Mark could watch and feel as his flesh began to undergo necrosis. The minuscule amount of Prana he had left gave him a front-row seat to the Corruption’s claws digging their way through his body and steamrolling his healthy cells, only to flush them with a potent mix of dark energy. At this point, he couldn’t even move a finger, the mold had all but encased him up to the neck and the invasion didn’t stop at a physical level, the entity in the core slammed into Mark's mental defenses like the waves of an ocean.
He kept trying to repair the damage but it was getting harder to find the will to stabilize the crumbling fortress walls, it didn’t help that Chloe’s betrayal had shaken his will.
One would think that as their body died so did their nerve endings, but the Corruption seemed content to keep pulling them back from the edge of destruction, so Mark's nervous system would flare up against the fresh pain only for it to die down and then ignite once more. It kept Mark from being able to drown out the pain or adjust to it.
The only reason he hadn’t already succumbed was because of the staff and a large dose of pig-headedness, but even the staff had its limits.
As he’d expected the staff could only help so much, and even now it was beginning to become tarnished once more like it was when the other Guardian had owned it.
Mark could still feel the surrounding Corruption and everything that entailed, but he had long since lost the ability to close the connection. The Caretaker's words reminded him that it was a Corrupted spell to begin with.
He would die and become something new, but still, he refused to let go of his grip on this life, at least not until to pried it from him. So Mark floated, bits of his mind breaking off and falling into the void like crumbling pieces of rock. It was amongst this void Mark reached the last of his will, his desperation had faded, and his stubbornness had burned itself out, but just for a moment curiosity flared.
An experiment that he’d only ever performed once and never again. Even though he’d gathered the pieces and prepared for it. He’d gotten everything he needed from his meeting with Patrica’s ‘Ideal’, he had seen a way forward but he’d always hesitated because of the pain it had caused him.
The funny part was, even now, when he had nothing to lose, he still hesitated.
Pretty words didn’t mean anything in the face of real suffering. It was the type of pain that broke the mind and body. A cancer, unrelenting and inescapable, Mark had found little that could help him against it. So the only path forward would be to endure it, but Mark wasn’t sure he was strong enough.
Putting aside his doubt for now, Mark’s mind went back to his shaking memories and searched for that moment back in Prospect Park.
Sam and Jonathan had been near and Mark had just finished taking on Jonathan’s Corruption when Sam asked him the question.
Curious, Mark had extended a construct and triggered [Draw Corruption], using his Resistance as a bridge. What he didn’t realize was that in doing so he had given the dark jumbled mass of energy a direct route straight through his mind, body, and soul. The pain had been so great that he’d collapsed from shock and even the memories of it still haunted him. However, he’d asked Sam how much he’d taken because when he looked at his own Cv, it had not grown by the same amount.
Instead, he’d felt the smallest amount of Prana, Mana, and Aura, dissipating from himself and into the area around them.
Mark had seen on many occasions how Corruption came to be. How the ichor twisted the three energies to some unnatural potent mix, propagating itself so it could continue to spread. So it stood to reason that they could be separated back into their main components. Of course, there was a fourth component, if you could call it that. Something he had not seen until he himself was steeped in the stuff. A type of resentment, from the three engines, but also from an outside source. It was so deep and filled with hatred for everything, that Mark struggled to see the bottom. As though some ancient force were purposefully twisting the energies into their worst versions. Changing them into the antithesis of what they represented.
Granted, they were more effective, but now they fought against their nature and their users, dragging everything down into that ravenous hatred.
When Mark pulled the energy through his Resistance, the resentment was unable to cling to the energies. Without the energy to live off, it burned away like a vapor, unfortunately not before raging through the most vulnerable part of Mark’s being.
The net that Mark had observed Patrica’s Ideal placing over him could act as a buffer of sorts, but he’d only managed to learn the one for his Prana, without the other two versions it would still hurt something fierce.
A sudden cracking of his mental walls reminded him that he was running out of time and strength.
The sheer stupidity of his actions was not lost on him, but at this point, it was either to die quietly or embrace a world of pain just for the slight chance at survival.
The human condition is hard to overcome, but when given no chance to run, the only thing left is to fight.
Mark could endure the pain if he could live, if he got to see the people he loved again. Daphne’s face flickered under his eyelids, and without any more time to lose he began.
Racing out with what remained of his will, Mark spilt a small stream of incoming Corruption, and without giving himself time to second guess it, he pulled it directly through his Resistance.
The pain that hit was raw and threatened to rip Mark to shreds, his body still somehow finding the strength to spasm and buckle against his bonds.
The Corruption raced through the new connection but after a certain point it began to falter, but it was too late by then. Mark watched with ultimate satisfaction as the Corruption screamed in time with his own death throes, his voice bouncing around the small chamber. The parasite living within the energy being burnt away. Then came the second part which was no less pleasant. All that confused energy smacked into Mark's weathered body like a bundle of twisted barbwire. Without any way to stop it, the energies ripped through his cores and escaped out into the chamber once more. Energy poured from Mark, clear and free of the decay and pestilence Corruption brought.
