As the nest roared, the brix began to charge at us with more vigor. We had killed dozens by now, the floor covered in sticky ichor and bits of chitin. Emilia and Matt breathed heavily as we grouped up to meet the horde, and I saw a few, mostly shallow, wounds on them. We quickly nodded at each other, then faced forward again.

I stabbed another of the insects. They were frenzied now, angry but more predictable. I drew in a shaky breath between slashes. The air felt heavy. A weight pressing down on my chest. I heard Matt grunt.

“Fucker has a presence,” he said, and my eyes widened. Immediately, I wrapped my body in another layer of protective Qi, feeling the load lighten just slightly. I couldn’t even tell what kind of power it was filling the air with, except that it felt wrong. If I were to put it into words, it would be corruption, something vile that seemed to eat away at anything else, consuming the Mana, Divinity, and Qi originating from all of us.

It felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff, staring down a dark abyss, except that this one was purposely reaching out and trying to devour me.

Then I felt a little calm brushing against my mind, coming from Cass. A whisper of confidence in me. I gripped my spear a little tighter despite my cracked skin, and almost smiled as I cut down another brix and took a deep breath in the short lull it gave me.

By then, our backline had also caught up, and the eight of us stood in a ring, all facing the Nest ahead. It screeched again, its howl imbued with that strange, destructive power, and I pressed my palms against my ears.

My head already hurt from using [Mirror Mind], so when the soundwave hit, I felt my vision go hazy, quickly blinking the darkness away. From the corner of my eyes, I saw a trail of blood trickling from Matt’s ears as well, but he seemed unbothered.

Emilia was the first one to step forward, shield raised in anticipation of an attack. The field between us and the amorphous mass of the nest was still filled with the wretched insects, but Emilia began to press on through the horde anyway.

Matt and I both followed after her, carving a path as quickly as we could. The presence got stronger, but we simply fended it off using more Qi. The push went well for maybe fifty steps, then the first attack from the nest came in.

It was a swing so blazingly fast I hardly saw it, except for the scattering of crushed chitin it left in its wake. Despite the speed, Emilia brought up her shield. The impact was deafening, a mix of screeching and wet slapping, as first sharp crystals were dragged across the shield, before those shattered and the amalgam of plant and flesh impacted against Emilia.

Her feet sunk into the floor a bit, but didn’t budge. The grey, metallic aura around her became even thicker, and she pushed with a grunt of effort, gaining ground against the nest’s appendage.

There was a large rumbling, another screech, and the presence intensified even more, like a physical force pushing us to the ground. Then, suddenly, some of the weight lifted, as I felt Divinity bloom within me again. I drove my spear forward half a breath later than Matt did his sword, and a flurry of gold and pink blasted the tentacle apart, shredding wood and crystal and flesh.

Immediately, Emilia began advancing again, her steps heavy against the stone floor. We may not feel the presence anymore, given how much we were reinforcing ourselves, but it was still there, enough to make it feel like gravity was thrice as strong. Occasionally, a bit of stone would crack underneath our steps, but it was nothing compared to the damage the writhing of the nest did.

When its tentacle was broken, it began thrashing about randomly, even tossing a few of the brix through the air. Only a few of the attacks came our way, which we mainly dodged, rather than block. After a few moments though, another interconnected string of moss and stone came smashing against Emilia.

She slid back a few steps, digging in her heels with another grunt of effort. Then, a moment later, Ann, Liam, and Marie blasted the appendage apart. This time, the reaction was less extreme, though the force pushing down on us still increased again.

I didn’t get how that thing had so much power to randomly throw around. I was just happy it seemed less than fully sapient. If it had been strategizing against us, that would have been far worse, but just thrashing around was mostly manageable.

Bit by bit, block by block we advanced. Ann and the twins would recast buffs, Liam and Marie would guard the sides, Matt, Emilia and I guarded the front. Slowly but surely, we advanced on the nest, even as the presence grew, as the brix charged at us, and our resources drained faster.

The unsettling corruption in the air grew so thick it was hard not to retch when breathing, even ignoring the smell in the cavern. It was eating away at my Qi, draining me, even as the brix still kept coming. The unease was gnawing at me bit by bit, but having everyone else around helped keep it at bay somewhat.

Despite the obstacles, we slowly got closer to the nest’s main body, and I could see more details. It was such a grotesque creature, covered in leaves and moss and crystals and stone, all over flesh of all colours, as well as plates of chitin. As if someone had decided to simply throw all regionally somewhat available materials on there.

