The remaining harpy guardian appeared before Sorin before he could even react, piercing a deep hole in his shoulder that festered with incompatible divinity. Poison and corruption swiftly came to the rescue, consuming most of the aggressive energy and, in turn, converting it to vitality used to fix the worst of the wound.

Sorin, still stunned by the sudden attack, met the guardian’s follow-up spear with his own. His Violence-infused strength allowed him to somewhat withstand the blow, though he was still sent flying back fifty feet by the exchange.

The guardian seemed to have eyes for no one else and charged despite the arrows raining down on her position and the cage of shadowy threads and well-placed fireballs impeding her path. A frontal clash would only result in a quick death, so Sorin summoned a golden python using a tenth of his remaining mana, bringing his total stores down to half after accounting for all other losses and gains.

The python faced the enemy valiantly but was easily cut down despite its reinforced structure. Fortunately, that was the plan all along. The python’s shattered fragments became a cloud of poisonous droplets that were most effective when inhaled and only moderately effective at attacking through the skin. Sorin’s main intent, however, was to take advantage of their affinity for the harpies’ feathers, which caught up stray droplets with every flap of her wings.

Chains of mana brought the harpy’s movements to a jarring halt, opening her up to a salvo of storm-infused arrows and fireballs. Strings of shadow wrapped around the harpy’s arms and legs, further restraining the guardian.

“Give me twenty seconds,” said Sorin, concentrating on Nemesis. Twelve forearm-sized needles appeared in front of him, radiating twelve different types of poisons that were especially effective against these elite harpies.

“You think you can hold back judgment?” screamed the guardian. Her arms and wings flexed, breaking apart the shadowy strings and hitting the already-wounded Lawrence with a heavy backlash. The rogue fell to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut, knocking him completely out of the fight. “Stand down, illegitimate spawn, and I shall allow you to live. Fight me, and it shall be your end.” She pointed her spear at Sorin. “Only this one cannot be forgiven. The Divine Laws are absolute and eternal.

A physical confrontation was clearly not to the harpy’s advantage, given their lineup. The guardian changed tact and threw her into the sky. A portal appeared above Sorin, revealing a massive spear plunging downward with unbreakable momentum.

Infusing such a complex mix of poison required Sorin’s complete attention. He had to make a decision: abandon the process or continue despite the harpy’s offensive.

“Keep infusing those needles, Sorin!” shouted Stephan as his form grew several-fold to reveal a massive Arctic Rune Bear. This was Stephan’s Aspect Transformation, which had only become more impressive after his breakthrough into Flesh-Sanctification. Ancient runes appeared on the beast-shift warrior’s self-crafted armor, imbuing his claws with an element of absolute cold.

The descending spear ground to a halt, and the temple’s stone floor shattered. Stephan caught the spear. Deep gashes appeared in his armor and fur as the spear whittled away at his defenses and continued towards Sorin at a crawl.

Three needles are charged, but I need a minimum of seven to have the desired effect. All twelve will result in an absolute kill, assuming the empowerment through divinity does not exceed my simulations. Sorin chose to trust in his companions and proceeded with infusing a fourth needle.

Stephan struggled to hold the spear, but reinforcements came in the form of a counterattack against the harpy guardian. Gareth was now on the offensive as he rained arrows down on the harpy’s now-immobile body. A golden shield had sprung up around the guardian, and arrows were unable to penetrate it. The arrows were not meant to wound the harpy, however. Weaknesses appeared on the golden shield, which Daphne took advantage of by pelting it with dark fireballs shrunk down to the size of marbles.

“Victory is assured in seven moves if you don’t respond,” spoke Daphne in a confident voice. “One.” A marble smashed into the divine shield, distorting it. “Two.” A second marble struck the opposite side, introducing another ripple. “Three. Four. Five.”

Each marble introduced increasing amounts of irregularities into the shield, making it clear that one or two more strikes were all that were needed to shatter its potent defenses. “Six.” This time, the harpy reacted by summoning a spectral spear to intercept the marble. The defensive maneuver kept her shield intact, but withdrawing her attention from the spear in the sky gave Stephan the respite he needed and Astley the time she required to complete a complex summoning.

“I!

“Summon in my name!

“The Armored Queen.

“The Endless Progenitor.

“The eternal slave to the Evil Called Hope!

“Your myth is bound

“Your task is diverted.

