For a moment, the world stopped. Not Isaac, though.

Despite the red in his sight, he felt it all. How Harden spiked up, spreading across every inch of his body and burrowing deeper than ever before. How the Storage Brand, the one holding all the stuff he looted during the invasion, exploded with energy. How, instead of the items spilling out, the Root consumed them all.

Once that happened, everything changed.

The Root's tattoo on his right arm erupted, blood pouring out in waves. It didn't just drop to the ground, though. No, it slithered up his body, coating every possible surface and sticking to him like glue. The layer grew thicker and thicker by the second, but that still wasn't everything.

As all this was happening, Isaac felt the Root reach for the spark housing his Legacy and force his transformation. But instead of letting the process finish, the sentient weapon stopped it halfway. Right then, he was no longer a human, but not a raven either. He just was. A large mass of power and flesh held together by his Core, and the shell of blood around him.

And yet, he still had access to his legs, to his arms. Only now, those felt stronger, larger, just like the rest of this new, strange body that the Root had crafted for him. And it still kept growing, the layer of blood only getting thicker and thicker.

Then, it all stopped. The sounds. The flow of power. The change.

Isaac's eyes snapped open.

Death.

That was the first thing he noticed. The monsters that, just a few seconds ago, were one good hit away from killing him now lay on the ground, dead as they could be. Stranger, their bodies were like empty husks, drained of strength, of blood.

Isaac tore his gaze from them and looked toward the few remaining Zerians and beasts at the far end of the cavern chamber.

They all stood frozen. Their gaze glued to him, and horror written all over their faces. None dared to move, their eyes the only thing shifting, tracking every motion of his head. For some reason, all of them also appeared smaller than before.

Just what did you do to me? Isaac wondered and finally looked down at his own body.

As he had expected, his clothes, skin, or any other remnants of himself were gone, replaced by a thick and dense shell of black-red blood. This liquid, one filled with more energy than he ever had access to, was always moving, always shifting, yet also always keeping the same humanoid form.

The form of a monster.

He still had hands, but they were larger, heavier, each finger tipped with wicked claws. The same went for his feet, both of which now ended with very short, but just as sharp talons. As for the rest of his body?

It was an armor, or rather a full-body suit, protecting the fleshy mass the Root had turned him into.

He lifted one clawed hand to his face, trying to trace his usual features. But there were none. No mouth. No nose or ears. Hell, he couldn't even feel his eyes, even though they were definitely there. He was using them after all.

Maker's Shell, I see…

As this thought crossed his mind, the Symphony erupted inside him, flooding every inch of his new body. Isaac winced as a wave of bloodlust hit him right in the face. Still, he understood what had to be done next. The Root had given him a chance to survive, now it was his turn to act on it.

So be it.

He took a step forward and burst toward the frozen group. Not that they stayed frozen for long.

The monsters bolted for the tunnels the moment they saw him coming, unwilling to even cross his path. The Zerians, however, held their ground. A few had already thrown up some makeshift defenses, while others tried to hurl elemental projectiles at him.

None of this worked.

Even when an attack struck him, obliterating a small chunk of his shell, it regenerated in a blink. As for the quickly created shields? He crashed right into them, shattering them with his strength alone. What followed was a blur, at least for the aliens.

Isaac swung at the nearest Zerian, his claws tearing its chest wide open. Another one tried to dodge, but he grabbed its head and crushed it like a melon. A third gathered light in its hands, only to die with its skill when he punched a hole in its gut.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

More came afterward, but Isaac butchered them all, using only his sheer strength and claws. They landed hits, sure, but he always healed, always kept on going no matter what they threw at him.

At last, silence settled over the chamber, leaving him standing among the corpses.

This was… easy, Isaac admitted, as the spilled blood seeped into his shell. Interesting.

But there was no time to waste. The Symphony shot in volume again, and the Root whispered from afar, begging him for more. For more blood. For more death.

Isaac obeyed, dashing into a random tunnel.

