The barrier seals collapsed with a sound like shattering glass. Stale air rushed out of the mine entrance, carrying whispers that made Zaro's void sense recoil. The corruption had been busy while sealed away.
Chad pulled a crystal from his hat and tossed it into the darkness. It burst into purple light, revealing tunnel walls covered in pulsing black veins. The crystal light dimmed as something in the void consumed it.
“This is worse than that time I woke up in Everlight wearing someone else's trousers”, Ramrod muttered.
“What's worse was, someone had shit in them! Can you believe that? What is the world coming to?"
His enchanted axe burst into golden flames as he took point. The big warrior had given up on teleporting after his last attempt left him speaking in interpretive dance.
[System alert]
Entering corrupted zone. Side effects may include existential dread, hallucinations, and the urge to start an underground shadow puppet theater.
The tunnel descended at a steep angle. Crystal fragments still dotted the walls but they looked wrong. Instead of the usual purple glow, they pulsed with darkness that void sense couldn't penetrate, like holes torn in reality itself.
Ezra moved ahead, her void-enhanced senses probing for dangers. The corruption fought against her attempts to scan the area, trying to twist her void energy into writhing shapes. She kept cursing in languages Zaro was pretty sure she had just invented.
Chad walked with one hand raised, maintaining a barrier around them. His hat spun slowly, tracking energy readings somehow. “The void manipulation here is like nothing I've seen. It's not just corrupted, it's evolving.” He said.
Their boots splashed through puddles of a black liquid that tried to climb their legs. The whispers grew louder, forming words just on the edge of understanding. They promised power, answers, freedom from doubt. All it would cost was everything.
[System alert]
Hostile environment detected. Corruption level exceeds safety limits. Recommend extreme violence. Also maybe some therapy after.
The first attack came from above. A mass of twisted energy dropped from the ceiling like liquid darkness given form. Ramrod roared and swung his flaming axe. The corruption hissed and recoiled from the golden flames but quickly flowed around, trying to flank.
Time to test the upgrades. Zaro channeled power through his enhanced void skin, extending crystalline spikes as the corruption surged toward him. Void step carried him through their ranks, his attacks leaving trails of purple energy in the darkness.
Ramrod's axe cleaved through the corrupted, golden flames searing paths through the area. The mass split and reformed, learning from each strike. Three tendrils of corrupted energy shot toward his legs but shattered against his armor.
Ezra's void enhanced arrows pierced the corruption's core, each shot calculated to disrupt its coalescence. The void energy tried reforming but her sustained barrage kept it destabilized. Her precision grew more lethal with each shot.
Zaro void stepped through another tendril. The corruption screamed in frequencies that made reality shudder. His voidfang manifested, as void sense pulsed outward, cutting through the darkness with data and highlighting enemies.
Chad's barrier pulsed, containing the corruption's attempts to escape. “Analysis complete”, he transmitted. “Structural weakness detected. The corruption's trying to merge with the mine's existing void crystals. Target the connection points!”
Zaro's blade found the first nexus, severing the corruption's hold on a wall crystal. The void mass convulsed, its form becoming unstable. Ramrod's axe struck the second point while Ezra's arrows shattered the third. The corruption imploded with a sound like reality hiccuping.
[System alert]
Corrupted void entity terminated.
100 experience.
Remaining to Level 15. 2,100.
Threat level assessment updated. Warning: Corruption adaptation rate exceeds previous parameters.
The team regrouped, checking equipment. Ramrod's axe flames had dimmed but still burned strong. Ezra reloaded while scanning ahead, her void sense detecting multiple energy signatures deeper in the mine.
The tunnel opened into a chamber with three passages. Mining equipment lay scattered and twisted, void corruption having warped metal and crystal alike. Human-shaped shadows were burned into the walls, frozen in poses of terror.
“Well this is definitely not ominous at all”, Ramrod said, axe flames reflecting off abandoned mining carts. Their contents had been transformed into crystalline structures that pulsed with familiar darkness.
“Three paths”, Chad observed, “Center leads deepest. Right passage shows highest corruption concentration. Left seems partially collapsed.”
Zaro exchanged glances with Ezra, their void senses already attuned to the heavy corruption emanating from the right passage. “Ramrod, you and Chad take center. The corruption's trying to hide something down that right tunnel. Ezra and I will handle it.”
Chad adjusted his hat, reinforcing the protective barriers around both teams. Two resonance crystals floated from his hat, one following each group. “Try not to die horribly. My insurance doesn't cover void related dismemberment.”
