Chapter 347: Heart of the mess
"Ahhhh!" Phoenix screamed. Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at Damon as if she was seeing a devil and started backing away. "Let go of me. Don’t... Let go of me. Don’t touch me. Ahhh." She ripped her robe and started tearing her clothes. "You cannot touch there. Let go. Let go." She then fell on the floor, curled up, and started gasping and moaning loudly.
Damon’s face twitched. What the hell was going on here? His pain was under control now, but it looked like the others were completely out of it. Phoenix was arching her back and convulsing on the ground, still trying to tear off her clothes. Blood Wraith was staring at the wall in horror.
Damon let out a sigh and looked around him. More and more roots erupted from the ground, attempting to coil around their limbs like serpents eager to drag them under. The air reeked of ichor and decay.
Damon’s crimson gaze narrowed. "Tch. Annoying."
Phoenix let out a strangled cry as one of the roots lashed around her ankle. Damon got his shadow out and ordered it to take care of the roots trying to bury the other two. At the same time, a crimson lance appeared in his hand as he started slashing his way through the mess of roots.
From what he could see so far, there was a central entity controlling everything and perhaps even everyone here. As for where that entity was located, he had no doubts about it. If his guess was correct, then it should be right here in this mine.
The corrupted grove shuddered as if in response to his thoughts, the roots thrashing harder, slamming into the earth with enough force to split stone.
Damon twirled the crimson lance in his hand, each sweep carving bloody arcs through the writhing forest. The ichor hissed and spat as it was cleaved apart, staining the ground in foul, steaming puddles. Yet no matter how many roots he destroyed, more kept coming, as if the entire grove itself was funneling its lifeblood into this desperate attack.
Damon’s shadow clone hacked apart the roots that dared to get too close to Phoenix and Blood Wraith. Phoenix still convulsed, sweat pouring down her temples, her breath ragged as the corruption dug into her mind. Blood Wraith muttered nonsense under his breath, swinging blindly at enemies that weren’t there.
They were fine for now. Just in case he summoned Elina as well.
He then spotted a particularly big gaping hole in the ground and dove right through it. He activated flaming cloak, a skill he had stolen long ago. While it was just an E rank skill, his high fire affinity and the amount of mana he shoved into the skill made it extremely effective.
The roots immediately recoiled from the blazing aura, hissing and curling back as the flames licked across their bark-like flesh. The hole led him into a slanted tunnel, walls slick with black ichor and carved with pulsating runes that shifted like living veins. The deeper he went, the hotter the air grew, thick with the stench of decay and smoke.
It was simply unbelievable for Damon to see that the entire place had adapted to such a degree in such a short time.
Before he set foot in here, this should not have been a toxic atmosphere, and yet now, he might as well be in the Plaguelands. He wouldn’t be surprised even if the entire forest became decayed and corrupted by the time they made their way out of here. What an incredible adaptability speed!
However, there seemed to be a limit to it. He now started using fire attacks, and the roots continued to be susceptible to fire even after he had used it many times. Flaming cloak lit the darkness around him in a crimson-gold glow.
Roots speared from the tunnel walls, snapping toward him like harpoons. Damon spun his crimson lance in a wide arc, flaming cloak trailing behind him like the tail of a comet. The roots split apart with each strike, burning into ash before they could even writhe.
He pressed forward, step after step, until the tunnel widened into a cavernous chamber. At its center pulsed something blinding and alive. It was a colossal mana stone, the size of a dog.
It pulsed in a steady rhythm, each throb radiating waves of corrupted energy that made the cavern tremble. Its glow was not the pure azure Damon expected of a mana core fragment. It was a twisted blend of violet and black, streaked with cracks that oozed ichor like bleeding wounds.
Roots sprouted directly from the stone, weaving upward like arteries feeding into the cavern walls. Every pulse of light traveled along them, sending tremors through the ground and stirring the air into a suffocating haze.
Damon’s crimson eyes glinted with interest. "So... you’re the heart of this mess."
Such a big mana core, and that too, it was connected to azure blue veins running all over the mine. It was no wonder that the tree or whatever was controlling this thing was able to do so much and have such a big influence.
"Filthy Bloodsucker! You should not have come here!" A loud shriek echoed. The shriek reverberated through the cavern, and the mana stone flared violently, its corrupted light filling every crevice of the chamber.
The azure veins running through the walls darkened, twisting into streaks of violet as if the corruption was bleeding backward into the very source of the mine.
From the stone’s cracked surface, black ichor bubbled forth, shaping into grotesque forms. Bark-armored humanoids clawed their way free, their hollow sockets burning with the same violet glow as the core.
Dozens of them, each tethered to the stone by glowing root-like tendrils, lurched forward with inhuman cries.
The stone pulsed again, louder this time, the whole cavern shaking and trembling. "Your poison strengthens me. Your blood will complete me!"
Damon snorted, twirling the crimson lance as fire blazed brighter across his body. He was about to blast apart the whole damn thing, but he stopped himself. Instead, he conjured a [Radiant Wellspring].
"Do you know something?" He spoke to the giant mana core. "You are very similar to my bloodline."
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Mass release sponsored by Syphatrol