Since Raine had witnessed Thalia's near-silent painful struggle and the almost imperceptible, yet deeply significant fingertip touch, the atmosphere between the three of them had become enveloped in an even more complex and subtle shadow. The doubts in Raine's heart twisted like vines growing deep within the Corruption Forest, silently wrapping around him, suffocating him. He no longer viewed Thalia simply as a mysterious, powerful, yet fragile ally—every minute movement of hers, every pause in her breath, seemed to conceal a deeper secret, one closely tied to his own bloodline.
Karrion continued to march ahead, his dwarven strength and instinctive sense of danger making him the natural spearhead and shield of the group. His heavy footsteps crushed the bizarre, dried ferns underfoot, producing a sharp "crunching" sound that seemed unnervingly loud in the eerie silence of the environment. Thalia walked in the middle, her hood pulled low, covering most of her face, leaving only the pale line of her chin visible. Raine brought up the rear, occasionally casting wary glances at the twisted tree shadows around them, and at times his gaze lingered on Thalia's slightly frail back, his expression complicated.
They pressed forward for an unknown length of time, when the scenery around them began to undergo an inexplicable and more fundamental change. It was no longer just the twisted trees and the slippery moss—now it felt as though the entire "texture" of the space had shifted.
Raine suddenly stopped, an invisible pressure falling on him like plunging into an unfathomably cold lake. The air no longer felt merely thick and foul—it had become like solidified amber, heavy enough to crush their lungs. Each breath carried a piercing cold and a sense of near-tangible malice.
"Wait," Karrion's gruff voice, laced with an unfamiliar tone, spoke up. He stopped, furrowing his brows and looking around, "Something... feels off."
Thalia also stopped. She slightly lifted her head, her gaze seemingly piercing through the dim light as she looked ahead. Even through the fabric of her hood, Raine could feel the sudden tension emanating from her body. "We've arrived," she spoke in a soft voice, but it had an eerie penetrating quality, as if striking directly at the soul. "The core of the Corruption Forest... beyond the 'Decaying Gate.'"
There was no gate, no physical boundary of any kind. Yet they all clearly felt it—like they had passed through an invisible, bone-chilling membrane. Beyond that membrane, lay another world.
The light here became dim and distorted, not simply from lack of illumination, but as though the light itself was being absorbed and bent by some force. The distant scenery appeared as if viewed through murky crystal—fuzzy and its edges wavering. The trees around them had taken on more grotesque and bizarre forms. Some tree trunks were covered in numerous, pus-like lumps, gently pulsating, leaking black goo; some branches twisted into spirals, their tips branching into claw-like shapes, silently pointing at the sky; even more disturbing, a few massive trees had completely shed their bark, exposing dark red, rotting flesh-like wood beneath, covered in eerie, glowing green fungi.
The ground was completely covered by a thick, oily, slick black moss, which made it feel as though they were walking on the skin of some cold, slippery creature. Every step emitted a nauseating "sizzling" sound. The stench of decay had reached its peak—it was no longer just the smell of rot but a nauseating mix of sulfur, metallic rust, and a sickly-sweet, otherworldly stench, nearly numbing their sense of smell.
What was most unnerving was the silence. The forest before had been quiet, but there were always the sounds of the wind, insects, or distant howls from creatures. Here, however, it was as if all sound had been swallowed. It was dead silence, like the deep slumber in the grave's innermost depths, but not truly empty. Raine could feel it—beneath the suffocating quiet, countless eyes lurked, cold, malicious, and hungry eyes, silently watching them from the twisted tree gaps, from the slippery moss, from the blurred shadows, as they trespassed into this forbidden place.
This wasn't an illusion. Raine could even faintly detect subtle energy fluctuations, like silent undercurrents swirling and probing around them.
"Stay alert," Karrion growled, his hands gripping his battle axe tightly. The axe blade began to glow with faint, earthy-yellow runic light. "The things here... are much stronger than what we've faced outside."
Thalia didn't speak, but silently extended a hand from beneath her cloak. Her pale, slender fingers lightly brushed over a small black pouch hanging at her waist, and a faint trace of shadow energy flowed through her fingertips.
