World Filter

Mark’s fingers constricted the threads of Prana as it worked to connect Nathan's legs to the rest of his new torso. [Nature control] had helped create new flesh, but the patches on his stomach were pale and splotchy like an aggressive form of vitiligo. Unfortunately, Mark still couldn’t match things perfectly, but the guy was alive so that's all Mark cared about.

Regrowing took a large amount of power from Mark but the alternative was doing a quick patch job and having Lisa get him to another healer. That meant that they would be down two more fighters before they had even entered the main area.

Mark turned to look at the structure now.

Sam’s spell had cut, a large hole straight into the side of the pustule. The surrounding framework of bones and ichor was still very much in place, yet the air around the thing had taken on a colder demeanor. It was as though something was watching them through the Corruption, and it was displeased.

Mark snorted and offered a hand to Nathan to pull him up. The guy was still clutching his stomach in discomfort but he nodded to Mark.

The formation going forward was much the same as it had been earlier, though their backline entered low to the ground.

When they approached the opening in the structure, Mark tried to make out anything beyond the light of their spells, but all that greeted them was inky blackness.

They paused for a moment, but then the distant sound of a collapsing structure reminded them they were on a time limit.

Mark used [Light control] to create five small orbs of white light and lifted them above the party, forming an orbiting ring.

Jonathan took the first step into the chamber and stopped, bringing the back of his hand up to his mouth and nose.

“Mark we’re going to need a dome, that’s the strongest I’ve ever felt it.”

Mark frowned and expanded his senses. The room in front of them glowed in his sight almost immediately. The pressure was contained inside the structure, but Mark could only equate it to the bottom of the ocean. The amount of Corruption here was higher than a red zone by a decent margin.

Nodding Mark expanded a small construct to cover their group. With the increase in density, his constructs were more than capable of dealing with this. Mark found himself missing Patrica and her church, but while a good many from the church of Brilliance were still around, Lisa had not managed to find the woman as of yet, but there was still hope.

When the shield had settled over them Jonathan once more took a step in and this time they followed.

Even with the shield, it felt like they were stepping into a biosphere. The vaulted ceilings stretched upwards into the shadows as Corruption leaked down the walls like a faucet. Mark felt as though the room was filled with poisonous gas and only their small pocket of clean air remained in the space.

The silver lining was that there was no ichor in here. Every surface reflected the light from his spell as though encrusted in jewels.

The room's shape was fairly even, save for a section of the wall at the back of the chamber.

Stepping in further, Mark could just make out what looked like a raised platform near the wall. There was a single object on the raised ground and as they got closer Mark realized it was a throne of sorts.

The chair was simplistic in nature with a sharp point as the back, similar to a stalagmite. The arms of the chair looked like they accommodated something larger than a human, and Mark noticed one more thing.

Beside the throne, as though fused to the ground stood Donny.

The calcified ichor covered his entire body, stretching him into an unnatural pose with his arms twisted into odd angles, and his spine warped and hunched. Only his face remained exposed, and normally Mark would have been halfway there, but this didn’t feel right.

He badly wanted to save Donny, but that didn’t mean he could afford to run into a trap. The only sound, other than their footsteps, was the ragged exhales Donny managed to get out. From this angle, he could not see them approaching, but his breathing never faltered.

They were nearing the center of the chamber when Sam noticed movement from the oddly shaped wall. Seeing as they were all on guard they adjusted to their formation to face the warping material.

Then as though stepping out of a screen of water, the solid material parted and a creature stepped out.

Like most of the Corrupted humans they had seen so far, the thing walked on two legs. Though it no longer had human features. Its body was wrapped in layers of tough hide, that seemed to fold over itself hiding even a hint of facial features. The thing looked as though it’d had them burned away, only to be replaced by more flesh.

At full height, it was probably nine feet tall with spindly limbs. And yet even with its size, it had a certain grace to its movements.

Behind it, four large wings stretch outward as though to mimic a butterfly. Though it being made from delicate-looking skin only reinforced the creature’s look more nightmarish visage. It didn’t help that the skin always seemed to be squirming over its form.

Their group tensed and readied their spells, but the creature didn’t seem to notice them, or at least didn’t seem to care they were there.

It walked the short way to the platform and suddenly steps rose out of the floor to accommodate its ascent to the throne.

When it got there it sat down and turned its gaze toward them.

Corruption moved around them like a tide, as if moving with its attention.

It looked like it had no mouth, but when its jaw moved beneath the folds of skin, they separated for a moment to reveal a mouth beneath.

“Welcome Mark, Sam, Jonathan, and others. I’m glad you decided to join me.”

Mark couldn’t tell if this was the ‘Mother’ that the others had spoken of, but it certainly felt strong. When it didn’t continue, Sam spoke.

“We, have come to do no such thing, but seeing as you can be reasoned with, I have to ask. Will you call off the Corrupted and do no further harm to the city? If you do we’ll let you go in peace and we can both go our separate ways”

Diplomacy wasn’t Mark's first thought, but the warm glow in his chest stabilized him.

