The Corrupted One’s Demise

The Corrupted One once again belched forth a cloud of smoke.

Having just completed a sword swing and standing too far forward, Phillo found himself unable to retreat in time.

He was instantly engulfed by a massive swirl of gray poisonous mist.

Paresha snatched up a poleaxe, its long shaft sweeping horizontally.

She struck the monster, sending it staggering backward.

As the toxic cloud receded, Phillo’s trembling form was revealed.

The Divine Guard coughed violently, writhing in agony on the ground.

The Corrupted One regained its footing, its red eyes, clouded with murky whites, suddenly widening.

It opened its maw, revealing two rows of filthy fangs, and let out a guttural roar.

“Phillo!”

Aivy swung her long staff, and a shimmering blade of light coalesced with a hum in the air.

It shot toward the monster at high speed, directly severing two of its rigid whiskers.

“Harragh—!”

The Corrupted One shrieked in pain, as black, festering blood gushed from the severed stumps of its whiskers.

It splattered and oozed onto the sandy ground of the arena.

Aivy had already expended all her strength, and now, overloading her magic to forcefully cast the spell, the repercussions were severe.

Blood trickled from her nose, the corners of her eyes, and both ears.

She collapsed heavily to the ground, her muscles beginning to spasm uncontrollably, rendering her completely incapacitated.

“You vile monster! Come fight me if you dare! Stab me with your rigid tail!”

Paresha brandished her poleaxe, provoking the monster, hoping to single-handedly stall it.

She aimed to buy Aivy and Phillo precious moments to recover.

She succeeded.

The Corrupted One irritably exhaled a cloud of foul air, its hind leg stomping the ground with such force it left a shallow crater.

Propelled by this momentum, its body surged toward Paresha, effortlessly breaching the poleaxe she held defensively before her.

The poleaxe’s shaft slipped from her grasp, snapping with a sharp ‘crack’.

Paresha’s eyes widened in horror, seeing the monster’s rigid whiskers shoot out from behind her.

She watched as their sharp barbs grew larger and larger in her vision.

“Ugh… I’m going to become a meat skewer…”

She murmured in despair, swallowing hard.

Then, she did the last thing she could: she squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

A shadow fell over Paresha’s head.

“Go! Die! Now!”

Saranya leaped over Paresha from above, delivering an unexpected knee strike that sent the monster toppling to the ground.

With a chain-flail in her left hand and an armed sword in her right, she relentlessly assaulted the monster.

She pummeled it until its hide was torn open, and foul, viscous ichor splattered, soaking her entire body.

“Die! Die! Just die!”

Saranya savagely swung her chain-flail, blow after blow.

The spiked steel hammerhead struck with resounding thuds, and a crisp cracking sound echoed from the monster’s chest.

Its ribs shattered into fragments, with several bone splinters piercing its pallid skin, protruding from the gaping wounds, shifting up and down with its ragged breaths.

“Hmph… tui~”

Saranya ceased her assault, gazing down at the carnage beneath her, and spat in disgust.

Amidst the wave-like cheers of the surrounding spectators, she raised her weapon.

Then, she plunged her sword into the Corrupted One’s hideous, porous brain.

“Hmm?”

The Corrupted One was not yet dead; its limbs twitched spasmodically.

The soft, spongy flesh of its brain, encasing both sides of the impaled sword, suddenly began to writhe violently.

The holes on its surface expanded and enlarged, emitting a rhythmic hum from within.

It was speaking.

Mimicking Saranya’s tone, the monster uttered a chilling guttural sound:

“Die… die…”

Saranya’s pupils contracted sharply as Paresha’s voice rang out from behind her:

“Watch out! It’s going to spray smoke again!!!”

Without a moment’s thought, Saranya pushed off the monster’s body, leaping up and executing a swift aerial side-flip to distance herself from it.

“Szzzzzzzzzz—!”

This smoke screen was the largest the monster had ever unleashed.

The dense smoke almost covered half the arena.

Many who had surrendered were still on the field, and most of them succumbed to the fumes.

They were poisoned en masse, collapsing to the ground in heaps, unable even to cry for help.

Paresha dragged Phillo away, while Saranya hoisted Aivy onto her back.