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Immediately Mark realized he could make use of this. Slowly he began pulling at the energy escaping from his cores and guiding it back in, in an attempt to fill his drained body. Aura still leaked out of him but the Mana and Prana stayed, and he could feel their delight. The energy was practically jumping for joy now that their burden had been lifted.
Mark's reserves began to refill, but it was not nearly enough. He had spit off five percent of what was coming in and as soon as the Prana was free, it was rapidly burned up by the residing Corruption.
Mark clenched his jaw, pushed his tongue to the roof of his mouth, and doubled the strand of power coming through his Resistance.
Glad he braced for it, the new influx of power caused spittle to fly as another horse scream was ripped from his weak lungs.
But with it came more power, enough that his reserves weren’t instantly in the red. Not wasting time Mark began to weave his newest Prana into the net, trying to get it as close to the Ideal’s as possible.
The thin screen began to drop down and with it and small measure of solace, but it would never stop it all, not if he wanted to survive this. So, Mark doubled his intake again, bearing with the new pain. The Prana that came in now went straight into the net.
All the while, the Guardian was not quiet, it could somehow sense something was wrong because Mark had stopped responding to its efforts. The fresh Mana encased his mind, pushing back its influence.
Mark couldn’t see but he didn’t need to, he could feel the chamber's orientation shifting. It was shrinking down further, warping and restraining Mark's body.
The walls applied crushing pressure as though trying to constrict the life out of him, luckily his armor held its shape.
At the same time, the core with the small creature floating in it, lowered itself to Mark’s level.
He’d lost his sword at some point, but even if he’d tried he would not have been able to move right now.
Then the damned thing did something he didn’t expect, it pressed itself to his chest. The flow of Corruption became a flood, climbing to incredible degrees, almost collapsing Mark's concentration. Mark knew right away this had just become a race. It had always been one, but now the Guardian was betting everything it had against him.
The only thing Mark could do was match him. The new power wasn’t nearly enough but Mark jumped the connection to fifty percent, completely ignoring how it affected his body.
The destruction had reached an all-time high, so another strand of power went into regenerating his cells. Mark's cores were filling up fast as power fed in at blinding speed. Mark used some of it to direct the surrounding strands of Corruption.
The core resting against his chest warped and Mark peeled his right arm from his side, using a small construct to give him purchase.
His hand pressed into the tough outer core and sunk beyond into the yellow fluids, but got no further as the Guardian wrestled him for control.
Widening the connection for the last time, Mark brought it up to seventy-five percent. This was it, he could not risk raising it any further.
At this point, the energy was flooding his cells and his cores were reaching full. Mark could feel there was a limit to this technique, similar to how much he could take on in meditation. He wasn’t there yet so he had to use everything at his disposal. Prana filled his body like he had taken a breath far too deep for his lungs to handle. Not wanting to waste any, Mark created an [Animated mind] to store the excess.
The level of Corruption had dropped somewhat, but the real change in the room was how much control Mark had. His hand had begun to inch closer to the Guardian's neck and it seemed unable to stop him.
Mark’s vented Aura was brimming in the space, and even he could feel that it held a piece of him, but he still could not control it. The feeling he got from it was one of comfort and support. Like having a friend shouting for you at the finish line. Or a lover who picked you up and dusted you off when you fell. It was there, and it would stand beside him no matter what form the end took.
The Guardian began to draw his Aura in and pain spiked below Mark's navel, but it was like adding a cut over third-degree burns, Mark barely felt it.
Though he heard the Guardian’s screams, he continued to press his hand forward and clasped it around the sparrow-like neck of the floating creature.
All it would take was the weakest of pressure to end the thing, but Mark felt his Corruption doing something strange.
Mark’s body began battling him as the Corruption plaguing every inch of his skin receded and rushed deeper into his body. Freaking out Mark crushed the neck of the creature and the tiny malformed bones popped.
Whatever was happening didn’t stop and rushed into his Aura core, packing densely until Mark could feel it go dormant.
Mark froze for a moment but then a message from the system filled his vision.
RedWarning! You have landed the killing blow on one of the seven Guardians of the First Rite.
You have been marked for 24 hours
Rite progression: 7/7
Preparing to transfer into the secondary phase: Please gather all modules
Congratulations on delivering the killing blow to [Sleeper of Corruption]
Rewards: Crest of spirit(Prana)
Absorb: Yes/No
The message confirming the kill almost had Mark crying out, but he wasn’t out of danger yet, the surrounding walls were now easy to direct. So Mark guided them away and made an opening, finally able to close down the link between himself and the Corruption. The relief was not something he could put into words, only that the soul-wracking pain subsided.
Vision blurry Mark attempted to hobble and then crawl out of the hole, all he wanted to do was see the sky and celebrate the fact that he’d survived. But almost as soon as he collapsed on the hard stone nearby, another message from the system invaded his darkening world.
Congratulations: An unrecognized spell has been detected by the system and is pending registration...
Rewards will be given commensurate with the degree of discovery.
Branch(system) presenting evidence for review...
...
...
Evidence finalized and approved, elevating priority to the Principle(system)...
[Caretaker's Authority] has been invoked, de-escalating priority. Registration aborted.