Chương 98: Chapter 84 – Purging the Viscount

Cade looked between Pearl and the struggling Viscount. Then he nodded and sprinted toward the crack Aquelion had opened in the ninth root pillar. The moment he stepped inside, the density of life essence nearly staggered him. Green light pulsed through the interior of the root in vast flowing veins. Immense currents of essence surged through the center of the root in steady rhythmic pulses. Cade stared for only a moment, then he inhaled slowly and calmed himself. He reached for the feeling deep within.

The quiet certainty of breaking things down. Reducing essence into its most fundamental pieces. White flames flickered into existence behind his teeth as the skill manifested. Then Cade exhaled and the [Flames of Desolation] poured across the exposed interior of the root pillar. White fire spread instantly. The life essence within the root ignited like dry tinder. Dense currents of white surged outward from the burning structure while wood blackened and collapsed into drifting ash.

His flames raced deeper into the root system as liberated essence billowed outward in shimmering clouds that rapidly swallowed the hollow around him. Pearl shouted behind him.

"Cade!"

"I'm working on it!" The amount of liberated essence shocked him. Cade inhaled once and nearly overflowed his channels. Pure essence flooded through him in overwhelming quantities. His pathways filled almost immediately while excess essence spilled through the tether connected to the [Cloak of Ash]. Pearlescent ash thickened around his body at once, the cloak fully regaining its smooth flowing shape as fresh essence reinforced every strand.

He had never absorbed this much essence this quickly before, and more still poured from the burning root. White flames spread deeper through the exposed interior while dense clouds of purified essence poured outward in shimmering waves. The root fire had become self-sustaining. The flames no longer required his direct attention to continue feeding. Cade inhaled again and more essence rushed into him. His channels swelled painfully from the pressure. Then he turned back toward Aquelion.

The Viscount still tried to thrash beneath Pearl's vines while violet corruption pulsed beneath black scales. Thick restraints wrapped around his limbs and jaws, but the bindings strained with every passing second. Cade stared at the gator and memory surged through him. White ash crawled through his nostrils and down his throat. Agony ripped through his body as the ash invaded his lungs, bloodstream, and flesh alike.

Black sludge poured from his mouth while impurities were violently expelled from every part of him beneath unbearable waves of desolation. An Ashen Baptism. Cade's eyes narrowed. He didn't know if it would work. But deep down, certainty settled over him as the idea took shape. He flooded the tether with essence. The [Cloak of Ash] surged around him in flowing currents as he imposed his will upon it. He remembered the feeling of ash entering his body.

The sensation of impurities being forcibly expelled from every orifice and pore. He pushed that image into the tether and something inside him stirred. The faint resonance of his Law Seed of Dissolution pulsed deep within his soul. All things may be broken down. The thought echoed through him with quiet certainty. Cade stepped toward Aquelion. Then he commanded the cloak to disperse. A pearlescent cloud exploded outward into a storm of drifting ash.

Pale particulates spiraled around Cade before surging directly toward the restrained Viscount. Aquelion immediately began thrashing harder. The ash struck black scales and spread rapidly across the gator's body before sinking inward through flesh and channels alike. Cade forced more of his will into the ash. Purify him. The resonance deep within his soul strengthened. Aquelion roared in agony as thick black sludge burst from between his scales.

White ash crawled across the Viscount's body wherever Cade directed it, but the violet rot beneath the scales did not dissolve nearly as quickly as before. The corruption clung stubbornly to Aquelion's flesh and channels alike, woven deep into him now. Rowana had changed something. The realization tightened Cade's jaw. The corruption had rooted itself deeper. Aquelion convulsed beneath Pearl's restraints while thick black-violet effluent seeped from his scales and mouth and splattered across the soaked ground.

The massive gator had already shrunk noticeably from the sheer amount of impurities forced from his body, yet the corruption still remained everywhere beneath his skin. Cade inhaled more pure essence from the ninth pillar and forced it into the tether connecting him to the cloud of ash enveloping Aquelion. The battle raging outside the hollow only made it harder to focus. Thunderous impacts shook the ground beneath him while distant screeches and explosions of white flame rolled through the air in violent bursts.