“Your dungeon chains are mine.

“Accept this offering.

“Escape your bonds.

“Unleash your armies upon the living!”

A spell circle spanning two hundred feet appeared beneath Astley and her grimoire. A large, golden head appeared beneath the myth-binder, revealing a Gold-Plated Ant that was several times larger than the War Queen they’d faced in the Kepler Clan dungeon.

Sorin had no idea how she was able to summon this creature despite the fact that they hadn’t fully cleared the dungeon, but he didn’t question it. Any help was welcome. Both he and the guardian were immobile, and the first to flinch would be the first to perish.

Hundreds of runes peeled off the pages of Astley’s grimoire and shot into the creature’s mouth, permanently sacrificing these myths in exchange for a burst of power.

“Screeee!” shouted the queen. An army consisting of hundreds of elite gold-plated ants emerged from the summoning circle and threw themselves at the spear in the sky.

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The spear shook and slowed as the ants threw themselves at it without fear for their lives. This enabled Stephan to push the spear back up to a more comfortable level and better position himself beneath its tip, shielding Sorin.

Seven needles are complete. Let’s see how many I can finish.

The harpy, clearly annoyed by Daphne and Astley’s antics, further diverted her attention and threw a flurry of spectral spears in Daphne’s direction. Hidden defensive runes activated to block the spears but failed to block a hidden spear that pierced through a crack in her defenses and lodged itself in her gut.

Condensed fireballs exploded as Daphne lost control of her spells. This freed up the harpy guardian to throw one last spear Daphne’s way, but fortunately, Gareth had seen this coming and pulled Daphne out before the spear could finish her off.

“I can’t… hold… much longer….” Growled Stephan as the spear continued down towards Sorin.

“My offering is insufficient, and so is my mental energy,” said Astley as the queen ant retreated back into the summoning circle.

“Five more seconds,” said Sorin as the spear inched towards his head. “Three. Two. One.” Sorin finished the ninth needle of his attack and pulled it in orbit around his body alongside the first eight. The final three spears were discarded. Space shook as he activated his Wraith-Snake Boots to close the gap between him and the harpy and pierce a poisonous spear straight into her shield.

Manatoxins wormed their way into the divine shield, creating holes for his needles to shoot through. Movement patterns consistent with observed defensive maneuvers pre-transformation. Initiating attack pattern 273. Thirteen potential divergences are anticipated.

The first needle struck the harpy in her left wing, temporarily paralyzing her body as it had before. The harpy quickly shook off the paralysis, but not quickly enough to avoid a needle injecting itself into her torso, attacking her liver.

She jumped as another needle headed for her leg but was forced back down as a needle struck the back of her neck. She moved to deflect the needle heading towards her heart but was unable to do so as a needle, anticipating her movement, lodged itself in her forearm.

“The first symptom: dizziness, lack of coordination, visual inertia.” Sorin stepped in and slammed his palm against the harpy’s chest armor, infusing yet another dose of poison to complement the nine doses he’d just given her.

The spear in the sky was no longer needed, so the harpy banished it and attempted to pull the divine energy back into her body. Yet the energy stopped before entering her body, and she refused to obey her commands. “The second symptom, mana dissonance, mana stagnation, temporary loss of spiritual sensitivity.”

Sorin’s gauntleted fist struck the harpy’s gut, infusing another dose of poison that clinched the deal. He moved to land the finishing blow but pulled back as a feeling of intense crisis enveloped him. What’s going on? I’d calculated everything perfectly. Unless…

Another spear appeared in the harpy’s left hand. Divine energy poured into the spear from the temple, further ravaging what remained of the place and even causing the dungeon core to dim.

“You cannot be left alive! Heaven’s Wrath!” screamed the harpy. Golden flames covered her body as she immolated herself for one last push even though ten seconds still remained on their timer.

Sorin’s instincts screamed as the spear shot toward him, completely bypassing all attempts by his friends to stop it. Nemesis formed a shield that the spear shattered against, but a stream of violent divine energy pierced into Sorin’s heart and began eating away at the corruption in his body.

The dose is lethal. My corruption is insufficient. Corruption is too ingrained in my life force and cultivation. Cores of corruption are insufficient to close the gap. Lorimer is currently supplementing me through our bond despite his terrible condition, but his energy is still insufficient.

Sorin scrambled to find a solution but was unable to find one. There was something he’d forgotten. Something he should remember. Something that would solve all his problems if he reached out to it.

