Alexia

Seconds after I teleport back to Dimensional Block #108, my true form transformation comes to an end. And to my surprise, a notification appears the moment it ends as I return to my regular form.

You have caused damage to a target while in your true form.

Should the target get within one thousand kilometers of you, you will now automatically be transformed into your true form.

And the hunt will once again resume.

All rewards for hunting the target will be given after the target is eliminated.

Huh. Didn’t see that the last time I used my true form.

Interesting.

Anyways, after returning to my regular form, I take a look at the vampires and thralls who are still rushing through the portal back to their home Dimensional Block.

There sure are a lot of them. Makes me wonder what the point of bringing them all was.

Not like they actually did anything to me. Other than annoy me, of course.

Although, I can’t help but wonder about Damien. The Lord of Vampires.

He seems to have a lot of screws loose in his head. Even more than I already knew about from the news prior to the Reset.

I mean, who would turn an entire Dimensional Block into vampires?

It’s ridiculous.

Then again, it doesn’t really matter anymore. To me at least.

The vampires and thrall are no longer under Damien’s control, so they aren’t my problem. And they’re free to live their own lives. Even if they’re still vampires and thrall, technically.

That’s their problem though. Not mine.

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So I sit here and watch as they all finish leaving the Block, then I head back to The Retreat. Soon finding the Quantum Architect sitting around in my house for some reason.

“Did you sense it?” he asks without giving me any time to say anything the moment I step inside and find him sitting on a random couch.

I raise a brow at that before crossing my arms and asking, “Which one? The strange energy I sensed in the Lord of Vampires, or the strange quantum energy I sensed after I lost him?”

Of the two, the System itself told me what the first one was. That being a sliver of corruption. But I’m not sure what the second was.

The Quantum Architect looks out the window next to the sofa as he quietly says, “The strange quantum energy you sensed belongs to the Corrupted One.”

My eyes narrow a little.

“I thought the Corrupted One was in hiding?” I ask while crossing my arms and walking over to a different sofa and sitting down myself.

The Architect nods his head, still not looking at me when he says, “Yes. He has been in hiding for thousands of years now.” He pauses for a second before turning to look at me. “But it looks like he’s taken an interest in you.”

Oh.

That’s… not good.

Guess it’s pretty clear that the Corrupted One is responsible for the Lord of Vampire’s corruption and advancement to Class S. And responsible for his vanishing too.

What I find odd though is the fact that the Corrupted One isn’t confronting me personally but is instead using a proxy of sorts.

“My uncle is… strange,” the Quantum Architect says, briefly reminding me of the fact that the Corrupted One is the Ruler’s brother. “He’s most likely testing you for some reason.” He frowns. “Or he just finds this amusing. It’s hard to tell for sure.”

Well that’s… not very helpful.

The Architect turns to look at me with what actually looks like worry for the first time in our entire time knowing each other. But the expression vanishes just as quickly as he says, “You likely won’t have to worry about him attacking you personally.”

I blink at the man, briefly wondering if the expression of worry I saw on his face was my imagination or something.

Well, putting that aside, I still have the other question I needed to ask him but couldn’t before. Even if the whole question about targets isn’t something I need to ask anymore, what with it being answered by the Lord of Vampire’s existence.

“What’s a Corruptor?” I ask while titling my head.

He stares at me for a few seconds before turning to look out the window again and answering, “A Corruptor is similar to what the Corrupted One himself is. A being that has been fully corrupted yet still retained his sapience. Albeit one whose new goal is to spread corruption across the universe even with their sapience intact.”

I frown at that.

“And where can I find one?” I ask, remembering how I need to kill one for my ascension requirements.

In order to reach Tier 5.

The Architect glances at me for a second, then he turns back to the window again and says, “You’ll find one soon.”

I wait for him to say more, but he just glitches out and vanishes without another word. Leaving me wondering what he meant by that.

After several seconds pass, though, I just let out a sigh and move on. Heading straight to my bed.

Because I’m rather exhausted.

Haven’t really had much rest, especially not in a bed, for a long time now.

And even if I did get some sleep in The Horror, it’s not exactly relaxing to sleep inside the body of a large monster.

So I go ahead and send a message to Alara about what happened with the vampires, informing her that his forces won’t likely be invading us, then I lie down in bed and stare up at the ceiling.

It’s been a very busy past few months…

I wonder how Astrid’s doing?

Hopefully she leaves the dungeon soon.

Then there’s Ethan. I’m pretty sure he’s still inside the dungeon as well.

Well, regardless, I should think about what to do next.

But before that, it’s nap time.

So after letting out a brief yawn, I close my eyes and fall fast asleep.