An ash worm screamed somewhere beyond the root pillars. The Ashen Emperor roared. Pearl cried out as another vine snapped apart. Cade clenched his teeth harder. He needed to focus. If only he could separate the corruption from Aquelion entirely and burn just that— The Law Seed within him hummed. Cade stiffened. A subtle tugging at the edge of his awareness. Not quite a thought. Not quite instinct. More like a quiet certainty that he was approaching the problem incorrectly. Enjoying the story?

Show your support by reading it on the official site. That there was a missing piece he had not yet grasped.

"Hold on a little longer!" Cade shouted toward Pearl. The exhausted frog nodded weakly while forcing more vines around Aquelion's thrashing limbs. Her normally vibrant orange skin had faded noticeably pale from the sheer strain of sustaining so much Lifebreathing at once. Then Cade activated [Hyperfocused Meditation]. The battlefield behind him still raged on. The hollow still surrounded him. Rain and ash still hammered the tree overhead. White fire still flickered from the burning ninth pillar beside him.

But the noise dulled into distant static. The chaos around him stopped clawing at his attention. His thoughts narrowed. Sharpening until only Aquelion and the corruption plaguing him remained. Cade followed the thread of thought deeper. Separate the corruption. Burn only that. Through the tether, Cade felt his ash spreading through Aquelion's body. It moved exactly as he intended, stripping impurities loose and dragging them toward the surface. But something was wrong. The corruption fought back.

Thick black-violet sludge clogged the flowing ash wherever it surfaced, fouling the baptism and slowing the movement of the pearlescent particulates flowing through Aquelion's flesh and channels. The impurities weren't simply being expelled at the same rate anymore. They clung stubbornly to the ash itself like rot trying to smother flame. Aquelion convulsed violently beneath the restraints. More sludge erupted from between his scales, neutralizing the ash.

Cade immediately pushed more essence into the tether, forcing fresh waves of ash deeper into the Viscount's body. It helped, but not enough. The corruption had rooted itself too deeply. Cade grit his teeth harder as the pressure inside his channels continued building. Dense clouds of pure essence still rolled outward from the burning ninth pillar behind him while the tether attached to the [Cloak of Ash] vibrated beneath the strain. He needed more force behind his ash, not just more ash itself.

He needed something deeper. Something capable of breaking the corruption apart instead of merely attaching to it and forcing it outward. The ash around him spiraled as the thought settled into place and Cade felt the resonance deep within himself. He inhaled slowly and somewhere deep within his soul— Something answered as he felt the words more than heard them. All things may be broken down. Cade focused on the words. The Law Seed of Dissolution pulsed against his awareness like a second heartbeat.

It wanted to be used. The realization settled over him with startling clarity and Cade followed the feeling inward. Everything, including Aquelion, vanished completely as his awareness sank deeper into himself. His channels became rivers of flowing essence surrounding him on all sides while the tether attached to the [Cloak of Ash] stretched outward. And there— Deep within the center of it all— A tiny white seed floated in the void. The feeling of dissolution reverberated through the empty space around him.

Cade reached toward the seed. The instant his fingers touched it— Crack. Hairline fractures spread across its surface while soft white light leaked through the seams. The seed split and a single thin strand of white unfurled from the fractures and wrapped itself gently around Cade's metaphysical hand. Then the world slammed back into focus. Cade gasped. Essence surged violently through his channels hard enough to make his entire body shudder.

The thin white strand now flowed alongside the circulating essence like a living filament woven directly into the current. It moved with purpose. The strand followed the circulating essence through Cade's channels before flowing directly into the tether attached to the [Cloak of Ash]. The filament wrapped itself around the tether and spiraled around its entire length like a winding vine of pale light until it finally touched the cloud that was his cloak— Cade felt it. The Law itself embedded into his cloak.

All things may be broken down. Understanding hit him all at once. The cloak would not merely defend. It wouldn't just harden and soften at his will. Through Dissolution, it could separate and break down what it touched. Any attack could be broken down. Stripped away until nothing but the most fundamental essence was left. Cade's eyes snapped open fully. With a surge of will, he commanded the cloud of ash to burrow into Aquelion even deeper.

More pearlescent ash burst from the tether and joined the swirling cloud enveloping Aquelion. Pale currents spiraled before surging directly onto the restrained Viscount. Then Cade forced the ash inward. Enter him. Cleanse him. Separate every impurity and every scrap of corruption you can find. The ash obeyed. It flowed across Aquelion's scales in rippling waves before sinking beneath the surface.

