Lunaria's glaciers shattered completely and Risa's claymore gets launched back at her, the dark ray of mana fading.
Lunaria and Risa, both of them who had covered their faces to protect themselves from the wave, put their hands down as they stared at the abominations in front of them.
Kurenai's skin was complete pale, her eyes lost their pupils, leaving only the white. Her skin was covered in black liquid in the shape of her clothing. Her tails leaking dark liquid as drop. "GAAHH!" She roared, behaving completely like a wild predator.
On the other side, Tsukiharu's eyes were completely dark, and his tongue lashed out of his mouth like a lizard's tongue which looked like a snake's. His skin pale as well and his tail was sharper and longer than before.
"The hell..." Risa muttered. Solara's telepathy hit her mind again. RISA, DON'T TRY TO FIGHT ALONE NOW, THE MANA OF THAT FOXIAN SKYROCKETTED AFTER THAT MUTATION!
Risa summoned her wings and immediately tried to fly away, but Tsukiharu's speed was insane now. Appearing above her at speed faster than lightning, he slammed his hand over her like a hammer.
BOOM! A small explosion occured as the ground beneath them was destroyed, Risa blocked his attack with her cracked claymore. Solara. She called out through telepathy as she continued with a grin on her face. Sorry, but I am disobeying you this time! Solara tried to say something but Risa cut off the connection. "I can't run away from a good fight like this one."
On the other side, it was pure chaos. Kurenai kept trying to attack Lunaria, but couldn't even touch her. "Your mana concentration increased, but you are weak physically." She kneed her in the gut, followed by a direct punch straight to her face, launching her back. Kurenai maintained her footing as she mindlessly charged in again, her speed somehow increased.
"Huh?" Lunaria noticed, put her arm in front of her to block Kurenai's punch, the impact however was more destructive than before, pushing Lunaria back. Intresting, her mana concentration increased as well. She thought.
She connected the telepathy with Solara again. Solara, I just found something unusual for a corruption. Solara still a bit panic from before asked back a question. What's unusual?
Lunaria continued as she dodged and countered Kurenai's attacks. For some reason, her speed, power and mana concentration are increasing, sometimes with a sudden boost. Lunaria dodged Kurenai's claws, the cloth on her arm torn a little.
What? Has the corruption not affected her completely? Solara asked.
Could be but the growth isn't constant, it increases a lot in between everytime.
Let me ask Risa about her situation. Solara replied, connecting the telepathy with Risa again. But before she could reply, her ear drums bursts as she heard Risa's screams who was laughing like a maniac, fighting with all she had against Tsukiharu.
Snapping back to her senses she called out Risa, who was currently having a hand to sword clash with Tsukiharu. Risa, Lunaria said that Kurenai's power and mana concentration was increasing overtime, and with some sudden boosts in between, are you facing any similarities to that?
Risa who was focused on the fight, didn't answered back. Lunaria, she is too focused on the fight. Solara said, Lunaria closed her eyes to sense everything at a better level again, catching Tsukiharu's and Risa's presence. His power is also increasing but it's constant unlike Kurenai's. She replied back to Solara, opening her eyes again.
So that means both of them aren't full consumed by it, yet. The corruption's full power must be nearly as strong as you then.
So, we have to hurry then. Where are you? I felt your movements when you were coming towards us but stopped in between. Lunaria asked, as she punched Kurenai hard in the chin, launching her in the air. She jumped, and kicked her away.
Back with Solara, she flapped her majestic wings high in the air as she replied back. I was, but an obstacle came. The wave of that corrupted mana created a barrier around the area that prevents me from entering.
She looked down as she continued, the ground turning dark as it spread outwards from the barrier. And it seems, that this barrier spreads corruption overtime as well. A dead orc's corpse crawled out of the dark ground as a horrific figure as she said that.
So Risa and I will have to deal with these two huh? Got it, tell the others to hold back the waves of corruption until the barrier is gone.
Lunaria cut off the connection, kicking away Kurenai who lunged at her from behind. However, Kurenai grabbed Lunaria's leg this time to prevent that. "Hu-?" Before the frost magic user could react, the mutated vixen spinned around at high speed, creating high speed momentum until it turned into a small twister.
It let go off her, sending her straight into a mountain. Dust faded away, as Lunaria was just lying on the ground, a hole made at the area of the mountain where she crashed. Kurenai lunged at her from above, aiming for a stab with her claw. However, the frost user summoned an ice wall in front of her attack to prevent it.
"You like to show surprises, huh? Well here is one surprise from me." Lunaria said, trapping Kurenai's claw in the ice wall by creating frost around it. She kicked the wall hard, sending Kurenai away, with broken shards stabbing into her skin. Lunaria lunged at the beast, about to stab it in the head with the frost blade.
Splash! The blade was pierced straight through Kurenai's forehead, the vixen falling onto her knees.
"How weak..." Kurenai's ears perked up at the comment, Lunaria continued. "I thought, that the mutation would have made you strong enough to make me use more of my power." Kurenai's hands started trembling at the insult. Then Lunaria hit the final nail in the coffin.