The creature didn’t move but Mark could tell by the sneer on its face what it thought of that idea.

“That won’t work for us. In a couple of hours, I will have your three crests and the two modules near the city center. With my own, that will allow me to lay claim to this whole sector.”

Mark's pupils dilated, this creature clearly understood something about the first rite they didn’t. They had been given the barest of hints and told to survive

Plus it seemed like the creature knew that Mark had the crest. He had neither accepted nor denied the prompt on purpose, so the crest had yet to appear physically. Mark thought he was being smart keeping it in the system but it looked like the being had more information than any of them.

Their kind were playing for endgame and the humans didn’t even know the rules.

Jonathan’s shoulders tensed.

“And what makes you think you’ll survive us?”

His words were loud but calm, causing the creature to once more go still as though thinking.

“You came to the seat of my power. You won’t be leaving here alive and if you do it will be as one of my subjects.”

iI's voice seemed so certain as flicked a slender arm out. Corruption churned and fell with the weight of an anvil.

Mark grunted as the pressure began to increase exponentially. At the same time they all froze. The Corruption inside Mark had finally decided to wake up and when it did, it started causing chaos in Mark's energy.

Mark saw that the others also struggling against their own Corruption.

The energy inside his body was swiftly falling under her control. Mark tried to push it back with his Prana, but that only afforded him so much control and started burning through his reserves.

The creature continued talking as the six of them struggled to move.

“You came here to stop our advance while chock full of our power. Honestly, what did you think would happen? I’m going to turn every one of you into my children. Except for you Mark. You, I’m going to make suffer, and then I’m going to kill you.”

She said it so matter of factly as she rose from the chair, gazing down at all of them.

Jonathan ground out.

“Mark, bubble.”

Mark shaped his Prana around the developing [Bestowal] and mixed it with [Engave Mana]. The technique was significantly harder than it usually was but Mark managed to get it around Jonathan.

No sooner was it in place than Jonathan had exploded out of Mark's cover and reached the throne.

The creature moved out of the way of both swings as her fingers elongated into talons. Jonathan’s Aura was billowing off him and helping to offset the surrounding Corruption as the creature blocked his blows.

Sam began building a spell from air magic while clutching her stomach. Mark tried to wrestle with his Corruption back but the sheer amount of it was crippling him. He could attempt to convert it into usable energy again, but he had already pushed his body beyond its limits today.

Nathan was throwing small spells to assist Jonathan, and Lisa was just about to ask for her own shield when she suddenly stopped and rushed towards Mark.

The panic on her face was all Mark needed; he immediately wrapped himself in a second shell of constructs. What came was a blade coated in Aura. The power was invasive and coiled through his barrier like a twisting snake.

It would get through no matter what so Mark used the time he’d bought to duck under the blade. His shield remained intact, but Aura fazed through and swiped over his head. Lisa arrived at this point and Mark turned to see Jeffrey pivoting to block her, his face a twisted smile.

“Dammit Lisa, don’t butt in. I could have earned the Monarch’s favor if I had at least wounded him.”

“Are you bloody insane!?” Lisa snarled.

Jeffery didn’t lose the readiness in his stance.

“Come now, this fight is a loss. My father showed me what their kind is capable of. I told him they should have turned us before he attempted to tame Jonny, but the old man was always too sweet on the kid.”

Mark's brows met in the middle and he had wanted to ask what in the world he was thinking but when he heard what Jeffrey intended his face smoothed out. This was why he’d traveled here with them in the first place.

Mark mobilized [Telekinetic control] and sent the man hurtling to the ground. Before Mark could lock him down properly Jeffrey flared his Aura and slipped out from under the spell, battering aside Lisa's weapon and diving out of Mark's construct.

The moment he was beyond Mark's protection the Corruption latched on and burrowed into his body, causing him to hunch over in pain, and yet the smile proved this was exactly what he wanted.

Mark tried to catch him but the guy was too fast putting distance between them rapidly. Mark couldn’t afford to chase because he heard a sickening crunch from behind them. Turning back, Mark caught sight of Jonathan being launched across the room like a missile, black whisps of Corruption burning off him.

Mark turned to receive a ball of condensed Corruption against his construct, only to see the creature floating above her throne.

Jonathan got up again but he almost collapsed back to the floor.

“Mark! She’s-” Jonathan's voice was cut short by a hacking cough.

The skin of the creature was writhing over her form as she stared directly at Mark.

“Come on Mark, you were always so self-righteous, how could you let me do this to your friends?”

“Screw you” Mark ground out.

The creature cocked its head and spoke once more but now it was a lot slower.

“Either you haven’t figured it out yet, and I'm right that you’re an idiot. Or you are willfully ignoring the facts. I don’t care which, but I do want you to watch as I christen them all. So, I'll tell you what...”

As the words left its mouth more skin began to unfold from the creature's face. When Grace’s face came into view, Mark froze.