Chương 41: Mist

The moment the first corrupted fell, the others backed away and turned toward him. The laughter stopped. Their smiles disappeared, replaced by cold hostility. William glanced at him before charging again. The corrupted facing him vanished. It was coming for him or Clay. Blink. Adolin appeared beside Clay and cast Gravity around them, excluding the space they stood in. If the corrupted targeted Clay instead, he'd be able to react faster this way.

The corrupted appeared two steps in front of them, blades already descending upon them. Gravity hit the creature, slowing it down. At the same time, the gravity around the blade reversed, slowing its descent. Clay raised his sword. Reinforce. Strength. Clay blocked one blade while redirecting the other, but the sheer strength behind the attack still pushed him back. Even slowed by the spell. Adolin stepped forward and swung his staff into the corrupted's head. The impact made the creature's body shake.

The corrupted was thrown backward. With Gravity crashing down on it, the creature slammed into the ground and let out a sharp hiss. William was already rushing back while the other two corrupted tried to break past the soldiers. His guess was right, and the corrupted ones really liked the movement skill. That was all they had used so far, at least the ones he noticed. Maybe they were using other skills, but he didn't really care. They were out for revenge. It was stupid and would get them all killed.

Sir William got within range, and his sword descended toward the corrupted one, a blue glint lighting the blade. The corrupted struggled against Gravity before its arms shot forward. Two were severed instantly, but the remaining pair locked around William's wrist. Corrupted mana gathered inside the creature. Whatever it planned wouldn't end well for William. Sever was the best answer. It would break the contact and remove any risk of corruption.

"Lord of—," he muttered. Sever. The corrupted's remaining arms were sliced cleanly just above the wrists. William's sword came down a moment later, cleaving through the creature's neck.

"Dra ven shul," one of the corrupted said as the green veins across its body darkened, and corrupted mana began gathering inside it. Its core, maybe. He wasn't sure. The other screeched, a snake-like tongue slipping from its mouth, as the same corrupted mana started building inside it. This looked like a last stand to Adolin. Some kind of self-destruction method. His best guess was that they were about to explode, flooding the area with corrupted mana. That didn't sound enjoyable. Or survivable.

He focused his Mana Sense on them, and didn't like it. Even if he killed them, the effect from their last stand would still go off. There was no way to stop it. The more he studied it, the more it looked like Mana Overload. Making the core unstable and flooding it with mana natured toward destruction. Having any kind of natured mana inside the core was deadly for its user. Mana was a tool to be shaped and used, but only after leaving the core, not before it. Well, there were a few ways... he cut the thought off.

Ice Crystal. The ice crystal encased the corrupted. He kept pouring mana inside it to make it sturdier, so that it would survive the explosion and stop the spread of corruption that would come afterward. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Back!" William shouted and the men retreated.

"Stay behind me," Adolin said. Everyone obeyed, moving behind him. William stopped closest to him, only a step away. The corrupted bodies swelled. BOOOM. A heavy explosion tore the bodies apart. The ice crystal cracked, small fractures spreading through it. Black mist seeped through the openings, spilling into the forest. Wherever the mist touched, plants withered and died. Trees dried as their life force was drained away, leaves falling from the crowns, blackened and brittle.

The mist devoured the life force of everything it touched. Focusing on the mana within it, Adolin realized the corrupted mana carried the nature of devouring. It fed on anything with even the smallest trace of life force. If it touched them, it would consume their lives until nothing remained. Just like the plants. It was also capable of devouring mana. The crystal had cracked, but not all the way through, and the mist had consumed the mana before escaping it.

There were a few spells he could try, but none would hold it back for long. At least not with the spells he currently had access to. A tier eleven or twelve control spell could stop it, but he didn't have enough mana to fully cast one. That left them with one option. Run.

"Run," Adolin said as he sprinted in the opposite direction from the entrance they had come through. Away from the corrupted mist. Toward what was hopefully the next room. He muttered a fake incantation as he cast High Wind, making the mana within the spell denser so it would last longer while being devoured by the mist. The wind pushed the corruption away from them, buying some time. The core overload would have killed them if he hadn't cast Ice Crystal and reinforced it with more mana.

The explosion would have scattered the mist through the entire forest, leaving them no chance to escape. Assuming they survived the explosion. Well, they would have survived, but protecting everyone individually would have cost him too much mana. He wasn't sure how he would deal with the mist afterward, though there were a few spells that might have worked. It would have been a gamble either way until he studied it enough to deal with it without wasting most of his mana. This kind of mana was a terrifying weapon.

It could leave dozens of archmages drained before sending assassins to finish them off. He had to admit, the corruption in this world was far more dangerous than anything corruption had achieved in his old one. He would need to take precautions against it in the future. He glanced back. Everyone was running behind him, fear clear on some of their faces. Clay struggled the most, his hands shaking as he tried to keep up. Small Boost. Adolin cast the spell on him, and Clay finally caught up.

It didn't take too long before he lost connection to the spell. The mist had devoured it, and it was spreading toward them.

"It's spreading fast!" one of the men called out. The mist was already a hundred meters behind them, spreading faster than they could run. Strange. Adolin sent out a Mana Pulse while continuing to run. The corrupted mist devoured the mana faster than he would've liked, but he still learned a few things. The life force it consumed from the plants allowed it to spread and multiply faster. If this had happened outside of the dungeon, the whole region would be affected if they didn't manage to somehow stop it.

"That thing can't leave, right?" Clay asked. No one answered.

"Right?" Adolin wanted to know the answer. If the mist could escape, he would have to stop it somehow. And he really wasn't in the mood for that. It all depended on how strong the dungeon barriers were. Something he could test once they reached the next room. The forest ahead was coming to an end, opening into a valley similar to the first room they had entered. He really didn't want to deal with murder bunnies while escaping a devouring mist.

The illusion stretched roughly three hundred meters ahead, but the room itself was massive. If they didn't find the exit soon, the mist would catch them. Eagle Eye. Mana flowed into his eyes, sharpening his vision. He swept his gaze across the illusion from left to right. There. In the far corner, where the illusion ended, stood the entrance to the next room.

"There!" He pointed, and the group sprinted toward it.

"It's getting closer!" Clay shouted between breaths.

"Give it everything you've got!" William yelled as he pulled ahead of the others. The mist wasn't far behind anymore. Adolin heard curses around him, but he didn't mind. He'd probably curse too, if his life were hanging by a thread. William stopped in front of the entrance and looked inside before glancing back at them.

"Fuck," he cursed.

"The Lord is fighting a corrupted commander inside."

"What about Revel?" Clay shouted.

"I don't see her," William answered.

"Don't look back. Just run through the entrance." Adolin glanced behind him anyway. The mist was only a few meters away now. Too close. The soldiers were already ahead of him while Clay ran beside him. He cast another Boost spell on both of them, and they surged forward.

"Move!" The soldiers slipped through the entrance into the next room. William remained behind, watching them with concern in his eyes.

"Go in!" Clay shouted.

"We're right behind you!" William hesitated for a moment before nodding and stepping through. Through Mana Sense, Adolin felt the mist closing in behind them. Inches away. The entrance was only a few meters ahead. He grabbed Clay by the shoulder and shoved him through the entrance. Then he stepped through himself. The corrupted mist slammed against the entrance behind them.