"You are completely useless without your time magic, that you can't even consciously use it anymore after behaving like a wild beast." She lowered the temperature of the blade further, Kurenai started screaming in pain from the cold.
Lunaria swinged her hand above, causing the blade to split Kurenai's head. The vixen screamed in pain, as it struggled in pain at the ground. Lunaria had no hint of remorse on her face for that. She watched black blood spreading on the ground.
"Well that's new... Should probably tell Solara about th-"
The strike was faster than she could react, Lunaria's sentence wasn't able to be finished. Kurenai with that split, lunged at Lunaria with such speed, even lightning seemed normal.
Landing her claw straight at her stomach, Kurenai left a deep wound on Lunaria, sending her flying away, crashing straight into the mana barrier.
"Gah!" Lunaria's composure cracked from the impact as she fell on the ground. The barrier cracked from the impact, and Lunaria's clothing on her back was burnt by it, her skin covered in the incorporeal infection.
She froze her back, then shattered the ice to remove it before it could infect her, the backside was red from the cold. She clenched onto her stomach, trying to heal the wound, but it failed. Normally, she could regenerate easily, even if her limbs were torn apart. But the small contact with the infected mana weakened her regeneration significantly. That was the result of this twisted virus, that could affect someone at the most fundamental level.
Her breathing was heavy, she was strong, stronger than the rest, yes. But she had a major weakness, if striked perfectly then even one strong hit could leave her trembling. "Ugh..." She grunted as she tried to stand up.
Kurenai was way faster now, and had far more power now as well. The mutated vixen covered the gap before Lunaria could recover, sending her flying into the air, Lunaria barely blocked that with her arms.
Then Kurenai got into the air, kicking her back on the ground. Then in the back, then punching her in the gut, sending her crashing against the ground. Due to the earlier contact, her regeneration was weakened so she couldn't recover her strength in time to counter attack.
Then the next moment surprised her. "I-I... Kill... You..." The reason for the surprise wasn't Kurenai's threat, but the fact she could talk in that state. Without giving Lunaria a chance to process the situation, Kurenai dashed straight at her, aiming to stab her heart with her claws.
"Mother stop!" The yell caught the attention of both of them, Kurenai's lunge was momentarily disturbed by an earth wall that filled the gap between the two ladies. It wasn't enough to block her, but it was enough to give Lunaria a chance to counter attack.
Covering her fist in frost magic, she punched Kurenai with full force in the gut, putting her hand behind to not launch her away. The frost magic hit Kurenai at her core, freezing her body completely in ice like an ice sculpture.
"M... Mother?" Lunaria looked at the side, Miharu was standing there, along with Chiharu, whose hand had the faint sparkle of earth magic. Her face was covered in shock at the sight of what Kurenai had became. Chiharu also looked tense but kept his composure.
Miharu tried to come closer to the sculpture, but Chiharu held her back, moving his head in a negative manner.
Lunaria stared at them, she already met Miharu, but her gaze was fixed at Chiharu. "I feel the energy of that man hidden in there... So, tell me."
"Where is Lunethra?"
.
..
...
Blood trickled down from the claymore, it was still cracked but not broken yet. Between the two fighters, the dragon and the fox. The dragon won.
Risa stood standing atop of Tsukiharu, his mutated body covered in blood, and his limbs cut deep. Meanwhile, she had a satisfied look on her face, there was no sweat on her face, just satisfaction. She was also covered in blood, but it wasn't her's.
The mana barrier around them broke, the corruption spread because of Tsukiharu's barrier also stopped.
Solara, Orion, Sera and all the other natives of Elvin, who were fighting against the corruption, felt a sense of relief as they saw one barrier gone, the storm also faded.
"One source is gone everyone!" Sera yelled, not noticing a corrupted cyclope about to land on her after jumping towards her.
FWOOSH! The cyclope's form was split vertically, Orion had already covered the distance. "Don't lose your guard just because one barrier is gone."
"Hmm?" His head faced at the distance, as she saw something coming.
"Oi, Oni!" Risa was waving as she waved with a smile, her other arm dragging something along with her.
"Well at least the reckless lizard is safe." He muttered with a sigh.
Risa eventually reached everyone, she swinged her other arm, tossing Tsukiharu's mutated state on the ground. "Here, it's the twin of that girl we met in the forest."
One of the elves, known as Legolas, saw the body. He almost vomitted at the horrific sight. "I-Is that really Tsukiharu?" His question caused some of the other natives of Elvin to almost vomit as well, some of them actually did vomitted.
"He looks... So creepy... And similar to that dark figure from back then." Sera pointed out.
"That's the result of corruption. If not cured on time, then it becomes incurable and spreads within you until you become like this." Orion answered.
"Solara yelled at me for engaging in a one on one fight with him. She was really asking me to miss the fun." Risa mentioned, her arms crossed and an annoyed pout on her face.
"Who asked you to miss the fun huh?" The voice came from behind her, Risa went pale at that. She slowly turned her neck around, facing Solara who had a very gentle smile and a dark look.