Raine took a deep breath, suppressing the unease in his heart and his concerns for Thalia's condition, as he tightened his grip on the sword hilt. The stardust power flowed faintly within him, bringing a brief, cold warmth but also a subtle sting. He knew that from the moment they stepped into this core area, the true test had only just begun.
The core region of the Corruption Forest was not only treacherous in its environment but also contained a power that could directly erode their minds. Not long after passing through the invisible "Decaying Gate," the three of them felt it.
At first, it was just a disorienting sense of directionlessness. They were clearly moving in one direction, yet the surrounding scenery seemed to repeat itself unnoticed. A strangely shaped, arm-like twisted dead tree—they seemed to have passed it three times. A huge rock covered in pale fungal spots on the ground also seemed to always be waiting for them just ahead.
"Damn it, are we going in circles?" Karrion muttered irritably, tapping his axe handle against the ground, producing a muffled sound. He tried using his innate dwarven geomantic sense to figure out the direction, but quickly gave up. His furry face showed confusion and frustration. "The earth's ley lines here... are all messed up! It's like some force has stirred it into a bloody soup! I can't feel the usual flow!"
Thalia fared a little better. She closed her eyes, extending her gloved finger through the air, seemingly trying to sense the invisible flow of magic. "The magical flow here is extremely chaotic," she murmured, her voice tinged with barely perceptible exhaustion. "It's filled with misleading traps and false paths. The forest itself... is trying to confuse us."
As time passed, the disorientation escalated. It was no longer just the repetition of paths; hallucinations began to silently infiltrate their perceptions.
Karrion suddenly stopped, warily eyeing a patch of shadow behind them. "Who's there?" he growled, lifting his axe.
Raine followed his gaze. There were only a few twisted trees and swaying shadows, nothing more. "Karrion? There's nothing there."
The dwarf blinked in confusion, rubbing his eyes. His vigilance gradually turned to doubt. "Weird... I definitely saw something... Well, never mind, probably just my eyes playing tricks," he muttered, but his grip on his axe didn't loosen.
Meanwhile, Thalia seemed to be fighting against some kind of silent whisper. Raine noticed she occasionally shook her head slightly, her lips moving soundlessly as if muttering a spell to keep her mind clear. Her face, shadowed by her hood, appeared even paler, and her breathing grew increasingly erratic.
The one most affected, it seemed, was Raine.
Perhaps it was because the thin yet active Starborn blood within him made him more sensitive to the aberrant energies of this land, or perhaps it was his obsessive longing for his sister that rendered him the easiest target for exploitation.
A gentle breeze passed by, carrying with it an even more pungent stench of decay—and with it, a sound, so faint it was nearly indistinguishable.
"Brother…"
Raine's heart skipped a beat as he abruptly turned his head toward the source of the sound.
Not far away, beneath a massive tree oozing black sap, a vague figure of a little girl in a white dress flickered like a candle in the wind, then vanished instantly into the thick darkness.
"Elara?!" Raine cried out, instinctively ready to rush forward. That was his sister, Elara Dawnstar! Though the figure was faint, he could never mistake that dress—that was the last birthday gift he had given her!
"Raine! Stop!" Selya's icy voice sliced through his consciousness like a blade as a wave of cold shadow energy coiled around his ankles, halting his charge.
Raine quickly came to his senses, his heart pounding furiously, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He looked again toward the massive tree—only twisted trunks and writhing shadows remained; there was no trace of a little girl.
"It's an illusion, Raine!" Selya's voice was stern. "The power here manipulates your deepest desires and fears to create hallucinations! Don't be fooled!"
Raine panted heavily and shut his eyes, trying to dispel the indelible white image from his mind. He knew Selya was right, but what he had seen was so real, and that call had been so clear… Elara… Is she truly in Starfall City? Or was even that initial vision nothing more than a larger, more malicious deception?