Ramrod's axe flared brighter as he and Chad disappeared down the center passage, the analyst's instruments casting dancing shadows on the walls.
Zaro and Ezra turned right, void enhanced senses penetrating the thickening darkness. Something about this corruption felt different. Older. Hungrier.
[System alert]
Party separation protocols engaged. Individual threat assessment modes activated. Warning: Corruption density in right passage exceeds recommended exposure limits. Proceed with excessive violence.
The teams advanced into the darkness, their void abilities resonating off each other, strengthening their connection. In the depths ahead, something ancient stirred, drawn to their familiar yet foreign void signatures.
The corruption thickened with each step, forming weblike patterns across the tunnel walls. Void crystals jutted at odd angles, their natural purple glow consumed by spreading darkness. The air itself felt wrong, reality bending slightly around them.
Ezra stopped, raising her bow. Three humanoid shapes emerged from the darkness ahead, their mining uniforms fused with corrupted crystal growths. What remained of their faces twisted in silent screams as corruption energy poured from their eyes.
Corrupted miners, Zaro observed, void fang manifesting. The crystal in their chest cavities pulsed with familiar energy. Familiar but wrong.
The miners moved with unnatural speed, tools raised as weapons. The first swung a pickaxe infused with dark energy. Zaro's blade met it midswing, the collision sending purple sparks cascading through the tunnel.
An arrow from Ezra's bow pierced the second miner's crystal core, shattering it in a spray of corrupted fragments. The body collapsed, corrupted energy dissipating into the tunnel's darkness.
The third miner phased through the tunnel wall, attempting to flank. Zaro void stepped behind it, blade severing its connection to the corruption source. The creature fell, its final scream echoing with frequencies that made his void sense recoil.
[Experience gained]
225. 1,875 experience to level 15.
[System alert]
Unusual void signature detected ahead. Seismic disturbance increasing.
The tunnel floor trembled. Something massive moved through the rock beneath their feet, drawn to the combat echoes. Something that had been waiting in the darkness for a very long time.
The seismic tremors intensified. Chad's resonance crystal pulsed rapidly, its analysis protocols straining.
Zaro's analyze skill activated.
His HUD populated
Entity Detected. Level 25.
Threat Assessment. ERROR. ERROR.
Level not known
WARNING. Corruption evolution detected. Standard parameters exceeded.
“Well that doesn't happen often” Zaro said quietly.
The creature's approach made void crystals in the walls vibrate discordantly. Rock crumbled as something massive pushed through the tunnel walls, tunneling through solid stone with ease. Ezra's void sense recoiled from its presence, the corruption wasn't just controlling it, it had fundamentally changed its nature.
A single ancient light fixture buzzed overhead, its power crystal struggling against years of darkness. In its flickering illumination, a massive head emerged from the wall. Then another beside it. Two faces on one twisted form, both corrupted by void crystal growths that had burst through the skin. One face still bore recognizable mole like features, the other had become something else entirely. Both sets of eyes fixed on them with predatory intelligence.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The light fixture gave one final buzz and died, plunging the tunnel into darkness broken only by the faint corrupt crystals glow.
Over in the center chamber.
“Ye feel that?” Ramrod asked, his axe golden flames illuminating their path along with the blue hue from Chad's magic. The tunnel walls shuddered, dust and small rocks falling from above.
Chad adjusted his hat, frowning with understanding. “Something big just woke up. The corruption energy signature I'm sensing from the right tunnel just spiked.” He paused, turning his head slightly. “Zaro and Ezra may have found what we're looking for. Whether that's good news remains to be seen.”
The distant sound of corrupted stone giving way echoed through the mine.
The central tunnel finally expanded into a larger chamber, mining equipment scattered like broken toys on a foreign planet. Overhead, dark crystal formations had burst through the ceiling in twisted patterns. At the chamber's heart stood a mining beacon, its light corrupted into sickly darkness.
Before it stood what had once been the mine's foreman. The behemoth of a man, already huge in life, had been twisted by corruption into something monstrous. His reinforced mining armor had fused with void crystal growths, and where his chest should have been, a massive corrupted gem pulsed with dark energy. Around him, a dozen corrupted miners worked mindlessly, their movements jerky and unnatural.
The foreman turned, tools and small pieces of gem remnants floating in a corrupt orbit around him. His distorted voice mixed with the hum of the dark gem embedded in his chest, echoing about “more fuel for the evolution. The corruption must spread. Must grow. Must learn.”
