The fight dragged on further. What began as simple fireballs soon changed.
A spear of fla ford in his hand, spinning before shooting forward to pierce through a vine cluster.
A chain of fire wrapped around a moving root, restricting its motion before exploding in heat.
A wide fireball swept across the ground, clearing space and forcing the man backward.
Arthur was adapting.
Learning. But also training.
Every attack refined his control further.
The corrupted man could feel it too.
His expression twisted with rage.
"You... you mock !"
Arthur smiled faintly while dodging another strike.
"If you want to take you seriously," he said casually, "try harder."
The words struck deeper than any blade.
The man scread, pouring more corrupted mana into his attacks. His vines thickened, turning almost black, their surfaces hardened like armor.
They struck with greater force now.
One attack grazed Arthur’s arm, tearing through his sleeve and drawing blood. Another slamd into the ground beside him, the impact throwing him off balance.
The danger was real.
One mistake would end him.
Yet Arthur’s eyes only sharpened.
He adjusted instantly, his movents growing more unpredictable. He shifted angles, changed timing, and countered with sharper precision.
The battle intensified.
Boom! Crack! Whoosh!
Fire and vines clashed endlessly, the clearing reduced to shattered earth and burning wood.
Arthur slowly gained the upper hand.
The corrupted man’s frustration made his attacks hasty. His control slipped, openings appearing where there had been none before.
Arthur capitalized on every one.
A clean execution strike destroyed a large mass of vines.
A fire spear pierced through the man’s side.
A chain of fla restrained his arm long enough for another blast to land.
Arthur spoke while attacking, his tone calm.
"You’re losing control."
The man snarled.
"Silence!"
Another heavy strike pushed the corrupted man backward. His breathing beca erratic, his movents less stable.
He was nearing his limit.
One more decisive exchange would end the fight.
Arthur stepped forward, intent gathering within him.
But then..
The man’s eyes changed.
Desperation replaced rage.
He realized he could not win like this.
He created a sudden diversion, unleashing a chaotic storm of vines that forced Arthur to defend for a brief mont. The attacks ca wildly, without care for efficiency.
Arthur cut through them quickly.
Yet when his vision cleared.. The man was gone.
Arthur’s instincts scread.
He turned imdiately toward the ritual formation.
Too late.
The corrupted man stood at its center, both hands pressed into the carved symbols. The remaining monster cores shattered one by one as he drew the corrupted energy directly into his body.
All of it.
The sa tainted mana that had been feeding the dungeon monsters surged into him violently.
Arthur rushed forward.
"Stop.."
A terrifying pressure exploded outward.
BOOOOM!
The force alone threw Arthur backward. His body slamd into a tree behind him, the impact shaking the forest.
He dropped to one knee, steadying himself.
The pressure kept rising.
The man scread as his body twisted violently, bones cracking, flesh expanding and reshaping. The corrupted mana poured into him endlessly, tearing apart what remained of his humanity.
His roar echoed through the forest, filled with pain and madness.
The ground trembled.
The air grew heavier.
Arthur wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and stared at the transformation.
"You idiot..." he muttered.
The gamble was clear.
The man had abandoned reason and taken all the corrupted energy into himself. Power beyond control, beyond stability.
A desperate move. And a dangerous one.
The pressure alone grew strong enough to crush the surrounding trees. The ritual markings burned with dark light before collapsing completely.
The man’s scream turned into sothing inhuman.
Aa Arthur slowly rose to his feet, gripping his dagger tighter.
The fight had just beco far more difficult.
And it wasn’t going to get easier from here.
anwhile, back at Ironroot Pass stronghold, the battle was still raging, but sothing had changed.
At first, it was subtle.
Captain Veylor was the first to notice. In the middle of cutting down a thick wave of vines, his blade sank deeper than expected. The resistance that once felt like hacking through ironwood now felt closer to wet bark.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Did you feel that?" he shouted to the captain fighting beside him.
The other captain slashed again, and this ti three vines fell in one swing. He blinked.
"...It’s weaker."
They both looked toward the massive vine monster towering near the broken walls of the stronghold. Earlier, every movent of its body had been overwhelming. The pressure it gave off made breathing heavy. Its vines moved like living spears, fast and precise.
Now, there was a delay.
A small one, but noticeable.
The way it maneuvered had grown sluggish. The regeneration that once sealed wounds instantly now took longer. Burn marks from earlier attacks remained visible for precious seconds before slowly knitting back together.
Below them, the explorers felt it too.
A bronze ranked warrior, who had been struggling just to keep one spider monster at bay, suddenly found his blade piercing through its shell more easily. He stumbled back in shock when the leg of the spider cracked under his strike.
"It’s breaking!" he yelled, disbelief and relief mixing in his voice.
Fire mages noticed their flas biting deeper into the vine beasts. What used to take repeated blasts now burned away with one focused attack. The spiders’ webs no longer felt impossible to cut. Threads that once refused to snap now gave way under coordinated strikes.
The shift spread like a quiet rumor across the battlefield.
"It’s slowing down!"
"They’re weaker!"
"Keep pushing!"
Exhausted explorers who had been fighting on pure survival instinct suddenly found strength in their limbs again. Shoulders that were heavy monts ago straightened. Blades swung with renewed force.
Even the civilians hiding behind broken stone structures began to sense it.
Earlier, they had watched in terror as the monsters advanced inch by inch. So clutched their children, whispering prayers under their breath. Others stared blankly, already preparing for the worst.
But now... it was different.
A/N:
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