This close, there were also more appendages to swing at us. The larger, person-thick tentacles seemed not made for combat, but rather for integration of new materials, at least that’s what Cass heard from the keeper-network. This close, there were far more arms and legs, decked out in various spikes and crystals and sharp bits. I even saw a few bits of armor plating and some man-made weapons in there, and tried not to think too much about it.

Instead, my mind honed in on the movements up close. Emilia strode ahead, but at this distance, the nest was practically all around us, spread even across the floor. At least, the brix couldn’t follow us in here, there was no real space for them. Instead of the hordes, there were constantly dozens of small attacks on us. Thorny vines and crystalline spears came from the floor, slashing at our ankles like a tiny army.

We couldn’t even use Qi to walk through the air, given that the presence and the corruption would have disrupted it, so instead, we were stuck dodging the dozens of attacks. I could see that it gave Ann and the twins especially some trouble, until Marie and Liam moved back to clear them some space.

Marie used some frost arrows, spreading a sheet of ice across the floor, and Liam spread himself out as a shadow, preventing anything from coming up.

Slowly, gruellingly, we chopped off bit by little bit from the creature. Cutting through chitin, plate armor, and anything in between. Inch by inch, we carved out a way forward, so deep in that we could hardly even see the brix around anymore. The air felt thick as mud, every breath a chore to filter the corruption.

Liam ran out of Qi first.

He had spread himself too thin. Protecting Ann and the twins after he had already been low on resources and doing a big battle had been too much. He suddenly dropped out of the shadow, and I saw his eyes go wide as he choked for air.

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Then, Ann touched his shoulder, and he steadied. I saw her forehead glisten with sweat and looked closer. She was fending off the corruption with an impromptu mana shield, not even a proper spell. It would leave her completely empty as well in just a few dozen seconds.

“Shit,” I growled, looking at the nest, then back at the others. Marie’s eyes tightened immediately.

“Resource count, quick,” she ordered, hacking another bit of the nest apart with her dagger.

“15 percent,” Matt yelled through a grimace. Fuck.

“25,” Emilia answered from behind her shield, fending off a crystalline scythe.

“45, total,” I said. I only had 20% of my golden Qi left, and half of my Mirror Qi, but with one of the cores holding less total, it was as good as that.

“10,” Ann grunted through gritted teeth, kneeling on the floor. The sheen of mana enveloping her and Liam would flare brightly every few seconds, when another attack hit it. “9, now.”

“30, each,” Eric helpfully supplied for his sister, who nodded, while they were trying to fight off the nearby attacks.

Liam didn’t reply.

“Alright, change of plans. I’m setting up a ward,” Marie said between heavy breaths as she dodged away from a few tentacles. “Fio, Emilia, you’re continuing. Everyone else stays. Reya, Eric, if you have any buffs, use them now. It’s do or die,” she ordered, then already went about clearing some space. Matt helped her, and they hacked apart the nest bit by bit.

She was a ranger, specialized in survival, so making wards was luckily part of that skillset. It also meant she used both Mana and Qi a little, to get that extra flexibility. It would buy us some time now, time that I would have to make count.

Emilia clapped my shoulder, hard, batting aside an attacking scythe with her shield. “I’ll get you in as far as I can take you. Save your resources until then. Hopes are on you now.”

I barely had time to nod as the warmth of Divinity flooded me. It was far more than each of the small enhancements had been until now, a veritable fountain of consecrated energy. I felt the small cuts on my skin knit themselves together as some of the energy leaked out and went about healing my little injuries.

Muscles grew easier to move again, the tiny tears in them repairing themselves, as some amount of fatigue left me. I only really went from zombie tired to ready-to-pass-out tired though.

Immediately, Emilia and I helped guard Marie. She carved some symbols into the floor with a special dagger for maybe a dozen seconds, moving faster than any human normally could as we kept the nest at bay, despite all its fury.

A quick incantation and a large burst of energy later, the nest inside the area was incinerated. Then, Marie fell onto the floor. Everyone’s energy inside would be drained to keep up the defense. At least it seemed to be working, with attacks from the nest only resulting in burnt appendages as they impacted the energy shield.

“Time to move,” Emilia told me with an encouraging smile, and stepped forward, her back straight and as reliable as ever. I gave one last glance at the group, getting a few reassuring gestures, then followed.

I stuck close to her, closer than I usually did, so much so that I could almost breathe more easily in her aura. She smelled like steel and sweat and blood, just like I probably did. Despite how exhausted we all were, she moved well in her heavy armor, batting and smashing anything that came close enough to try and harm us.

