CHAPTER 35: THE CORRUPTION SPREADS
Virion swiftly dashed forward, his eyes primed on the ghostly figure hiding behind Silvon’s corpse. Just as he was about to slash his daggers in their direction, the hooded person stepped back with a smirk on his face. All of a sudden, Silvon’s corpse erupted with anima.
“Stop!” Virion screamed, but it was too late.
An explosion of Nameless Mist flew in all directions, as if a gas canister had built up enough pressure to eclipse the deep oceans. Virion grit his teeth as his surroundings turned to dark. He could hear his other subordinates grunting in pain—they were all dropping like flies.
“No!”
Virion used his other skill, The Silent Lurker. His body swiftly turned into pure anima in the form of a shadow. Like a snake, he slithered across the open warehouse, back to the entrance. The ghostly figure showed itself once more, but this time, he was surrounded by large plants that were ready to attack Virion.
He used Phase Strike again, slicing them all to bits. The ghostly figure, however, seemed unphased. With gentle steps, he climbed the side of the building by manipulating the vines to shape themselves into footholds. Virion had no choice but to chase after him.
What in Yasini’s demise is even happening anymore… He looked around him—the remaining Court of Nightshade members under his wing were being overwhelmed by the colossal plants, and even worse, the corrupted anima of the Nameless Mist was now slowly growing. Whatever that hooded figure did to Silvon was clearly bad. If it continued to spread as it currently was unimpeded, many of the nearby noble quarters would surely suffer losses.
He couldn’t let that happen.
With his Soul Frame activated, two spellforms attached to the soles of his boots flared to life. Their radiant material runes glowed, forming three sigils that gave form to wind. In a single step, Virion cut the gap between him and the hooded figure by half.
Phase Strike!
His Soul Weapon recognized his thoughts and immediately started piecing information from within the Beyond. The hooded figure’s vitals had been located.
Slashing the air, a purple haze came to life that almost instantaneously reached the hooded figure, cutting him into countless pieces. Virion didn’t hold back—he used Phase Strike a few more times for good measure.
The ghostly figure only managed to reach the roof of the building before collapsing into minced meat.
Virion caught up to his now mangled corpse. I have to figure out what to do now… How do I stop the mist from spreading?
He had no idea.
Inspecting his body showed nothing on it. It was strange. He was expecting to be fighting a Sentinel or Magi with an affinity for ghosts or spirits. Aside from a bit of residual anima, he couldn’t even feel the leftover presence of a Soul Realm or Soul Frame. Not even a Soul Weapon was present.
He clicked his tongue. If only the Saint was here… Aside from Luvin and Saintess Sylia’s brother, all seven other saints had headed for the Endless Sea. A large rift had been opening for the past week and they were busy investigating it with the Court of Roses and Tulips. The fact that no information about the Nameless Mist had reached them yet was very odd.
Although Saintess Syla, Lesticia, and Finnea all remain present in Yadria, Their role disallowed Them from engaging with mortal affairs—Their only duty was to the Maiden Herself and the Matron of Faith. Watching over the holy Spirit Blossom Willow from within Floramere Keep was Their sacred duty for a thousand years, and it shall be that way for another thousand.
That would be the case only if they could stop this spread of corruption.
Even though Saintess Sylia could easily see where the corruption was spreading, that was only the case when its encroachment reached a certain height. If the concentration of Nameless Mist anima in an area was too little, She would most likely gloss over it. And even in the cases where it did spread rapidly like what Virion was witnessing now, the culprit would somehow easily escape.
It was truly baffling. Never in the history of the Court of Nightshade had they faced an adversary this cunning and hard to understand.
Virion sighed. He glanced over at the minor wounds he had then looked down at the corpse. His Soul Weapon blared to life, activating Nightshade Reaper. This was an ability that allowed him to convert the lifeforce of an enemy he had killed with his Soul Weapon into pure anima he could absorb, healing his injuries.
Though, none of it really mattered in the end. Just mere moments after he started absorbing, Virion noticed something strange. The diced pieces of flesh from the corpse slowly became more incorporeal—this was not something that happened due to his skill. He immediately became cautious.
In that mere moment of hesitation, the corpse disappeared.
What the… He was baffled.
Sensing something, he looked up—the cloaked figure was now reformed back to what he used to look like, except for the fact that he was covered in wounds from head to toe. His cloak was also shredded to pieces, making him look even more dilapidated.
