The air between Kael and Kahn-Zul crackled with two opposing forces: the raw, chaotic growth of the jungle and the disciplined, crushing weight of the Starborn's gravity.
"You speak of 'debugging' the forest as if it is a broken machine!" Kahn-Zul roared, his panther-beast lunging forward. "This world is life! It is blood and bone!"
"Kael, watch out!" Lyra cried, her hands glowing as she prepared a defensive shield.
But Kael held up a hand, signaling them to stay back. He looked at the Jungle King, then down at the pulsing roots beneath his boots. "Valerius said I was a brawler. But if I just fight you, I'm proving him right. I'm not here to destroy your world, Kahn."
Kahn-Zul didn't listen. He leaped from his mount, his wooden spear glowing with a toxic green light. He swung with the strength of a falling tree.
Kael didn't parry. He used his Resonance Gauntlet to create a micro-gravity burst, sliding backward just inches from the spear's tip. Instead of counter-attacking, Kael dropped to one knee and slammed his gloved hand into the dirt.
"I'm not fighting you," Kael gritted out, his violet veins bulging. "I'm talking to the Talon."
[SKILL ACTIVATION: BIO-RESONANCE SYNC] [ACCESSING PLANETARY ROOT-NETWORK...]
Kael didn't blast the forest. He opened his mind to it. Suddenly, his vision was flooded with 500 years of agony. He felt the Emerald Talon's consciousness—distorted, fragmented, and screaming. The ship wasn't "feeding" the forest; it was being parasitized by a Vorthax virus that had been planted in the soil centuries ago.
"Kahn!" Kael shouted, sweat pouring down his face. "Look at the roots! They aren't green—they're turning black at the core! Your 'God' is a poison!"
Kahn-Zul paused, his spear inches from Kael's throat. He looked down. Behind the vibrant neon-green of the surface, a vein of oily, mechanical black was slithering through the roots.
"What is this... filth?" Kahn-Zul whispered, his anger turning to horror.
"It's a Vorthax Root-Virus," Kael panted. "They couldn't capture the Emerald Talon, so they poisoned the world to slowly digest her. Every bit of power your forest takes from the ship carries the infection. It's not just eating the ship, Kahn—it's rewriting you."
Kahn-Zul looked at his own arm. Beneath the bark-skin, a faint, rhythmic red light flickered. The mark of the Machine.
"I... I have protected the rot," Kahn-Zul whispered, his spear trembling.
"Help me," Kael said, reaching out. "Dual-Resonance. Your connection to the life, my connection to the Code. We can purge it."
Kahn-Zul looked at the young Starborn. He saw the sincerity in the violet eyes. He dropped his spear and gripped Kael's gauntlet.
The explosion of energy was different this time. It wasn't gold or violet; it was a blinding, emerald white. The pulse traveled through the root-network like a digital wildfire.
[QUEST PROGRESS: VORTHAX ROOT-VIRUS PURGED - 100%] [PLANETARY AWAKENING INITIATED]
The ground beneath them began to buckle. The massive canopy above parted as a mountain of vines and soil was pushed aside. From the depths of the earth, a third Dragon-Ship rose.
She was vibrant green, her hull shaped like a predatory bird with wings made of crystalline leaves.
"I BREATHE AGAIN," a soft, rustling voice echoed through their minds.
Kahn-Zul fell to his knees as the Emerald Talon shook off the last of the dead vines. "The Starborn have returned," he murmured.
[NEW ALLY SECURED: THE VERDANT TRIBES] [SHIP SECURED: THE EMERALD TALON] [KAEL ARDENT PROGRESS: TIER 3.5]