On the completely opposite side of the fairy village, the battle between Karteira and Lucas was intensifying.

After being turned into a fuming pile of charred flesh, Lucas recovered. In front of Karteira, his muscles and bones attached themselves, created from the dark energy emitted by the corrupted energy.

The capabilities the corruption had to heal injuries were on par, if not better, than the light element.

Yet, one detail bothered Karteira.

'Why is he still alive?'

'I thought once their body died, they appeared in a darker form?'

From the story told by Orion, Olivia, and Senia, there were no doubts about the validity of their words.

So why was Lucas still alive?

Even more shocking was his brutish form he used to confuse her, when in fact, he was perfectly fine even after turning back.

'What is this soldier made off?'

Karteira placed her left hand on the back of her right hand, before sliding it above her fingers. A long plate, sharpened on the edges, grew as her hand continued past her hand.

As her eyes stared at Lucas, who was starting to regain his facial muscles, she rapidly thought of a new way to fight this bizarre corrupted man.

Lucas' left eyeball moved erratically, before settling on her. The arm holding his sword cracked, as his bones slid into place. His legs followed the same process as he stood up, finally healed.

"That was one intense fire. I've never been bathed in such a conflagration before."

"Fancy words coming from someone so impure."

His sword scrapped the ground as his body turned around, leaving half a circle behind that permanently marked the earth.

"Impure, you say?"

The man placed his hand on his chin and acknowledged her words.

"I have no attachments to my former self, so this form is actually much more convenient."

"No need to eat, no need to rest, no need to talk. Just act accordingly to our orders. This life is much better than the one I had before."

Shrugging his old memories away, he lifted his sword, pointing it at Karteira.

"You have it easy, then. Being a puppet."

A slight frown appeared on his face. Karteira noticed it, but kept quiet.

'I shouldn't push his buttons any longer. Who knows what would happen?'

The two positioned themselves, ready to strike at the other. Suddenly vanishing from their position, they collided at the center.

The sound of steel clashed while they moved around, leaving bright sparks behind them as they exchanged places multiple times.

Each time, both suffered light injuries from the other's sword, until one finally came on top.

Karteira abruptly stopped.

"Tsk!"

She placed her left thumb on her right temple, swiping off the blood that was pouring in her eye.

The cut healed rapidly, before she turned around.

"I missed your head."

Lucas turned around, far being her.

"I can see that."

A sizzling noise could be heard coming from him, and a limb laying a few meters away from him in the grass.

Turning around, she pointed her plate sword at him, which was steaming tremendously.

The plates on her back opened, releasing two clouds of steam resembling wings, while Lucas looked at his left arm, laying next to him.

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It was this arm that was holding his sword, which made him vulnerable at this moment. Lifting his right hand, he pulled the sword toward him, as a new arm grew to replace the previous one.

"I won't miss next time."

"There won't be a next time."

Lucas said, before vanishing.

"!"

All Karteira managed to do was bend her knees and make her upper body fall backward, as a metallic glint traveled through the air above her head.

A strand of hair flew in the distance, diverting both's attention.

'What am I doing?!'

Karteira returned to her senses faster than Lucas. She bent backward, placed her hands on the earth, and attacked with her feet, covered in thick plates.

Pulling his sword toward him, Lucas then struck forward, lacerating the plates and her right foot at the same time.

'This little pain is nothing!'

Gritting her teeth, she kicked his chest with all her might.

Yet, she barely pushed the man away. With his feet deeply anchored, he stood his ground.

Hurriedly, Karteira pulled back, did a cartwheel, and dropped on all four like a cat, ready to pounce on her target.

Her plated armor changed as she became serious. With the man becoming faster each passing minutes, and his speed getting overwhelming, she had no choice but to adjust.

'I thought this would be an easy fight, but I was mistaken...'

Four storage blocks formed around her waist and behind her back. Inside them, the pressure filled them instantaneously.

With now four canisters instead of two, her Cerulean Storm armor became even deadlier.

'There's still my trump card left... but I'd rather not use it before finishing this form. Using it now while cause trouble later.'

She had the effect of surprise on her side, although this would only be effective once. Subsequently, her opponent would learn her style, and counter her every move.