The monsters scattered before him, too scared to fight. But Isaac didn't let them all leave. He killed a few with just a few quick strikes and let Red Puppeteer take them over.

Together with his minions, he hunted more and more Zerians, cutting them down in a matter of seconds. Their superior numbers didn't matter. The constant reveal of his location didn't save them. They were too slow, too weak.

That said, Isaac also found quite a few nuances to this new form of his. He was powerful, yes. His strength, speed, and sheer regeneration outmatched everything that stood in his path. But his other skills? They were like an echo, distant and almost unreachable.

By now, he had stopped trying to activate them and just focused on the fights in front of him. On how his claws tore through stone and flesh alike. On how the Zerians yelled in panic when they saw him crush another of their kin. On how hope left their eyes when his arm regenerated after being obliterated by a ray of light.

Yet, as he got lost in battle and more time passed, he could still feel the blood of his shell losing its strength. The armor shrank with every regenerated injury. At some point, even the flesh beneath it also began shifting, slowly reforming into his old body.

That didn't stop him, though.

Even when real skin reappeared on his shoulder among the sea of red and black, he pressed onward. When the last of Viron left his body after he finally managed to summon some Crimson Deaths, he tore a chunk of Mana from his Legacy and forced it all into one last Obliteration.

The cavern shook. The Zerians died. Isaac fell to his knees.

Damnit, he cursed, watching even more of Maker's Shell vanish. Now, almost half of his true body was exposed. Burnout.

But the skill didn't answer.

Isaac cursed and drew on the last scraps of energy from the shell, forcing himself to stand up. The Root also returned to his hand, a bit smaller but still whole.

He staggered into another tunnel. It was empty, and less than a minute later, he realized why.

A blast of hot, fresh air hit his face. He blinked, his bleary eyes falling on the exit from the tunnel right ahead. How did he manage to reach it? He had no idea, but it explained why he hadn't encountered any more Zerians on the way.

They were waiting for him to come out.

He glanced at something to his left, smiled, and walked forward.

Very well.

He reached the end of the tunnel a few seconds later. Right away, he saw them, countless Zerians gathered at the base of the volcano, with more already climbing it. But what really caught his attention was the sky, filled with a myriad of lights, all falling toward him.

Nice try, he thought, and muttered one last word.

"Extract."

Acknowledged.

His body shimmered, and just as the countless skills were about to hit him, the world around him vanished, replaced by endless darkness. He let out a sigh of relief and relaxed for the first time in days.

He won. He survived.

Even the Interface knew it.

Congratulations, Host! You have invaded the enemy, reached Infamy rank S, and survived. You are the first soldier of this war to achieve this feat. A bonus reward shall be provided.

Calculating points…

Total Bounty: 178322 Total Invader Points: (Base: 26431) + (S-Rank: 144000) First successful S-Rank Invasion bonus: 200000

Applying multiplier (x4) to Invader Points…

Total Fusion Points obtained: 1,060,046

In the darkness, Isaac's eyes went wide, some exhaustion vanishing from his mind and body. He had expected a lot of points from the bounties and multipliers, but he had completely forgotten that his Infamy generated points every few minutes in S-rank. And those were multiplied too…

Over a million. That has to matter at least a bit. I have killed so many, too, taken their points away…

Then, another Interface message appeared before him.

Global announcement of your accomplishment has been made. Well done, Isaac Walker. May your hard work bring victory to your world.

With your invasion finished, you can now choose the place of your return. Please select one of the options.

Just like that, the Interface listed him four choices. Sacramento. Los Angeles. The Oasis. And the Battleworld.

Isaac didn't have to think long before giving his answer. Right now, tired and barely keeping his eyes open, there was only one place he wanted to be.

Acknowledged. Transition in progress…

The world flared white, and his stomach lurched. He gasped, once more feeling solid ground beneath his feet. Yet, right then, his own body betrayed him. He fell, darkness again replacing the view of a somewhat familiar room.

Before the dreams could take him, though, he heard one final scream.

"Isaac!"

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.