Chapter 473 - Taming the Golden Light - 2

เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 มี.ค. 2569 07:41

Chapter 473: Chapter 473 - Taming the Golden Light - 2 Bloodwyn’s corruption manifested like a storm. Three out of his six beasts fused with him simultaneously. Dark wings spread from his back while his hands grew elongated claws designed for more than simple combat. The absorbed power from the Deep Leviathan Worm flowed through him, and when he released it, the very air seemed to recoil. The corruption struck the mushroom field like a tidal wave of darkness. Where the golden fungi had pulsed with gentle light, now there was only withering shadow. The creatures of light dissolved on contact, their radiance extinguished as if they had never existed. The mana they had consumed was canceled by the one in the darkness, leaving behind only scorched earth. "Effective," Hagen commented, watching the destruction. But as the corruption cleared the field, something unexpected happened. The claw-shaped tree, which had been fully covered in the golden mushrooms, didn’t lose all of them. Instead, the remaining fungi began to glow with higher intensity, their light becoming so bright it was painful to observe directly. And then the claw closed. The gnarled branches, which had been spread wide like an open hand, contracted. The movement was smooth and purposeful, clearly the action of something ’alive’ rather than the random falling of a dying plant. "That’s not a tree," Hagen said. "No," Bloodwyn agreed, his enhanced senses analyzing the structure with growing interest. "It’s clearly not." The vampire spread his wings and launched into the air, his Vulture Vampire Beast granting him aerial view. Wind gathered around him as he channeled his beast’s power, creating a focused tornado that struck the closed claw with devastating force. The structure was torn from the ground with a sound like a mountain breaking. What emerged from the earth remained neither a tree nor a hand. The claw was connected to a massive sphere buried deep in the soil, its surface covered in the same golden mushrooms that had been spreading through the forest floor. But where the fungi on the ground had been destroyed by Bloodwyn’s corruption, these seemed to draw power from the sphere itself. "Impossible," Bloodwyn muttered, studying the structure with worry and new respect. "Nothing in this ring should have accumulated so much mana to resist my power." The sphere pulsed with energy. This wasn’t a natural formation, it was something that had been growing, accumulating power for decades, perhaps centuries. "Unless it’s been here for a very long time," Hagen realized, pieces falling into place. The closed claw began to move again, this time with clear hostile intent. Spores erupted from its surface, creating a cloud of golden particles that drifted toward the soldiers. "Scatter!" Hagen shouted, his survival instincts overriding his fascination. ♢♢♢♢ The battle that followed was weird and unlike anything Hagen had experienced. The claw-arm-sphere moved with intelligence, its defense and attacks powerful. Each time Bloodwyn struck it with corruption or wind, it resisted, learning from the assault and adjusting its next attacks accordingly. "It’s studying us," Bloodwyn growled, pulling back from another failed attack. The sphere’s surface had changed, becoming more resistant to corruption with each exchange. The golden mushrooms that covered it seemed to block the dark energy and convert it into common mana, which was absorbed and made the structure glow even brighter. "Fire," Bloodwyn decided, his form shifting as he channeled different aspects of his beasts power. "Let’s see how it handles that." The flames that erupted were tinged with purple abyssal energy, burning with heat that should have reduced the strongest metal. But when the fire struck, the Arm-sphere simply resisted it. "Damn thing’s feeding on our attacks," one of the soldiers observed, his voice tight with panic. The claw launched itself forward again, moving with speed that belied its size. This time, however, it was met by something else entirely. The ground erupted. Abyssal creatures poured from newly opened tunnels like a living flood, their forms twisted by their corrupted evolution in the false golden depths. They moved with a single-minded purpose, drawn by the corruption crystals and driven by a rule that transcended normal understanding. The golden mushrooms and the abyssal creatures met in a collision that defied the laws of this world’s nature. Where they touched, both simply ceased to exist. The fungi dissolved on contact with abyssal energy, while the creatures were consumed by the purifying light. It was a mutual annihilation on a scale that made the previous battle seem like a minor starting skirmish. The claw-sphere found itself surrounded by a tide of corrupted bodies, its surface being stripped of protective mushrooms as wave after wave of abyssal creatures threw themselves against it. The structure fought back trying to emerge, but its enemies were too many. "Beautiful," Bloodwyn breathed, watching the mutual destruction. "They’re perfect counters for each other... The ultimate enemies." ♢♢♢♢ When the light hegemony finally ended, the landscape had been transformed. The golden mushrooms were gone, consumed by the abyssal tide. The creatures themselves had continued their suicidal advance toward the bronze and silver rings, following their programming to destroy till the last golden mushroom. The first battlefield was now empty except for the soldiers and their quarry. The claw-arm-sphere stood naked and motionless, its surface no longer covered by the protective fungi. Without the mushrooms, it appeared to be just another large rock-wood formation, albeit one with an unusual shape. "Is it dead?" asked one of the soldiers, his voice hopeful but uncertain. Bloodwyn approached cautiously, his enhanced senses analyzing the structure. "Dormant, maybe. Or waiting to get mana again." That’s when Hagen noticed the tunnel. Where the sphere had been buried, the abyssal creatures had revealed an opening in the earth. The tunnel end was clearly artificial, carved from living rock with smoothness that spoke of intelligent design. And from its depths came a faint glow that may have something to do with golden mushrooms. "There’s more to do down there," Hagen announced, his explorer’s instincts overriding his caution. "Something the abyssals are still following." Bloodwyn’s smile delighted. "An underground infection route that may take us to the ’heart’. How convenient." He turned to Hagen with an expression of inquiry and invitation. "Want to explore the source?" Hagen grinned back, feeling the familiar thrill of discovery that had driven him to become the kingdom’s premier underground explorer. "Thought you’d never ask." ♢♢♢♢ Zhao almost died.

React

พูดคุย