The four of them retreated to a safe, clear area.

“A mutated species! This Corrupted One is actually a variant!”

“Quick! Prepare to enter and rescue the candidates!”

“Damn it, the entire field is choked with smoke, how are we supposed to rescue them?!”

“This is bad, the smoke cloud is still spreading; that thing intends to fill this entire place with its poisonous fumes.

First, dispatch people to evacuate the VIPs!!”

From the corner of her eye, Saranya caught sight of the panicked Brotherhood members scrambling around the arena.

They ascended the high platforms at the four corners of the arena, setting up ballistas.

However, with the smoke’s vast spread, they found themselves unable to pinpoint their targets.

‘Damn it…’

‘A mutated Corrupted One… what a jackpot.’

Saranya set Aivy down at the edge of the arena.

Turning her head, she noticed a faint, dark purple glowing spot within the smoky field.

“Huh? Is that coming from the monster?”

She rubbed her eyes, scrutinizing it intently.

This time, not only was the glowing spot in her vision clearer, but she also perceived a long purple line stretching from a distance, connecting to the light on the monster’s body.

“What in the world is that…?”

“Well fought, warrior.”

Freya fluttered her wings, hovering above the arena.

“Less talk, more help!”

“Focus your mind, this beast is no match for you.”

‘Right, Freya had granted her some ability, but how was she supposed to use it?’

Saranya pondered for a moment, then slapped her forehead.

“So that’s it, that glowing spot…!”

“Have you realized? Your eyes can now perceive the flow of magic, allowing you to pinpoint an enemy’s magic source based on the strength of their arcane energy.”

A magic source is the point where a spellcaster’s magic converges within their body.

Its location varies depending on each spellcaster’s habits and methods of cultivation.

“Breaker of spells, try imbuing your arcane energy into your weapon and severing the enemy’s magical supply!”

Saranya channeled the white arcane energy that had originally belonged to Freya from within her, then infused it into the armed sword she held.

Immediately, that stream of arcane energy transformed into her own icy blue, and the blade began to emit chilling mist, encasing itself in a layer of frost.

“Indeed, such talent! Truly worthy of being my chosen one!”

Saranya took a deep breath, held it, and plunged into the smoke before her.

She rapidly closed in on the purple light she could now perceive.

Once close enough, she launched herself upward, swinging her blade to sever the long purple line hanging in the air.

“Gurgle—Ugh—!”

The arena echoed with the Corrupted One’s enraged cries.

Without the connecting line, the purple light in her vision flickered in and out of sight, and the smoke’s dispersion rate visibly slowed.

One of its rigid whiskers pierced through the smoke, lashing out at Saranya.

However, because Saranya was overly focused on observing the enemy’s magic source, the barb on the whisker merely grazed her shoulder.

Blood spattered, and Saranya winced in pain, nearly inhaling the toxic mist.

‘Damn it… I can’t see anything in this smoke, there’s no way to deal with its attacks!’

Just then, a vortex of inky blackness suddenly flashed past Saranya’s side.

The resulting air current dispersed the smoke, carving a direct path between her and the Corrupted One.

“Master!”

Saranya looked toward Kaelan, who had arrived as reinforcement, and cried out in delight.

“Now! Kill it!”

Kaelan silently chanted a spell, then snapped her fingers toward Saranya.

A formidable force slammed into Saranya’s back, with not an ounce of gentleness, abruptly propelling her toward the dying Corrupted One.

‘What incredible acceleration!’

“Aaaaaaah—!”

Saranya’s feet left the ground, and she soared through the air, her voice cracking with excitement.

She gripped her armed sword with all her might, aiming its tip directly at the monster’s purple magic source.

As it turned out, her aiming was entirely superfluous.

Saranya, accompanied by a fierce, howling gale, streaked past, her body and sword piercing clean through the Corrupted One.

Her weapon shattered into two pieces, and she tumbled several times on the ground, cradling a heap of mangled limbs and shredded flesh, before finally coming to a halt.

Behind her, the monster’s frozen corpse twitched for a moment, then crashed down, shattering into countless shards of ice.

“Master—~~~!”

Saranya scrambled to her feet, heedless of everything else.

Covered in gore, she lunged into Kaelan’s embrace.