Overwhelming anxiety and dread clawed at his heart like venomous serpents. The search for his sister had been his initial motivation for embarking on this perilous journey, the very pillar that had sustained him thus far. If even that hope proved to be false…
"Calm down, kid." Karrion's heavy voice resounded in his ear as the dwarf patted his shoulder—hardly gentle, yet conveying a clumsy sort of reassurance. "I know you're worried about your sister, but now is not the time for wild thoughts. We need to get out of this cursed place alive first."
Raine took a deep breath, nodded, and forced his gaze away from that lingering shadow. He knew Karrion was right. No matter the truth, he had to remain clear-headed; otherwise, all three of them could meet their end here.
"Selya, can you find the correct direction?" Raine asked the witch.
Selya was silent for a moment, as if concentrating on sensing something. "It's difficult… the interference here is too strong…" she said slowly, then raised her hand and pointed toward a slightly sparser patch of forest up ahead. "But… that way… the flow of magic is a bit 'clearer,' and the distortions of malice are relatively weaker. Perhaps… that is the right direction."
"Then let's go." Karrion moved without hesitation, leading the way.
Raine cast one last glance at the massive tree, gripped his sword hilt tightly, and followed. Although the illusion had faded, the cold anxiety had etched itself deep into his heart like a worm burrowing into bone.
They advanced cautiously in the direction indicated by Selya. Although the hallucinatory interference seemed to weaken somewhat, the suffocating sense of oppression and being watched remained unabated.
Then, as they traversed an area composed of enormous, bone-spike-like black rocks, a sudden anomaly emerged!
The ground convulsed violently, as if some colossal entity were thrashing beneath the surface. Soon after, not far ahead, the moss-covered earth swelled upward like boiling mud, flinging dirt and debris in all directions!
"Watch out!" Karrion roared, instantly raising a massive shield—or using his body and battleaxe to block the attack.
A huge, contorted figure burst from the earth, oozing nauseating slime and a repulsive stench, crashing down before them!
Raine drew a sharp breath as cold sweat instantly drenched his sword hand.
The creature before them defied description. It was the embodiment of a nightmare—an amalgam formed from countless carcasses and pure malevolence. Its mass was roughly that of a giant bear, yet its form was erratic, constantly shifting and writhing as if in perpetual flux.
Raine could discern what appeared to be the head of a giant wolf merged within it, but where its eyes should have been, insect-like compound eyes opened and closed continuously, flickering with mad, unhinged light. On one side of its body extended several massive, arthropod-like legs clad in a black chitinous shell, ending in vicious, hooked tips; on the other side, it dragged a thick tail reminiscent of a decaying python, its tip ablaze with a ghastly green flame. Its back bulged out like an enormous tumor, covered in countless pores that intermittently expelled intensely corrosive black acid. Even more horrifying, in various parts of its body, there were faint, recognizable limbs and organs from different creatures—as if stitched together by brute force, twitching feebly.
"By the stars above… what the hell is that?!" Karrion cursed, his voice thick with disbelief. Even the battle-hardened dwarf was visibly shaken by the grotesque, terrifying spectacle before him.
"A Corruption Amalgam…" Selya's voice carried an unprecedented gravity. "It is a fusion of several powerful creatures, forcibly merged by the corrupting force… extremely dangerous! Not only is its strength tremendous, it might even possess the abilities of every being fused within it!"
No sooner had she finished than the amalgam unleashed a horrifying chorus—a blend of snarls, roars, and piercing shrieks that pounded their ears—before lunging ferociously at them!
Its speed was utterly incongruous with its massive size; its multiple arthropod legs scurried rapidly along the ground, stirring gusts of blood-tinged wind. At the same time, its tail—resembling that of a giant serpent—whipped out violently, wreathed in burning, ghastly green flame, lashing at Karrion, who was at the vanguard.
"Not a chance!" Karrion roared, and though small in stature, he unleashed a surge of incredible power. His heavy battleaxe, accompanied by the howling wind, swung forcefully, striking the lashing fiery tail.
"CLANG!" A tremendous impact reverberated as the axe collided with the scaled surface of the tail, erupting in a burst of dazzling sparks. Karrion staggered back half a step, his arms tingling from the shock, while a deep gash appeared on the tail, oozing black, viscous fluid—but the tail remained intact.
