Sanctuary Thirteen loomed like a scar on the land.
Surrounded by skeletal trees and red-soaked soil, it pulsed with a sickly light under a bloated sky.
No birds. No rot-zombies.
Only the silent hum of machinery and whispers of something older.
Liam stood beside Maya, Ava, Echo, Artemis, Caleb, and Naomi—his inner circle. Each wore blackout armor scavenged from elite Bloom guards.
They stared at the entrance.
No way in from above.
But Echo had found a route.
"Pre-Bloom tunnels beneath the surface," she said, her voice echoing through their comms. "Abandoned decades ago. Still warm."
"Any threats?" Artemis asked.
"Bio-signatures. Four. Probably security drones or… worse."
Liam nodded.
"We're not stopping. This is it."
[System Alert – Infiltration Commencing]
> Site: Sanctuary Thirteen
Entry Point: Sublevel C – Rot Control Chamber
Objective: Interrupt the Blooming Ritual
Time Left: 3 Days
Engagements: 6/10
Cure Fragments: 6/10
The tunnel reeked of rust and mold.
They crawled in silence, weapons drawn, every breath filtered through cracked respirators.
Echo guided them from above.
"Left fork. Blood trails. Be careful. Something moved here recently."
They reached a chamber of dead pods—flesh-glass tanks filled with shriveled husks of women long since drained.
Maya's eyes glistened.
"They were trying to grow the Bloom here…"
Naomi pressed a hand to one of the tanks. "This one's… humming. Still alive."
"No time," Liam said. "We shut it down first. Then we come back."
Then a shriek split the silence.
Not human.
Not undead.
Mechanical.
Two spiderlike sentries dropped from the ceiling—each with Bloom sigils etched into their legs.
Ava moved first—cutting through one with her blade.
Artemis spun and shot the second through its optic node.
The system flickered:
[Enemy Neutralized – Bloom Sentinels ×2]
> XP Distributed
Trait Progress: Ava → Rank 2 Bond Unlocked
New Trait: Pain Transfer (Advanced) – Ava may absorb half of one critical hit per day
They pressed onward.
Deeper.
Until the tunnel widened… into a throne room made of flesh.
Veins ran along the walls like cords.
In the center sat the Bloom Heart—a pulsating, rotting organic mass connected to at least ten chained women.
One of them gasped when Liam stepped forward.
She was young. Maybe nineteen. Blonde. One eye missing.
Her lips moved.
"Help…"
[System Alert – Bloom Core Detected]
> Status: Blooming Ritual Phase: 34%
Ritual Interruption Options:
— Bonded Host Override
— Physical Core Destruction (High Risk)
Optional: Rescue captive females (×10)
"Can we pull them out?" Maya asked.
Echo's voice crackled through: "Only if we sever the core feed node. Fast."
"Then do it," Liam said.
They moved into position.
Caleb placed charges on the support vents.
Liam approached the Bloom Heart.
It sensed him.
Tendrils rose like vipers.
A scream—metallic, female, twisted—ripped through the chamber.
Then came the voice:
> "You come to prune the garden."
Elise.
She dropped from the ceiling in a bloom of black roses.
No longer dressed in armor.
Now she was the armor.
Skin fused with tech. Fingers blade-tipped.
Eyes burning red.
"You could've been part of it," she whispered. "You still can."
Liam raised his weapon.
"I'd rather burn."
[Boss Encounter Initiated – Elise: Bloom Enforcer Ω-Class]
> Vitality: 100%
Traits: Mind Control, Bloom Conversion Aura, Reflex Echo
Weakness: Rejection Pulse / Bond Sync
Allies: Ava (Sync 84%), Artemis (Sync 91%), Naomi (77%), Echo (Shared Mind Active)
The fight erupted.
Elise launched toward Liam—faster than before.
Ava intercepted—blades clashing mid-air.
Artemis flanked with surgical strikes.
Maya and Caleb tried to free the chained girls.
Elise hissed—lashing a tendril toward Naomi.
It struck her shoulder—her system flickered.
Liam activated Rejection Pulse.
---
[Rejection Pulse – Active]
> Bloom Aura Disruption Successful
Elise Stability: -12%
Ritual Link: Severed
Cooldown: 24 hours
The Bloom Heart screeched.
The women cried out—chains splitting.
One by one, they dropped—alive but unconscious.
Liam ran to the core node.
Slammed the blade Echo had forged into it.
Blood sprayed like oil.
The entire chamber trembled.
And Elise?
She screamed.
And exploded into black fire.
[System Alert – Bloom Ritual Disrupted]
> Site: Sanctuary Thirteen
Progress: Aborted
Elise Vital Signs: Unstable | Relocated
Rescued: 10 females
Reward: Cure Fragment 7 Acquired
Liam Trait Unlocked: "Gardenbreaker"
> Effect: All Bloom auras weakened in Liam's presence (Range: 5m)
Engagement Progress: 7/10
Total Bonded: 10
They stood in the aftermath—bloody, breathing hard, surrounded by the rescued.
Maya knelt beside one of the girls—a mute with orange hair and missing fingers.
"She's… not infected," Maya said. "She's clean."
Artemis added, "We saved them before it took root."
Liam wiped sweat and blood from his brow.
Echo's voice came through again.
"You did it."
He didn't feel victorious.
Just less doomed.
Outside, night fell.
And from the highest tower of Sanctuary Thirteen… a new voice began to sing.
Soft. Beautiful. Awful.
The Root had awakened.
And it had learned Liam's name.