Still, he was alive.
The cloaked figure simply smiled at Virion from beneath his hood and turned to run away. Vines grew out of the ground that turned into steps for him to walk on.
“Stop you bastard,” roared Virion. His Soul Frame came to life once more as he blasted himself into the air after him.
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Soren glanced at the battlefield and frowned. Large plants filled the streets and men and women armed with countless Soul Weapons battled against them. It was terrifying to watch. Some were stabbed by the vines and sucked dry, others had their entire bodies ripped apart—there were even some that got blasted by beams of light generated by sunflowers. Soren had seen that type of magecraft once before—Myrin had used it against the horde of Memory Void Husks. Except this time, all of them were not only autonomous, but also much more lethal.
What was even more terrifying, however, had to be the dark mist slowly encroaching on the entire district. Countless blocks had already been consumed by its presence. Soren wasn’t sure how many casualties there were, but it had to be in the hundreds. Only the people living above in the Moving Homes could probably avoid this catastrophe. And even worse, it didn’t seem like it was stopping at all. He could see countless members of the Court of Nightshade slowly turn into Malevolent Hexes. Except, unlike the ones he was used to, these exhibited a much stranger quality.
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Just like the Malevolent Hex horde they faced, they were aggressive. Based on what they knew of the Nameless Mist, it operated equally on anyone touched by its influence. How much a person resisted based on their own willpower determined how well they did against its encroachment. With the Memory Void Husks, they’re entire existence getting erased made them run simply on bodily instinct—they would much rather try and spread the Mist to someone else than keep it to themselves. This was something Myrin dubbed the “Passover Effect.”
What they were witnessing currently, however, was different. Rather than “Passover” their corruption, the Phantasms being corrupted from the forces of the Court of Nightshade were expunging dark mist from their bodies at an insanely rapid rate. There were also a few that had their Soul Weapons transform into grotesque versions of themselves and were using their abilities to spread the mist even more.
Soren needed to know what the hell was going on, and fast.
With [Eyes of the Fairy] and the Hermit’s Eye inherent ability activated, he scanned the battlefield and recorded everything.
Event Log
New Entry Recorded: [Memory Void Exhaler] (Malevolent Hex)
New Entry Recorded: [Memory Void Corruptor] (Malevolent Hex)
New Entry Recorded: [Blossom Burst] (Magecraft + Mystery)
New Entry Recorded: [Vine Prison] (Magecraft + Mystery)
New Entry Recorded: [Floral Depravity] (Magecraft + Mystery)
New Entry Recorded: [Field of Obfuscation] (Mystery)
New Entry Recorded: [Field of Diffusion] (Mystery)
New Entry Recorded: [Conceptual Override] (Anima)
Ignoring the pain from his ability, he swiftly glanced over the information being shown to him. Aside from the countless magecraft that had somehow also had aspects of a Mystery to them, Soren was much more interested in knowing about the new Malevolent Hex types.
Memory Void Exhaler (Malevolent Hex)
A corrupted being that exhibits the visual features of an elf. This entity has once been a Magi or Sentinel that was infected by the Nameless Mist. But rather than have its existence simply erased, a more sinister outcome awaits it. Its Runic Existence has been transformed, absorbing and mixing with the anima until it became a factor of its own influence. Now, its Soul Frame and Soul Realm had been completely taken over by this rogue anima, redefining what its true self is, causing it to expunge more of the same anima at an alarming rate.
Soren watched the battlefield frantically. The proud assassins Myrin had spoken of had now become mindless factories that produced the Nameless Mist. With their true self redefined, they now believed their existence was solely the spreading of the mist itself. His eyes darted back to the page—he needed to know about the other type.
Memory Void Corruptor (Malevolent Hex)
A corrupted being that exhibits the visual features of an elf. This entity has once been a Phantasm that was infected by the Nameless Mist. The concepts governing their Soul Weapon had been redefined—the abstract runes they had once merged now incomprehensible to what they originally were. With their Soul Realms corrupted, the infected Soul Weapon now takes over its host as the new owner of the body. Holy Phantasms that were once gifted their powers by the Maiden have now converted worship to Him.
Him? Soren wasn’t sure who it was alluding to. But since the pronoun was clearly marked differently, he was expecting it to be a god of some sort.