At that moment, the creature's lupine head flung open with a gory maw, and a jet of dense, foul, black acid shot forth like an arrow, aimed squarely at Selya in the center!
Reacting with supernatural speed, Selya drifted to the side like a phantom, narrowly evading the direct hit. The acid splashed onto the ground where she'd stood, hissing as it corroded the black moss and stone into a small, steaming pit shrouded in dark smoke.
"It has too many ways to attack!" Raine cried urgently as he rushed forward, attempting to target the creature's relatively soft underbelly. However, as he approached, the pores on the tumor on its back contracted sharply, releasing a volley of spike-like projectiles—bone-like and razor-edged—that whistled through the air with a slicing sound!
Raine quickly parried with his sword; a series of crisp "ding-ding-dang" sounds rang out as the spikes were deflected. Yet the enormous force left his arm numb and sent him stumbling.
In an instant, the battle descended into utter desperation. The Corruption Amalgam was a moving arsenal—its relentless barrage of brute force, rapid motion, long-range acid sprays, a fiery tail, and bone spike projectiles bombarded them without pause.
Karrion, harnessing his dwarven might and defensive endurance—and aided by runic enchantments on his axe and any shield he wielded—barely withstood the frontal assault, standing immovable like a boulder. Yet even he was ensnared by the creature's raw power, making it nearly impossible to assist his companions. Every collision elicited heavy, muffled groans from the dwarf, a clear testament to the enormous strain he was under.
Selya moved swiftly along the periphery of the battlefield like a dancer shrouded in darkness. She continuously unleashed her shadow magic, striving to disrupt and control the amalgam. Invisible chains of darkness attempted to bind its spindly legs; concentrated bursts of dark energy obscured its compound eyes; and icy shadowy marshes formed beneath its feet to slow its advance.
Her control proved crucial, repeatedly averting fatal blows against Karrion and Raine. Had it not been for her timely use of shadow tendrils to entangle the fiery tail during yet another vicious assault, Karrion's flank might have been breached. And without the fleeting veil of darkness she conjured, Raine might have been impaled by the dense barrage of bone spikes.
Yet Selya's face grew ever paler with each spell. Raine noticed her hand pressed against her chest became increasingly frequent, and her breath grew more rapid—as though every surge of shadow energy was draining her life force.
Raine's heart sank. He knew this could not go on. Karrion's strength was depleting; Selya's condition was deteriorating; and the Corruption Amalgam, seemingly tireless, continued its relentless assault—its wounds oozing black blood while its fury remained undiminished.
There had to be a weak point! Raine dodged a sweeping blow as he forced himself to observe the creature carefully.
Its body was a disordered, bloated mass—parts of different beings forcibly fused together, the seams rough and jarring. Perhaps… the weak point lay in those fused gaps? Or maybe in that acid-spitting wolf head? Alternatively, might it be in the pulsating, heart-like tumor on its back?
Raine launched several attacks, his sword's starlight-infused tip aiming for those seemingly fragile junctions, but to little effect. The creature's body appeared to be sheathed in a layer of resilient, elastic tissue, rendering his strikes nearly useless.
Time crept by, and the battle grew ever more dire. Karrion's breath sounded like a broken bellows, his dwarven chainmail scarred by dents. Selya's movements started to lag; at one point, she nearly fell victim to a sweeping assault from the amalgam's side—fortunately, Raine pulled her to safety just in time.
"No… if this goes on, we'll all die here…" Raine's despair surged. His starlight power was feeble, and his swordsmanship, though skillful, seemed ineffectual against such a monstrosity. What could he do? What more could he do?
Then, as if sensing their exhaustion, the amalgam intensified its assault. It reared up suddenly, its many limbs flailing in unison, and the tumor on its back pulsed with an even more violent rhythm—as if preparing for a devastating strike! Sickly green flames and black acid began to converge around its form, sending shivers of palpable energy through the air.
"It's about to unleash its ultimate move!" Karrion roared, bracing himself with both axe and body to withstand the onslaught.
