The corruption in the man’s body wasn’t just connected to Zoe at a sensory level. She could tell instinctively that mana could flow through the link — it was like an ethereal tether not entirely dissimilar to the channels within her own spirit. Granted, it wasn’t quite the same either, but it was definitely related.

The firs thing that came to mind for Zoe to try was to push additional mana through the link. So she did exactly that. It took a modest amount of force — it felt kind of like the opposite of sucking a thick milkshake up a thin straw — but it did work, and more of her mana joined the corruption battling within the aura master’s body.

At the same time, Zoe was aware that the black mana was now the dominant color. The demonic red was still there — in rather large amounts, actually — but the proportions had been reversed.

In any case, not only was her attempt successful, but it was also effective. Her corruption began to gain a bit of ground, finally breaking the chaotic stalemate to push back the man’s own spirit.

It was at that moment that another person dropped down. He looked a bit older than most of the others, and his uniform was somehow fancier looking, even while still being very plain. Zoe analyzed him on reflex.

{Astral Knight - 72}

Zoe activated {Kinetic Dash} immediately. Given the uniform and the higher level, it was clear that this guy was the group’s leader. Judging just by level, he would be as strong as the paladin Zoe had barely managed to defeat on her first day.

While she had grown far, far stronger since then, her victory had been a close, highly circumstantial thing. Remembering how powerful the paladin’s abilities had been, Zoe was betting that this new opponent would be roughly similarly strong.

He was close enough that her dash should be able to take her all the way to him. It had been a quick decision, but Zoe was hoping that she could land a significant blow at the beginning and weaken him for the rest of the fight.

Yes, she knew that she wouldn’t make a killing blow right away. Given that he was most likely in stage two of the awakened realm, she would be very pleased just to land a good hit. In the fraction of a second it took for her to cross the distance, Zoe had already readied multiple {Corrupted Strikes}.

Zoe was falling.

The sky and ground wheeled above and below her as she tumbled through the open air, falling straight down from half the height of the cliff. Zoe was so disoriented by the sudden change that she completely neglected to prepare a {Kinetic Dash}. As she fell, a bolt of annihilation struck her in the shoulder — and then she crumpled to the ground.

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It didn’t hurt nearly as badly as it would have before her transformation, but the impact still disoriented her even further. In that time, another bolt struck her between the shoulder blades.

Space itself tore through her.

Zoe didn’t see the blade, but she didn’t have to. The attack cleaved through her exoskeleton and internal organs alike, sending a sharp, stinging pain through both flesh and spirit. It didn’t actually damage her mana channels, but she still felt the magic’s passage. She reacted properly this time. The {Kinetic Dash} carried her to her feet and several meters away, where she dizzily spun around.

{Warning: you are currently suffering from severe internal bleeding. Critical condition imminent.}

Zoe tried to get her wits back together as she dumped mana into {Corrupt Wound}. That attack had been the most powerful she had ever fully experience. Sure, it hadn’t killed her like the bullet to the heart had, but it was undoubtedly a far more advanced ability. Another strike like that would likely completely incapacitate her.

Zoe just barely managed to dodge the next bolt of annihilation. It was a miracle she had done so at all, as most of her attention was focused on the astral knight. The magic he wielded was fading, but she was still able to glimpse the lingering traces of his ethereal weapon.

It wasn’t so much darkness and light as it was absolutely nothing and a little bit of everything. Space itself shimmered like a distant haze on a hot day, revealing a kaleidoscopic world of fragments of the universe warped between shards of metal and glass. It made Zoe’s head hurt to look at, even with max level {Psychic Resistance}, so she stopped.

As the magic disappeared, the astral knight began to advance. As he did, new rifts in space began to blossom around him. That’s how he teleported me, Zoe realized. He must have opened a rift right in the trajectory of her dash and dumped her out of one high up in the air.

Zoe was really not liking this guy. He wasn’t just strong, he was annoying. She could already tell that he was going to be one of those opponents who was just a pain in the ass to fight, even if you were stronger than them. Which right now, she definitely wasn’t.

Zoe actually considered running. She quickly dismissed the idea. She felt in her gut that this guy wasn’t going to just let her disappear. She could tell that he would pursue her, so she would rather get it over with now than turn her back to him and desperately attempt to drag it out.

As he advanced, Zoe tried desperately to formulate a plan. Even without the teleporting involved — no doubt he could teleport himself as well — she didn’t know how she would survive getting close to him. His conjured blade attack was the most devastating magic she had yet experienced, more than exceeding her own offensive melee capabilities.

It was at this moment that she decided she needed more ranged attacks. Or at least a good, big area of effect. I’m definitely going to try to learn an ability for that after this.

With that decided, Zoe sprinted forward.

She didn’t use her dash, because it was too hard to redirect once she activated it. She had no intention of falling for the same trick twice. Zig zag it is.

A dozen rifts opened around her, but Zoe weaved between them flawlessly. At the same time, she directed {Kinetic Enhancement} and {Corrupted Strike} into the tip of her tail.

She had no doubt that she would get hit by that blade again.

But hey, I can survive losing a tail.

Probably.