This Nameless Mist… Where the hell does it come from…
He glanced down at buildings and streets below. The night had certainly done its job at darkening the roads, but the bioluminescent floral architecture did its job to make sure it wasn’t completely dark. But now, even those plants have lost their purpose—the once beautifully illustrious Saint Krilo District had succumbed into an abyssal void of mist. Down in the streets, a few of the Memory Void Corruptors were fighting against their former comrades. Soren spotted the one nearest to him—a large wooden staff that curled into itself at the top was levitating next to him—his presumed Soul Weapon. An aura of dark mist shrouded its form as he cast magecraft against one of his friends.
“We exist in non-existence!
“We exist in non-existence!
“Hahahahahaha!”
The eerie chant echoed out into the streets. Tina frowned. “Soul Weapon takeovers are a very real threat to Vagrants… But this is the first time I’ve seen it happen to a Holy Phantasm…”
Sweat dripped from Soren’s forehead as he glanced at the now transformed Phantasms. The insanity was oozing from their bodies—they had lost all semblance of who they once were. He then looked back up at Tina who was standing next to him.
“Are you going to do anything?”
She gave him a weird look. “You want me to die? There’s several of those bastards down there. Even one of them would probably instantly kill me.”
They’re that strong? Soren still had no frame of reference when comparing the strengths of Magi and Phantasms. To him, Tina was a superwoman with a bad personality. And the people down there were also superhumans with bad personalities.
The difference between them was non-existent to him.
He sighed. “So then what should we do? Do we turn back? There’s no way we can stop this.”
“I thought you wanted a challenge,” she asked smugly.
Soren shrugged, “Dangerous thrills are only fun when there’s a sliver of a chance of success. I see none here.”
He glanced back down at his Soul Weapon. More info was displayed.
Field of Obfuscation (Mystery)
A field of anima surrounds the area, creating a barrier. This barrier twists the Veil of Perception of anyone looking into it, making it hard to look past what is happening within.
A field? Soren wasn’t sure if this was something the Court of Nightshade had used to hide their activity or whether it had always been there from the very beginning, cast by whoever was responsible for this tragedy.
Field of Diffusion (Mystery)
A field of anima surrounds the area, creating a barrier. This barrier twists the Echo of Mind of anyone looking into it, making any stray thought that involves entering the barrier dissolve into nothing.
So this one makes sure people don't enter the vicinity of the battlefield… He was almost certain this was cast by the Court of Nightshade. The person orchestrating this wouldn’t mind more people getting corrupted.
He flipped the page to where the information about Conceptual Override—that seemed interesting as well.
Conceptual Override (Anima)
When a higher dimensional anima infused with conceptual ideas of a higher plane interact with that of a lesser plane, Conceptual Override occurs.
So that’s why… Soren always wondered why the Nameless Mist acted so strongly against even Phantasms. The concepts that governed its existence were much higher than those who merged with Abstract Runes—the concepts of which were lesser.
But this also introduced an even more terrifying thought. If the Nameless Mist was able to trick even the Beyond itself, an entire plane of existence overlapping the natural world, then that would mean…
The Nameless Mist’s influence and conceptual ideas were higher in authority than the world itself.
A chill ran down his spine. What the hell even is it… Why did this world have to go to shit the moment I transmigrated?
“So… Did you find anything,” Tina asked. He could see the concern grow on her face. Even if Myrin and Tyrel were here, they too would be helpless.
Heck, she didn’t even think Mistress Sienna could do anything to stop this.
Soren sighed. “All I know is that this Nameless Mist is much more dangerous than we thought originally. Unless we isolate this area somehow from the rest, stopping its growth is impossible with our current powers. What the hell are those supposed Saints even doing? Aren’t there a few that could take care of this? Or that Sylia-something or whatever.”
“Holy Saintess Sylia,” Tina corrected. “And no, according to Myrin, only two Saints are currently in Yadria. Luvin who you met before and Saintess Sylia’s brother, Silmar. And both of them are tied with other duties. Though… I did hear that Silmar was one of the most fantastical Magi in all of Yadria… He should have heard of this by now…”
Just as Soren was about to reply, he noticed something from the corner of his eye. A strange, hooded figure was skipping steps from vine to vine—more flora bloomed beneath his feet, turning into colossal sunflowers that dropped down to the streets below. Soren recognized him.
“The Nameless Culprit!”