He felt something snap as the divine energy’s rampage reached a critical point. A flood of energy filled him, pushing back the foreign divinity and infusing his flesh with a dose of corruption that far exceeded what he’d experienced to date.

Crap! Azrakul tricked me again! The source of the corruption was naturally Azrakul’s prison, which he’d clearly forgotten about in recent times thanks to the insidious herald’s machinations.

Soon, spoke the herald as the infusion of corruption slowed to a crawl. The prison door closed, hiding away the tricky herald once again from both the outside world and Sorin’s own senses.

“What happened?” groaned Sorin as he sat up from his prone position. He placed a hand on his heart and saw that there was a hole in his armor. A hole that didn’t seem to be regenerating. He didn’t remember how it had happened and how he’d defended himself against the harpy’s final outburst.

Sorin tried to stand but was stopped by Gareth. “Look at me,” Gareth said to Sorin. “Look into my eyes. Tell me that you’re fine.”

Sorin frowned. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I’m perfectly well. I’m—” His words froze in his mouth as he realized that his corruption had taken up a dominant position inside his body. What’s more, the corruption was now extremely skewed towards Strife. “I’m not fine,” he corrected. “I need to figure something out and fast.” Karmic threads danced in his vision, and thoughts of conflict raged inside his mind. Plans were hatching at a rate that he couldn’t keep up with.”

“As long as you know it,” said Gareth, holding out a hand. “We’ll get you through this.”

Sorin shivered when he saw the cold glint in his friend’s eyes but took his hand nonetheless. This corruption situation was getting a little too close for comfort.

“So, we cleared the dungeon, right?” said Lawrence. “The second part of the mission was to kill the guardians, right?”

“There’s still the third part: offering up the core,” said Daphne. “According to contributions, it’s Sorin who’ll get to pick how it’s offered. Whatever he picks, we’re entitled to rewards as calculated by the Temple of Hope.”

Sorin pondered the situation for a moment. Currently, there are four options. The first was offering the core to the Kepler Clan. According to the clan’s reward structure, offering up a core in his clan’s name would award him with five top-tier credits. Each credit could be used to exchange for one top-tier poison, be it of plant, animal, or other origin.

If it were before, Sorin would have simply chosen this path. Now, however, he wasn’t so sure. My inability to find patients is stifling my progress as both an apothecary and a physician. I need to change that. Break the current impasse to attain better rewards.

Physicians obtained high-tier resources mainly by treating high-level cases. Most cases only awarded low-level resources and gold coins, but high-level cases could award anything from specific resources the patient possessed to divine crystals or even top-tier credits, which the Kepler Clan would gladly trade for an equivalent one in-clan.

“I’m a little loathe to offer up this core to the Kepler Clan,” Sorin finally said. “They’ve been causing me problems. I feel that my political resources are a little lacking in this regard.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening. What did you have in mind?”

“It’s simple,” said Sorin. “I’ll forgo my rewards for turning in the core. The rest of the party will get merit to exchange with the White Tower Group. All I ask is for a few networking opportunities.”

Daphne chuckled. “I understand. I’ll see what strings I can pull.”

“Hey, why the White Tower Group?” Interrupted Stephan. “Our York Clan is well-connected. We’re also huge customers for the Kepler Clan’s hospitals.”

Sorin shrugged. “We could do that as well, but are you sure you want your rivals receiving the best medical care?”

Stephan scratched his head. “Isn’t that a little cold for a physician?”

“I prefer the term pragmatic,” said Sorin, though judging by the look Gareth gave him, maybe it was his corruption speaking out. “Rest assured, I wouldn’t say no if your rivals requested treatment. Physician ethics and all.”

“Anyway, he made an offer, and I officially accept it,” interrupted Daphne. “Surely you wouldn’t go back on your word, Sorin Abberjay Kepler?”

“No, he would not,” Gareth interrupted before Sorin could wiggle out of the bargain he’d just struck and renegotiate from a stronger position. “Sorin, claim the damn core and offer it to the White Tower Group. The sooner we get out of here, the better.”

Sorin thought about it briefly and decided not to push the issue with his Keeper. Gareth’s glass was getting a little too good at dealing with corrupted individuals. Adding in the rest of the team and Lorimer’s mood swings, Sorin wasn’t sure he’d be able to come out unscathed.