Chad's magic and intuition pulled information into his mind. “That gem in his chest, it's a corruption nexus point. Like a dark battery that's been reversed. It's not just spreading corruption, it's... learning from everything it corrupts.”
Ramrod's axe flared brighter, golden flames reflecting off the twisted crystal growths. “Well then, guess we better stop its education.” He squared his shoulders, sizing up the massive creature. “Any weak points besides the obvious glowing chest tumor?”
The corrupted miners turned as one, tools raised. The foreman's gem pulsed darker, dark energy crackling around the chamber. “The darkness needs no weakness”, the distorted voice echoed. “Only growth. Only evolution.”
A [System Alert] flashed to Zaro
Multiple hostile entities detected
Corrupted Miners: Level 15 (x12)
Corrupted Foreman: Level 40
Warning: Void gem corruption source detected. Extreme caution advised.
Just then the duo sent an update to Zaro and Ezra as they got prepared for battle.
Zaro noted that his void family encountering enemies updated him, which he didn't expect.
Chad, “hit me with a few attacks to get me charged up.” Ramrod requested.
His kinetic Void colossus class allowed him to turn enemy attacks into a delivery of pain, pure and simple.
Chad sent a lightning bolt that hit and continued to shock every 2 seconds for 5 seconds. 3 charges for the Orc tank.
Back in the right side corridor with Zaro and Ezra dust was kicked up. Through the dust and darkness, Zaro's Void Sense illuminated the massive creature's energy signature. The twin-faced horror burst from the tunnel wall, its corrupted form easily filling half the passage. Crystalline growths had transformed its tunnel-making claws into dark energy infused weapons, each nearly as long as Zaro was tall.
The creature moved with impossible speed for its size, both heads working in unison as it propelled itself through stone and air alike. The mole-like face opened in a screech that made the dark crystals resonate, while the other - more twisted face - leaked corrupted energy from its maw.
Ezra's arrows phased through the creature's outer shell, the corruption having evolved beyond normal penetration. The beast's defense adapted with each hit, learning, changing. This was why the system couldn't properly analyze it.
Zaro's voidfang blade hummed with energy as he void-stepped around the monstrosity, looking for a weakness in its ever-shifting form. The corruption had definitely changed this beast into something new. Something that was still evolving even as they fought it.
Both heads turned to track his movement, four eyes gleaming with predatory intelligence in the crystal-lit darkness. The horror's claws tore through the tunnel walls like paper as it launched its attack.
The beast lunged, its dual faces working in perfect synchronization. The corrupted face spewed dark energy while the mole-like face guided its movement, predicting Zaro's dodge pattern. Each swipe of its massive claws left trails of corrupted energy in the air.
Zaro void stepped through the initial assault, his blade scoring hits along the creature's flank. But the wounds sealed almost instantly, corrupt crystals growing over them. The beast was learning and adapting to his attack pattern.
Ezra's arrows continued their assault from range, searching for any vulnerable point. Each arrow that pierced the creature's hide revealed the same thing - its internal structure was constantly shifting, making it impossible to land a critical hit.
[System Alert]
Entity adaptation in progress
Threat level increasing
Warning. Conventional tactics proving ineffective
The horror slammed its claws into the tunnel floor, sending shockwaves of corrupted energy through the stone. The ceiling began to crack, crystals raining down as the beast's power threatened to collapse the entire passage.
Zaro's void sense screamed a warning. The creature wasn't just fighting them, it was using the battle to evolve further. Each attack, each wound, each energy discharge was being absorbed and processed by its corrupted form. The twin faces twisted in what could almost be called satisfaction as new crystalline growths burst from its hide.
The mole like face suddenly snapped toward Ezra's position while the corrupted face kept its focus on Zaro. The horror had figured out how to engage both targets simultaneously, its massive form coiling for a split attack.
The horror struck with devastating precision, one head directing a blast of corrupted dark energy at Ezra while the other guided its claws in a sweeping arc toward Zaro. The tunnel walls cracked under the force of its movement, more crystals bursting through the stone.
Ezra rolled behind a fallen support beam, the dark energy blast melting through the metal where she'd stood moments before. His next volley of arrows targeted the creature's joints, trying to slow its mobility. But the corruption simply flowed around the impacts, restructuring the beast's form.
Zaro void stepped through the claw swipe, but the horror anticipated his movement pattern. Its secondary set of claws erupted from its side, nearly catching him mid step. Only his finely tuned void sense and combat instinct saved him as he weaved through the attack, his void dagger leaving a deep gash across the creature's newly formed limb.