'I suppose I have no choice...'

Steeling her resolve, Karteira glared at the man, before pushing on her legs. The two canisters on her back opened, moving her at ludicrous speed toward the soldier.

Astonished, Lucas took a step back while slashing downward impulsively. The steam storage on the right of Karteira's side opened, sending her away from the sword's trajectory.

Spinning once out of the way, she then stopped, activating the two canisters that sent her forward.

In a split second, she was on the man's opposite side, her plate sword covered in blood.

Lucas' head flew in the air, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

But it wasn't the end. Karteira was aware that this tactic would only work once, and that this was probably ineffective.

Nonetheless, she pushed her body to her limits, and even brought out a sliver of the light element magic to support her rapid movement.

With Lucas unaware of his situation yet, he saw Karteira turn around in slow motion, mincing his entire body into bloody cubes.

Nothing was ignored. Even if the blood sprayed everywhere, even if the guts of her opponent disgusted her, Karteira endured.

She destroyed every nerve in his body, his heart, everything. Then, when she felt satisfied, she turned to his head, that began to fall down.

Appearing under it, Karteira pierced it with her blade from under, and slashed downward, splitting his head in two.

Before the two parts could bounce on the dirt, she separated them yet more, making sure the man wouldn't come back at all.

"Urk!"

Seeing the brain matter and other unpleasant parts on her plate sword, she looked away in utter aversion.

Without waiting a second, she swiped her arm to the side, removing the gross matter from her blade.

Then, with an intent glare, she scrutinized the area.

'That surely sealed the deal, right?'

To her surprise, the pile of flesh wasn't moving. Hiding her relief to herself, she waited.

"You did me dirty, I'll give you that."

"!"

Suddenly hearing Lucas' voice behind her, she tried to distance herself by rushing forward.

But she was unable to react fast enough, as a dark blade pierced her back.

~

In the northern part of Horizon, the fight between Dony and Senia was also coming to an end.

Like Pierre, Dony appeared to be as weak in front of the siren and her accomplices as his friend did against the fairy twins.

His pitiful earth magic barely defended himself against the incessant attacks of the sirens, making him a simple prey to them.

They did not enjoy the fight, but it had to be done nonetheless.

What was even more tragic, was his inability to deduce the situation.

In reality, the grand magic Senia used to form tubes with were there to create a path for the siren, who would help the master of the magic in firing another kind of magic.

It was a complicated magic in three parts.

First and foremost, Senia drew the entirety of the Siren Sea under her tight control, creating funnels for the various creatures residing in the sea, while creating a way for the other sirens to move freely around Dony.

Next, she applied a slight light refraction spell that hid the sirens, making them visible only as shadows. Furtively making them move around was a great strategy that she thought of after fighting the Corrupted Eel.

Lastly, wherever the sirens placed their hands on, Senia fired a pressurized water beam, limiting her focus on controlling the water flow only, leaving the actual placement of attacks to her allies.

In the end, the entire plan was perfect, but far too effective against this man. His multi-layered barriers were ineffective and rapidly crumbled under the powerful jets of water, before ripping pieces after pieces of his flesh, until he finally died.

What made it even harder for the sirens, was that the poor man returned from the dead, to be executed in the same manner, while begging for his life.

Pierre and Dony were defective products of the new corrupted transformation, alongside Kiel.

The human emotions inside their heart rejected the corruption, making them a failed creation, and Miasma knew it.

That was the reason for not casting them away.

'Every tool has a purpose.'

And they carried out their role perfectly, even in death. Separating Orion's forces, even for a less than half-an-hour.

For Miasma, it was everything.

~

With only Lucas remaining, Miasma entered the final phase of his plan.

A dark, sludgy matter dragged itself along the grass, undetected by everyone. It moved toward the most important place of the plane, until the liquid touched a barrier.

Rejecting it violently, the sludge shook, before a pearl emerged from its center.

"I've found you."

Shaping himself from the sludge with the pearl as its core, the true Miasma placed his hand on the barrier.

*Crack*

With his sight set on a large house, Miasma rushed at full speed, aware that Orion and Elliott were pursuing him.