Far beneath the surface, in the winding, rotted veins of the Beast Vein Continent—where fungus-stained roots pulsed with dying light—Red-Cap stood alone within a chamber of calcified skulls and humming abomination cores. The ground breathed. The walls wept black ichor. Torches weren't used here. The chamber was lit by pulse-beacons—half-alive organs stitched from beast eyes and corrupted fireflies, glowing with pale green sickness. Suddenly, the wall to his right shuddered.
One of the massive demonic growths flared—and then cracked. An animus burst had struck from afar. A line of defense he had nurtured for decades…now gone.
Red-Cap didn't flinch.
WHHHRRRR—CLICK.
WHHHRRR—CLICK.
His grotesque form spasmed, he glided around on his wheeled sabatons twirling his scythe in sync with his erratic pulse.
"He spoke to the Bloom..."
His voice was soft.
Childlike.
But the words echoed as if spoken by a thousand layered mouths. One of his servants— a man scarab crawled into the chamber.
"Great Sovereign, we've confirmed it: Spirit Signatures of the Iron fang boy, resonating with—"
Red-Cap turned slowly.
"He's not a boy anymore."
He tilted his head toward a twisted map etched into the floor using bone dust and nerve-threads.
"The uncorrupted life streams within the Beast Vein's Will has…chosen."
The Scarab-servant hissed, lowering its head. "Shall we begin migration to the Root Maw Fortress?"
Red-Cap was silent.
Then he began laughing.
A gurgling, too-slow rhythm that broke into stutters. He skated around in crescent half circles.
WHHHRRR-CLICK.
WHHHRRR-CLICK.
"No."
He opened a single massive green eye, releasing tiny shards of corrupted animus that formed Ash's glowing outline midair—like a voodoo mockery.
He turned to the wall behind him—one covered in sleeping cocoons, each pulsing with distorted qi signatures, stolen Beast Bonds, and severed cores.
"Awaken them. The next wave."
As the cocoon walls cracked open, the sound of squelching flesh and muffled cries echoed.
Red-Cap, whispered with reverence.
"It's not war anymore, Iron fang…this is harvest."
Lightning crackled in the distance.
The smell of rust and rot hung thick in the air.
A Red-Cap logistics point loomed ahead, half-buried in fungal creepers and defended by flesh-towers that pulsed with demonic chi.
Lumbering Beast-Carriers—genetically mutilated horrors with cargo pods fused to their spines—shifted in place, overseen by a red-robed Scarab Alchemists and masked enforcers.
Suddenly—
"NOW!"
Torren stormed forward in a blur of frost-charged motion, his Storm fang wolf chi erupting behind him like a spectral beast.
He slammed into the nearest carrier, sending it staggering as frozen shockwaves arc through its mutated limbs.
Lira flipped into view, throwing qi-soaked mirage daggers that arced with illusion-breaking light, disrupting the cloaking fields around the node's perimeter.
"No hiding now!"
Soren Shadow claw slipped through the shadows mid-air, launching a Shadow claw tornado that pulled two enforcers into a vortex of whispering claws.
Kaelin Wind strike launched skyward, riding a gust borne from her Wind-Katana Array, slicing down at the carrier's control crest with blinding speed.
And Taryn frost bear slammed both glacial fists down in tandem with Torrens frost fang howl, locking the core carrier into place.
Then…
A red-and-blue glow shimmered above the battlefield.
I descended like a myth. Spirit Man form flaring with crackling purple animus, feathered wind-aura trailing behind, Talon hands charged with purple vorpal essence.
Red-Cap's reinforcements intercepted by my spectral slashes mid-flight.
"Target the nerve pylons. Leave no trace." I phased through three pulse-warded barriers and appeared inside the logistics bunker, cutting down the node commander with a single vorpal slash through its corrupted heart.
Outside, Torren and Kaelin tag-teamed a fallen core-beast, Kaelin using her wind flow blades to keep it grounded as Torren flash-froze the exposed animus sacs.
Lira landed near a beast cage and slashed the locks.
"They were hoarding sacred beasts—juveniles! Filthy bastards."
I reappeared beside her, placing my palm to the cage. I emitted a calming wave of aura, and the captive young beasts—shaking with corruption—settled, their essence beginning to purify.
"This is only one artery. Red-Cap has dozens. But everyone we sever weakens his reach."
Lira flicked blood off her blade. "Then let's start the amputation."
We regrouped.
Behind us, the node burned—beast carriers collapsing, supply chains ruptured. The Iron fang strike team lived up to its name. Swift. Merciless. Efficient.
I looked to the horizon, eyes glowing with layered Spirit-sight. Smoke curled into the sky behind us, the Red-Cap logistics point now a shattered scar in the land.
I looked over the Iron fang warriors—Torren, Lira, Kaelin, Soren, and Taryn—each bloodied but unbroken, the fire of victory behind their eyes.
"That was clean," I said, my voice layered with Animus resonance. "No casualties. High-impact disruption. And proof that Red-Cap bleeds."
I drifted over and placed a spirit hand on Torren's shoulder.
"Head back to the clan. Report to Elder Vash. Let them know the logistics node is down, the beast transport route crippled, and sacred beast juveniles rescued. Iron fang's reputation just roared a little louder."
Torren gave a sharp nod. "What about you?"
"I'll return…in my own way."
Lira narrowed her eyes, catching the shimmer in my spirit form. "You're staying in projection?"
"Not for long. I need to reconnect with my physical form. The strain's stacking."
Kaelin smirked. "You're glowing and growing like a god, and you're telling us to run errands."
I grinned, "Be grateful. I'm not done being impressive."
I took a step back, spirit man form beginning to ripple, Intent guiding qi unraveling in a spiral.
"Make sure the elders know: Red-Cap isn't just corrupting beasts… he's targeting the continent's will."
Taryn saluted, his frost gauntlets crackling. "Understood."
I gave them one last nod—and then my body dissolved into animus mist, vanishing into the ether like a fading storm.
A sudden gust of wind whipped through the cliffside alcove overlooking the endless valley.
There was a faint ripple in the air then—
''WHOOMF.''
I jolted upright with a flash of light.
I gasped, muscles tensing as spirit rejoined flesh.
My eyes glowed briefly red, then blue, before returning to normal. I exhaled deeply. "Spirit form intact. animus resonance stabilized. No backlash…"
I stood, brushing off my cloak and looking toward the distant horizon—where the next threat might rise.
But for now, I rested.
And somewhere far behind me, the Iron fang clan elders were about to hear just how dangerous their newest cultivator had become.