Thin streams of pearlescent ash entered through cracks between scales, through wounds, through channels, through flesh itself. Wherever the ash encountered corruption, it reacted immediately. Aquelion screamed. The Viscount convulsed violently beneath Pearl's restraints as the ash spread. Deep violet rot detached from healthy tissue like oil separating from water. The ash wrapped around it, pulled, and dragged it back to the surface. Black-violet sludge burst from beneath Aquelion's scales in thick streams.

The horrible effluent reeked of rot and stagnant water while chunks of corrupted tissue sloughed free from the Viscount's body and splattered against the soaked earth. The ash continued deeper. It found every impurity hidden inside Aquelion and tore it loose with relentless precision. Corrupted essence. Foreign growth. Twisted flesh. Violet residue embedded deep within his channels. The ash stripped all of it free.

Aquelion thrashed harder with every passing second while more sludge poured from him in viscous waves. Cade heard a Ding! echo through his mind and a screen forced itself into existence. Congratulations! Your [Cloak of Ash (rare)] has evolved into [Mantle of Dissolution (Law-bound — epic)].

[Cloak of Ash (rare)] – Formed from the dissolved shell of an Ancient Ash Tortoise and bound to your channels, this cloak of essence-infused ash flows with movement, disperses under command, and hardens at the point of impact to intercept incoming attacks. Sustained through continuous essence input.

[Mantle of Dissolution (Law-bound — epic)] — Formed from essence-infused ash bound directly to your channels and soul through the Law Seed of Dissolution, this mantle flows with movement, disperses under command, and hardens to intercept incoming attacks. Particulates may infiltrate organic matter, essence, and metaphysical structures alike. Through Dissolution, the mantle strips away impurities and breaks down complex structures toward their most fundamental state. Sustained through continuous essence input.

There was more to the notification, but Cade dismissed it with a flick of his will. He did not have attention to spare right now. Instead he inhaled sharply and drew more essence from the burning ninth pillar behind him. Dense pure essence flooded his channels before Cade forced it through the tether and into the swirling ash cloud surrounding Aquelion. The ash thickened immediately. Its movements grew sharper. More purposeful. And Aquelion bellowed in agony as fresh torrents of corruption erupted from his body.

Cade could see it working. The violet lines beneath the Viscount's scales had begun fading in places. Faint aquamarine glimmers shone beneath the corruption for the first time since the baptism began. He was reaching the true Aquelion.

"Hold him!" Cade shouted. Pearl gasped weakly behind him as more vines constricted around the thrashing Viscount.

"I'm trying!" The restraints groaned loudly. Through the tether, Cade felt the ash moving deeper through Aquelion's body. The baptism was working. The corruption peeled away in thick streams while aquamarine essence slowly spread beneath the Viscount's scales. But the strain on Pearl was becoming impossible to ignore. Her breathing came ragged and uneven behind him. Cade risked a glance back. The frog looked terrible.

Her arms visibly trembled from exertion and blood trickled from her mouth as she forced more life essence into the writhing vines binding Aquelion in place. Then one of the restraints snapped apart. Pearl cried out as more vines erupted upward immediately, but they emerged slower now. Weaker. Another restraint burst apart. The Viscount's tail tore free and smashed into the soaked earth hard enough to crater the mud. Cade's stomach tightened.

The corruption still pouring from Aquelion's body had begun rotting the vines on contact. Thick green growth blackened and decayed seconds after wrapping around the Viscount. Another vine snapped. Then another. Pearl swayed visibly where she knelt.

"Pearl—" Aquelion exploded upward with a deafening roar. The remaining restraints tore apart in a storm of shredded vines and black sludge. Cade's eyes widened. The Viscount staggered free while thick streams of corruption still poured from beneath black scales. Aquamarine and violet warred visibly throughout his body as the incomplete baptism continued tearing impurities loose from deep inside him. Cade tightened his will around the tether.

He could not allow Aquelion to reach the burning opening in the ninth root pillar. As the Viscount turned toward him, Cade realized something else with growing dread. He did not know if he could continue the baptism while holding Aquelion back at the same time.