Somehow, the presence grew heavier still. It was most likely even heavier on her than it was for me. Her plate would weigh her down far more under the increased gravity, after all. Despite that, she held on, walking as steadfast as ever, even when her feet would have been heavy as concrete blocks.

I admired that about her. The relentless stability to always move on. Of course, I had some of that, too, but never in the calm, stable way she did. Every step she took filled me with a bit more confidence, despite the encroaching corruption. Every time she grunted or heaved or breathed, it sounded like working bellows, as consistent and unstoppable as any machine.

And then, after far, far longer than she had any right to last, Emilia stopped. “Alright, Fio,” she said. “The rest is up to you. Any further and I get killed before you get to the end.” Despite how grim her words were, the tall woman shot me a confident smile. “Give it hell, Fio.” she said.

“I will,” I said, nodding at her one last time, before she pushed me forward and closed her eyes. The Qi in the air started seeping towards her slowly, though I could feel it be dragged around by the corruption. There wasn’t far left to go now, though. The path through the nest had been mostly straightforward, a small walkway encased in danger.

Blazing with Qi and Divinity, I took another step forward. I could feel Cass’ presence still faintly in my mind, ever confident in me. I took another step forward.

It felt somewhat reminiscent of the last time I spent alone in a cave, crawling while bloodied, only ever thinking about the next tiny bit of movement I could manage. The thought made me shudder for a moment, my heart tight. But I breathed again.

I’d survived that.

I’d survive now, too.

Another step forward, then the nest suddenly began to shudder.

I felt the ground shaking beneath me, the bits and pieces of material that constituted the creature shuddering and rippling. I didn’t wait to find out what was happening, and instead sprinted forward as fast as I could.

Emilia had already bought me a lot of ground, and there wasn’t much distance left to the nest. Calling my speed sprinting might have been generous though. The pressure was so heavy by now that each step felt like I was lifting blocks of lead.

Regardless, I pressed on, only occasionally snapping my spear forward or to the side and breaking whatever thing was attacking me. I didn’t bother to look anymore, my mind instead focused on keeping myself moving. Everything hurt again, and the vibrations from the nest were so intense, I could almost feel the shifting glass beneath my skin shake as well.

My teeth were rattling in my skull by the time I made it to the final stretch. My Qi was running low, despite the thick coating of it I still had to put up against the corruption eating away at it, and the presence crushing down on me.

It didn’t matter.

I could feel myself strain against it, against the nest’s best efforts. Its crushing presence, its silly little writhing attacks. I could feel it thrash about and shiver and grow more powerful as I walked. And it didn’t matter.

I advanced.

Step by step, inch by inch I gained ground. Moved until I could see that core in the cage again, where I had previously been struck down. Moved as the walls grew more appendages to carve at me. Moved when the attacks got to my skin because there were too many to dodge.

Distantly, I knew that I was being cut. I also knew I chose to ignore the pain.

Then, suddenly, as if the distance hadn’t been an object at all, I was in front of the core. The nest lashed out one more time, striking at me with all its fury, and then fell short. A pane of glass, a mirror, was in front of me, tall and imposing as the one in my bedroom back on the other side.

It gave me comfort.

Then, I slashed upwards, through the bony bars that trapped the core of the nest inside, and my spear struck against it.

I cracked the core. It sounded like I’d stabbed through a window, but it didn’t break. Instead, the thing fell out of its cage towards me, the strange substance that made up the nest crawling and writhing around me.

I wanted to stab out again, finally destroy it, when I felt the glass underneath my skin change. It began to bubble, and boil, and I could tell it was hungry.

Then it all clicked.

This wasn’t a normal nest. The divines had sent me here for a reason. To castle Arhan for a reason.

It was all so I could get things in that specific order. Hear about the usurpers and corrupted gateways and how they could spawn monsters. Sure, there were natural nests. But this was not one of them.

I could feel the gateway within myself, how it wanted to devour the core. Burn away all the corruption and take back the fragment of a broken mirror.

The nest hadn’t even been born of a proper usurper, or a full gateway. It was barely a fledgling creature, who’d found nothing but a single piece of an already shattered gate, the rest decayed or lost, or whatever else. It didn’t matter.

This piece would now be reclaimed, that much I knew. I could feel it resonate with the strange sensation in my chest, with the mirror core. The glass underneath my skin shifted and broiled and bubbled, and I guided it along, out of my skin, around the core of the nest.

Something within me pulsed, and the writhing stopped.

Maybe the divines had set me up for this. Maybe it was fate. Whatever the case, I was not prepared for the strangeness of something filling a hole you hadn’t even known was there.