell me, where is it?” Falling Feather sensed Little Feather’s unease and spoke gently while focusing on controlling the plane.

Little Feather calmed slightly.

“I can bring you to It... but I’m not confident we can defeat It.” (Yiwuuu)

Falling Feather replied, “Don’t worry. You won’t face it alone, I’ll be right there with you!”

Little Feather’s tone grew somber. “You’ll die... maybe I won’t. The one with you is only my sub-entity. But you, you’ll be eaten, along with the part of me that’s inside you.” (Yiwuuuuuu!)

“Die?” Falling Feather grinned. “Relax, I don’t die that easily.”

He was the New Alliance’s ace pilot, after all!

Thinking he’d die just because he got shot down once? That was underestimating him way too much.

Little Feather still hesitated.

“Really?” (Yiwu?)

Gripping the control stick with both hands, Falling Feather answered firmly, “I promise you, even if my heart stops beating, three days later I’ll still stand before you again.”

Silence came for some time, then that soft voice returned. “Forever?” (Yiwuu?)

Without a thought, Falling Feather laughed and answered without hesitation. “Of course!”

Though he couldn’t see Little Feather deep underground, he could feel its joyful excitement in the sounds it was making.

Pale pink tendrils seeped out from the backs of Falling Feather’s hands, slowly extending toward the control stick, wrapping around it like invisible hands holding his own.

Within seconds, those tendrils merged into the aircraft’s main control system, spreading throughout the cockpit.

Falling Feather showed no sign of panic at the transformation.

He trusted Little Feather. It wouldn’t mess with him at such a critical moment.

And as he expected, the instant the tendrils fused with the cockpit’s systems, a surge of sensation coursed through his body.

He felt his consciousness sink, then, in a flash, he realized his mind had fused completely with the aircraft!

The forward-swept wings felt like his arms. He could feel the air streaming over the wingtips as though it brushed against his fingertips.

In all his years of flying, he had never experienced anything like it.

It was as if he had become a bird soaring between skyscrapers, every impossible maneuver as effortless as breathing.

He wasn’t piloting the Lofty Cloud.

He was the Lofty Cloud!

“Holy fuuuuuuuck!”

The astonishing sensation filled him with exhilaration.

It felt like his entire understanding of flight had ascended to another realm, the mythical state of fusion between man and machine!

Sensing his excitement, Little Feather yapped happily.

“Fuck!”

For once, Falling Feather ignored its foul mouth, his heart overflowing with joy.

“Hahaha! This is incredible, Little Feather!”

“Yiwuuu!” (We’re getting closer! It’s already noticed us!)

“Got it!”

Watching the skyscrapers streak past outside the canopy, Falling Feather flipped off the gun safety with a single thought and locked his gaze on the hazy gray horizon, lips curling into a fierce grin.

“I’m ready!”

...

At the same time that the Lofty Cloud arrived over the battlefield, the 20-man Burning Corps squad had already glided across the second ring and reached the center of Clearspring City.

There, at the root of the spore cloud, was blanketed year-round in a dense, tangible gray fog. Even veterans like Old White and Ample Time, players who’d been around since launch, had never seen what lay there.

It wasn’t so much a crater as a vast, sunken basin.

The usual rules of nuclear-bomb-resistant architecture meant nothing there. Under that absolute heat and explosion, the concrete and rebar at ground zero had been pulverized into dust, completely erased from the world.

The buildings that once stood at the crater’s center had simply vanished, leaving not even rubble behind.

The surrounding area was devastated, collapsed skyscrapers either sheared in half or ripped from the ground entirely, foundations and underground garages included.

The communication channel fell dead silent.

Every player was stunned speechless by what they saw.

Gripping his glider’s handles tightly, Ample Time’s expression shifted from shock to grim realization.

It was unbelievable, even a strategic weapon of such a magnitude hadn’t been enough to erase the Main Mother Body from the planet’s surface.

And strangely, after crossing into the city’s inner ring, they saw no sub-entities at all.

Where had they gone?

Just then, Falling Feather’s faint, crackling voice came over the comms.

“... Little Feather has locked onto the Main Mother Body’s position. The nearest entrance is about 600 meters west of your location, I’ve marked it on your map.”

Hovering above, Old White frowned. “It’s underground?”

Falling Feather’s reply was firm. “Should be. Most of the spores in this area are venting from a well and its body should be buried below. I’ll provide as much air support as I can, but I can only hit what’s on the surface.”

Old White replied came instantly. “Copy that. Stay safe.”

Falling Feather grinned. “Relax, I won’t be coming down unless it’s over.”

The signal was bad as their transmission cut in and out.

Not wasting time on chatter, Old White confirmed the landing coordinates on his VM and led the group down.

Once their boots hit the ground, they immediately raised weapons and formed up.

But to their surprise, no swarm of Evolved Types surged up to engulf them. The silence was so complete it made them uneasy.

Had they landed in the wrong place?

Everywhere they looked, they saw only ruins, jagged building remains and exposed high-rise foundations jutting from the ground like broken ribs.

The layers of collapsed concrete piled into man-made hills, half-buried under dust and sand. Standing among them on the ground was far more overwhelming than viewing it from the air.

Yet something was deeply wrong, they hadn’t seen a single trace of Slime Mold.

“Where’s the vent?” Quit Smoking whispered tensely.

Old White scanned the area. “Falling Feather said it’s nearby... spread out and search.”

No evolved forms attacking was a relief, for now.

But just then, Night Ten, who had been frowning silently, suddenly spoke. “Do you guys hear something?”

At his ominous words, everyone froze, but before they could react, a violent tremor rolled up from beneath their feet.

The sand began to sink, along with the nearby slabs of broken concrete.

Seeing the collapsing ground, Ample Time’s face changed instantly.

“Shit!”

He finally realized why there hadn’t been any sub-entities.

The Main Mother Body wasn’t hiding somewhere nearby. It had never hidden at all. It was the land beneath their feet, fused completely with the earth itself.

They were standing right on top of its head.