Anyone else would’ve refused Isaac, or called him crazy.
But Emily trusted him. If she didn’t, she would’ve long asked him why he could use Life Drain, and how he had summoned Zephyr, her Spirit summon, during the assassin attack in the academy.
Emily bit off the cap of the first potion and downed it, mana flooding her system in seconds.
Her mana regeneration spiked.
Spirit Power at 100 meant she could naturally regenerate 10 mana per minute. With Isaac’s Tier 2 grain buff, that had jumped to 22.
But with Jin’s potion, that number had climbed to 40.
It was enough.
This was the real strength of Isaac’s Tier 2 grains. Their synergy. Their ability to stack their effects with mana potions.
She gritted her teeth and activated her next skill—Life Drain—directly on the hive’s wall.
Vines of spectral energy spread from her feet into the flesh-like terrain beneath. The mana-infused biomass twitched, and life force was pulled from it into her body, closing the gash across her shoulder, and healing her.
The Guardian Machina moved.
It was unrealistically fast for something so large.
It moved like a blade of wind. Its two katanas cut toward her as if it already predicted her movement.
But she had already activated Phantom Steps.
Her body flickered, shifted, and reappeared behind her champion-ranked lizard summon. The beast took the brunt of the attack.
Emily’s eyes glowed a dull violet as she activated another skill—Demonic Eyes.
The world around her changed. Colors bled away. What remained was mana, weakness, and flow.
She could see it now—the Guardian Machina’s weak points. There were only a few of them, and they were hidden deep away, but everything was visible to Emily.
She moved again, activating Spectral Claws, another SSS rank skill, and joined her summon in the fray.
Claws wreathed in ghostfire slashed at the Guardian Machina’s arm. It blocked her first strike, then parried the summon’s tail with its left blade. But Emily didn’t give it time to reset. She pressed in, slashing at its legs.
She wasn’t faster than it. Not stronger. Her experience wasn’t better either.
But she had skills. More of them, and her skills were powerful.
And now, she didn’t hesitate to burn through her mana to use them all.
She activated Life Drain again, this time directly on the Guardian Machina.
Its movement slowed for a moment, just a fraction of a second, as its life force was drawn out.
She healed herself again and closed the gap to land another hit.
“Is she… actually fighting it head-on?” one of Gamma Team’s conscious members murmured, barely able to lift his head.
“She’s holding it off. No, not just that. She’s… hurting it.”
They stared at her. Blood soaked through the side of her uniform, dripping steadily down her leg, but she didn’t retreat. She didn’t even stumble.
Emily didn’t flinch as the Guardian Machina swung again.
Her footwork was ragged but effective, slipping just past the razor-thin margin of the blade’s arc. Her Spectral Claws glowed dimly now, weaker than before, but she pressed forward.
Her injuries should’ve knocked her out.
The pain alone would’ve forced any normal person to collapse.
But she ignored it, completely.
It was like watching someone who no longer felt pain. Like watching a wraith who refused to die.
To the scattered remnants of Gamma Team, it was almost surreal. One of them whispered, voice cracking, “She’s not human…”
Awe, and reverence was clear in their voice upon seeing someone fight like that. Someone who should’ve collapsed minutes ago.
She kept fighting.
An Immortal Ghost Empress.
That’s what she looked like to them. That’s what she had become in this moment.
And still, the Guardian Machina fought back. It was efficient, cold, and tireless. It wasn’t growing slower, and it wasn’t making mistakes.
All it needed was one clean strike.
A single misstep on Emily’s part would end the battle.
She wasn’t a machine who would make no mistakes.
Isaac knew that too. He watched through the Wisps’ thoughts while scanning not just Emily’s location but the entire battle layout. His focus was razor-sharp.
Emily was walking a tightrope.
Her mana was dropping again, even with the potions. Fighting in melee while maintaining multiple high-rank skills was pushing her mental state toward collapse.
Her coordination with the champion-ranked summon had saved her again and again, but that couldn’t last forever.
Isaac didn’t hesitate. He had to move the plan to the next stage.
“Team Epsilon,” he said over the command channel, “clear out all monsters around the third Node Core. Make sure Team Leader Jin can safely destroy it.”
A short pause followed before Isaac added, “Team Zeta and Team Omega, enter the hive and assist Epsilon.”
The response was immediate, but it was not one of agreement.
“What about the hive exit?” someone from Omega asked. “The monsters are still pouring out along with flesh cyborgs. Who’s going to hold the line?”
Another voice chimed in. “If even one of those Metavore-infected creatures escapes—”
“I will take care of them,” Isaac said simply.
Silence followed.
No one responded.
Because no one believed him.
Nearly a hundred flesh cyborgs were emerging every minute.
Dozens of monsters followed behind them. Mutated, armored, enhanced with biomass. Each of them carried dormant Metavore parasites.
If a single infected creature escaped, they would lose everything they’d fought for. Today’s mission would become meaningless.
And Isaac was saying he’d handle them alone?
Even the most hardened veterans wouldn’t believe that.
Just then the ground trembled.
From the cracked earth in front of the hive’s exit, something erupted. Thick, bark-armored roots shot up from the ground like whips.
They moved at terrifying speed.
The nearest monsters didn’t even have time to react.
The roots coiled around their heads and—
Pop.
Blood and mucus exploded into the air. Skulls burst like overripe fruit. Flesh cyborgs collapsed by the dozen. In mere seconds, the narrow entrance had turned into a slaughterhouse.
And it didn’t stop.
New roots surged up every moment, responding to each incoming monster with inhuman accuracy. Flesh cyborgs, monsters, aberrations—it made no difference. Their heads were torn or crushed the moment they appeared.
The battlefield outside the hive had turned into a graveyard.
Isaac stood calmly on the elevated ground nearby, one hand pressed on the ear comms as he gave more commands.
His eyes glowed faintly—result of Demonic Eyes—and he could see the weakness in the monsters. His Mind Echo title allowed him to read the monsters’ pattern, and predict their escape path.
The awakeners sucked in a sharp breath.
He was holding the entire line alone.
The awakened from Team Zeta and Omega, who rebuked his command earlier, watched in stunned silence.
“This isn’t normal,” one of them muttered. “Didn’t he awaken less than a month ago?”
“Yeah,” another replied. “I remember the report.”
Then came the most obvious question.
“How the hell is he already this strong?”
But there was no answer.
No one had an explanation.
The only thing they could do now was follow his lead.
“Team Zeta. Team Omega,” Isaac’s voice called out again. “Continue the mission. Enter the hive.”
That snapped them out of their thoughts.
“Y-Yes, understood!” the two team leaders responded in sync, and the teams began moving immediately.