Selya gritted her teeth, interlocking her hands as she prepared to cast the most potent shadow barrier she could muster.
Raine stared at the scene before him—Karrion's resolute back, Selya's pale yet determined profile—and a fierce, all-consuming resolve surged within him!
They must not die! They simply must not!
He abruptly closed his eyes and channeled every ounce of mental strength, every scrap of will, every trace of the feeble starlight power coursing through him into a desperate plea for the future!
He needed an answer! A method to break the deadlock! Even if it were only a sliver of hope!
"Buzz—!"
It was as if something deep within his mind shattered. A bone-chilling torrent burst forth, tearing down the dam of his consciousness in an instant.
This time, it wasn't a hazy fragment, nor a jumble of disordered whispers. A brief, razor-sharp vision flashed across his mind like lightning!
He saw it—the enormous tumor on the back of the amalgam, and at the precise moment when its energy peaked, the tissue surrounding its third vent on the lower left would become extraordinarily fragile, turning an unnatural, dark violet! This was a structural weakness, caused by an overconcentration of energy—and it would last only for a fleeting instant! Simultaneously, he also saw the creature's next attack pattern: it would first sweep its amassed energy in a fan toward Karrion, then focus a strike on Selya, who stood a bit further away!
"Karrion! Move left three steps! Selya! Brace for impact on your right!"
Almost as the vision evaporated, Raine roared with every ounce of his being, his voice raw and hoarse from the immense expenditure of mental strength.
At that moment, without the slightest hesitation, his body lunged forward like an arrow unleashed from a bow. He channeled every last drop of starlight into his sword, which blazed with an unmatched brilliance—like a meteor burning fiercely through the night!
His actions were so swift they almost synchronized perfectly with the amalgam's attack!
Though Karrion did not fully understand, his trust in Raine was absolute, and he instinctively leaped three steps to the left!
In the next heartbeat, a destructive torrent of energy erupted from the amalgam like a raging wave, brushing past the spot where Karrion had just stood, reducing the rock there to dust!
Then the creature pivoted, ready to unleash the remaining energy toward Selya!
But by then, Raine had already surged to the amalgam's rear flank! His gaze fixed solely on that fleeting dark violet weakness he had seen in his vision!
"For Elara! For Selya! For all that's been lost!" he bellowed, driving his starlight-imbued sword fiercely into the dark violet fissure beneath the tumor!
Pfft—!
It was as if he had burst a balloon filled with putrid, rotting fluid!
The sword pierced the amalgam's body without resistance!
"ROARR—!!!"
The creature erupted in a deafening roar, filled with excruciating pain and disbelief! The amassed energy inside it exploded uncontrollably, like a dam bursting and hurling destructive torrents in all directions!
BOOM!!!
A violent explosion swept through the entire area, its shockwave flinging Raine violently through the air like a leaf in a storm, crashing him hard against a jagged rock.
"Ugh—!"
Agonizing pain surged through his entire body, as if his very bones were shattering. But worse than the physical agony was the searing backlash deep within his soul!
A pain like it would tear his head apart erupted suddenly! Stars danced before his eyes; the world spun madly. Then, an overwhelming weakness washed over him, as if every ounce of strength had been siphoned away. He could clearly feel the feeble starlight power within him flickering like a candle in the wind—chaotic, nearly extinguished. Every heartbeat sent piercing, needle-like pain coursing through him.
He struggled to rise, but even lifting a single finger felt impossibly arduous. His vision blurred; his ears buzzed with a relentless hum.
"Raine!"
"Kid!"
He heard Karrion and Selya calling out desperately, their voices close yet distant.
He tried to respond, but no sound emerged. His consciousness sank, as if he were being swallowed by the icy depths of a dark sea. Darkness enveloped him like an unyielding tide…
In that final moment before he lost consciousness, he faintly saw Karrion and Selya rushing to his side, and he saw the enormous Corruption Amalgam shatter into charred fragments in a colossal explosion…
They… had won…
But the price… was far heavier than he had ever imagined…