[System Alert]
Critical warning
Entity displaying tactical adaptation.
Combat efficiency increased by 47%.
Recommend immediate containment protocols.
The wound from Zaro's blade pulsed with corrupt energy. Instead of healing, the damage site began to crystallize and expand, forming new armor plates. The horror was using their own attacks to evolve its defenses.
Both faces suddenly locked onto Zaro with frightening focus. The mole like features twisted in a parody of calculation while corruption leaked from the other face like drool. The beast had identified him as the primary threat. Its form began to shift again, mass redistributing as it prepared something new.
The tunnel temperature dropped further as dark energy coalesced around the horror's twin heads. Whatever it was charging up, their combat intuition suggested they didn't want to be anywhere near it when it released.
Zaro took a deep breath to center himself, he exhaled a cloud that further displayed how cold the surrounding air temperature had become.
The barrier energy from Chad's spell was fading, but his void skin was at 100% integrity.
Zaro's mind reached out through void whisper. “Ezra, Chad, swap positions in 10 seconds if an opening presents itself”
The tactical advantage was clear, Ezra's arrows would be more effective against the corrupted miners' lighter armor, while Chad's magical expertise could help penetrate this evolving monster's defenses.
“Ezra get ready to use your redirect ability.” She agreed just as the horror unleashed its charged attack, a devastating beam of corrupted energy that combined the power of both heads.
Ezra flexed her shadow direct and a portal opened in front of them, swallowing the attack completely. Another portal opened up 12 feet in front of them and the attack shot back at the beast. It was caught by surprise.
The beast reeled from its own redirected attack, but the corruption was already adapting, absorbing and restructuring the damaged areas. Its twin faces snarled in unified rage, the crystalline growths along its body vibrating with increasing frequency.
“Swap now”, Zaro said.
The void rippled as Ezra and Chad executed the convergence, their forms briefly phasing through the space between tunnels. Chad materialized beside Zaro.
“Find it's weakness with any elemental attacks you have.” Zaro commanded, already moving to position himself for a counter strike.
Chad's hands flew through the air, complex arcane formulas materializing into layers of his first attack.
[System Alert]
Void Convergence successful.
Combat team reconfigured.
Warning. Enemy power spike detected
Analyzing new attack pattern.
Next to Chad, Zaro's void fang began to pulse with an answering power as he prepared to turn the horror's evolution against itself.
Chad's first spell manifested as rings of elemental energy - fire, ice, lightning, and earth spinning in concentric circles. Each ring pulsed with devestating magic, probing the horror's defenses for vulnerabilities.
[System Alert]
Elemental analysis in progress.
Scanning corruption patterns.
Vulnerability detected: Thermal instability at core.
The system seemed to be giving Zaro the data Chad was uncovering as he was doing it. Interesting. He thought.
“The crystals!” Chad called out, his spells revealing crucial data. They're maintaining a specific resonance frequency. If we can disrupt it…”
The horror didn't give him time to finish. It slammed all four claws into the tunnel walls, sending waves of corrupted energy through the stone while both heads charged another attack. But this time, Zaro noticed something, a slight fluctuation in the creature's energy signature when Chad's ice magic made contact.
“Hit it with everything cold”, Zaro commanded, void stepping into position. The corruption had been evolving to deal with void energy and physical attacks, but perhaps they could freeze its adaptation process at the source.
Chad pulled his staff out and his other hand moved in intricate patterns as he wove multiple ice spells together, but he didn't stop there. As soon as the first attack was ready, he used his free hand to begin forming a Void Bomb, compressing the surrounding void energy into a dense sphere while maintaining his ice assault.
The beast sensed the dual threat, its mole-like face twisting in what almost looked like concern. The corrupted face leaked more void energy as it tried to counter the freezing assault, but the crystalline growths began to crack under the extreme cold.
[System Alert]
Enemy adaptation rate decreasing
Thermal attack effective
Multiple void signatures detected
Warning: Structural integrity of tunnel compromised
“The cold's slowing its evolution”, Chad shouted, maintaining his assault. His Void Bomb grew larger, feeding off the horror's leaking energy through his Shadow Siphon ability. The corrupted void essence flowed into Chad's spell matrix, empowering both his ice magic and the growing bomb.
“Zaro, I'll need cover in three seconds!”
Chad's void barrier sprang up around them both, its dark energy interweaving with his arcane shields to create a layered defense. The timing would have to be perfect, drop the barrier, launch the void bomb into the frozen weak points, and capitalize on the explosion before the horror could adapt.
The beast reared back, all four claws raised as both faces began charging what looked like a desperate counter attack.
“Now!” Chad roared, his void barrier splitting open just enough to launch his attack.
The Void Bomb streaked through the opening, its surface crackling with both void and ice energy. The horror's counter-attack launched at the same moment - a desperate blast of corrupted power from both heads. But Chad had anticipated this.
His Shadow Siphon activated at maximum strength, drawing power from the horror's attack even as it approached. The stolen energy fed directly into his Void Bomb, causing it to swell dramatically in the final microseconds before impact.
The explosion was devastating. Ice and void energy detonated against the horror's crystalline weak points, sending shockwaves through the tunnel. Fragments of frozen corruption scattered in every direction, bouncing harmlessly off Chad's reinforced barrier.
Through the chaos, they heard something new, the horror's first vocal response, a shriek that contained equal parts rage and. Fear?
As the dust settled, Chad maintained his Shadow Siphon, ready to drain any counter attack the beast might attempt. The question was, had they finally found a way to hurt it permanently, or was this just another phase in its endless evolution?
Zaro didn't want to lose momentum. He fired a volley of 5 void bolts and pulled his void sword from void storage. He leapt in for an attack and the beast swiped out, its long claws meeting his sword's blade with a frequency ring in the chamber that caused the mutant to recoil as its skin rippled with the contact.
Zaro void stepped to the creature's back as Chad hit it with a frost attack, slowing it down. Zaro stabbed the sword in its back and immediately pulled a dagger and hit the sword with the dagger. The creature writhed and screeched in pain which caused the sword to slip deeper inside the beast.
The horror's crystalline growths vibrated chaotically, trying to adapt to both the frequency resonance and the deep wound. But the sword's position disrupted its ability to reform, creating a weak point that spread cracks through its corrupted armor.
Chad didn't waste the opportunity. His Shadow Siphon connected to the wound, drawing out corrupted void energy while simultaneously channeling another ice spell into the opening. The beast's movements became more erratic, its twin faces no longer synchronizing as the corruption struggled to maintain control.
“The sword's acting like a tuning fork”, Chad called out, his magical intuition detecting the disruption patterns. “It's preventing the corruption from stabilizing its frequency!”
The horror slammed its claws into the ground, trying to draw power from the corrupted earth itself. But Zaro's blade, still resonating from the dagger strike, sent destabilizing waves through its entire form. Its attempt to draw power only seemed to make the disruption worse.
Zaro pulled the sword back out and used void duplicate, a second sword materializing in his left hand. As he stabbed both blades back into the beast, he quickly equipped his void fang and slammed it across the embedded swords.
The resonance from void infused blades struck together created a catastrophic frequency cascade. The horror's crystalline structures began to splinter as its organs began to liquefy, its corrupted form unable to maintain cohesion under the devastating harmonics. Both faces screamed in different pitches, creating a nightmarish discord that echoed through the tunnel.
Chad recognized their advantage and pushed more power into his Shadow Siphon, draining the destabilized void energy before the horror could use it to adapt. His ice magic followed the path of the siphon, freezing the corruption from the inside out through the wounds left by Zaro's blades.
The beast thrashed wildly, its claws raking the tunnel walls as it tried to escape the resonance. But each movement only drove Zaro's blades deeper, spreading the destructive frequency further through its body. Cracks appeared across its surface, leaking both corrupted void energy and something else, a deeper darkness that seemed to pulse with ancient malice.
Seizing the moment, Zaro activated void drain, siphoning some of the creature's remaining mana into himself. The beast's movements grew weaker as its energy reserves depleted, its corrupted essence unable to maintain its unstable form.
“Now!” Chad roared, unleashing a final devastating combination of ice and void energy.
Zaro contributed by using his Shadow strike and double tap as he moved to the neck of the creature and attempted to give it an internal decapitation.
The horror collapsed in on itself, its crystalline form imploding with a thunderous crack. As the dust settled, Zaro's system interface flashed.
[System Alert]
Experience gained: 500
Rare drop acquired: 5 Corrupted Void Crystals.
Bonus. First team to defeat Tunnel Horror plus 500 experience. Void family bond experience gained, 600.
3,725 of 4,000 experience. 275 needed for level 15.
Zaro quickly gathered the salvageable parts, the crystals still humming with residual energy, several intact claws, and a core of compressed void essence. He stored them in the void as they initiated void convergence, their forms dissolving into streams of dark energy that reformed in the central chamber where the rest of their team was in battle.