"The little dragon seems to have had fun, didn't it?" Risa gulped at Solara's words. "I can exp-"
But before she could finish her sentence, she recieved a hard strike on her head. The next moment, she was sitting on the ground holding her head and sobbing, with Solara lecturing her on not listening her.
"Of course, she is all muscles with no brain." Orion muttered while kneeling down to examine Tsukiharu's mutated form. "Huh?"
"Senior Solara." He called out, Solara stopped lecturing Risa for a moment, her hand pulling her right cheek. Even Risa lookes at him despite the pain.
"What happened?"
"His power is still increasing."
"Ah that... Lunaria told me about it when she was dealing with the other foxian... I asked Risa, but she didn't replied back to me." She said, as she pulled Risa's cheeks harder.
"I am sorry!" The dragon yelped in pain.
"I see... Better kill him now, otherwise we would be in trouble." Orion mentioned. He gestured his hand to another rescue guard from the H-200, taking a box from them.
"What's that?" Sera asked, thirteen seats were there and twelve syringes were inside that box.
"Corruption venom." He replied.
"Uh what?"
"Don't mind the name, we didn't thought much about it."
"..."
"It's basically venom against corrupted species." Solara answered. Sera looked a bit confused. Solara explained.
"Since corruption affects someone at the most fundamental level. If we aren't fast enough, it will end up with the victim permanently under it's influence. Those that can still be killed by basic means aren't much of an issue, but for the ones that becomes immortal to them. We prepared that venom. It goes into their corrupted bloodstream, and kills the immortal corrupted from within."
"You can simply think of it as a last resort against immortals. It can work on any species, whether corporeal or incorporeal. It's not just limited to corrupted immortals only, but any immortal. Incorporeal because the syringe itself is infused with soul magic." Orion added to simplify it.
"I see. So it's just venom that can kill both mortals and immortals." She confirmed to herself.
Orion was about to inject Tsukiharu with it, but the mutated fox instinctively felt the danger upon seeing the syringe. Using wind magic to push Orion away, it tried to run away.
Risa was about to chase him down, but Orion reacted faster. He dashed once, grabbing Tsukiharu by the back of his head, and slamming him face first on the ground, keeping the fox pinned down. "Alright, no point in trying to run away now. You are beaten up."
He ripped off the cloth at the back of Tsukiharu's neck, exposing it. Taking the syringe in hand, he brought it near him, about it inject. Tsukiharu was instinctively trying to push Orion away but was still weakened after his fight with Risa.
"STOP!"
The yell came from far, Miharu dashed straight in running. Pulling the mutated Tsukiharu away, holding him close to herself. "Don't kill my brother, please." She requested.
Orion was about to argue, but a different voice stopped him before that. "May I suggest something?"
The rescuers from the H-200 turned towards the voice, standing there was Chiharu. Lunaria was also there standing behind him, her form from before recovered already but her clothing was torned at those areas.
Orion was about to question him. "And who are y-"
"It's Lunethra." Lunaria answered it.
"What!?" Risa was flabbergasted. She was about to ask how, but stopped upon seeing the reaction of the other natives of Elvin. They were shocked.
"Fire bird? What's wrong?" She asked Sera. The young phoenix's eyes were wide in shock, as she muttered out of the word to confirm whether what she saw was real or not.
"Chi... Chiharu?" She stared at Chiharu, as if waiting for a confirmation. "Correct." The reply shocked everyone else from Elvin as well. Orion, Solara and the other rescuers who heard about him from Sera earlier were also surprised.
"B-But, didn't Chiharu... Died years ago?" Legolas pointed out, he was just as stunned as Sera. Chiharu sighed, as he raised his hand to tell everyone to calm down. "Alright, just wait for a moment. Your questions will be answered as well."
He walked towards Miharu who was holding Tsukiharu. "Mi, turn him towards me." Miharu did so, the mutated Tsukiharu hissed in hostility, but stopped when Chiharu puts his hand on his head. "Just stay calm little brother."
He focused, a small gust of wind came for a moment as Chiharu started the process. The corruption, all of it that was on Tsukiharu. All of it was removed slowly. Everyone watched in surprise. The rescuers except for Lunaria who recognised the ability, Orion was about to pull out his blade but saw Lunaria's gaze, telling him not to intervene.
Tsukiharu passed out after all the corruption was removed and absorbed into Chiharu's hand.
"First things first... I am both Chiharu, as well as Lunethra." He turned towards the others.
The words left everyone in surprise, which included Lunaria as well. Then the explanation had begun. He gave the same exact explanation that he gave to Miharu before, about how he was still alive and that him and Lunethra can switch control of the body as well, which changes their forms as per their soul.
But there was another thing, that he didn't mentioned. "All of us three souls are dead as well actually."
"Hold up... What?" Orion asked in confusion.
"Well, the original owner of this body couldn't truly die(dead but not truly dead) for some reason, and then me and Lunethra needed a form because we still had an unfinished work to do, and becoming a Wraith meant we would have lost our past memories, so that option wasn't going to work... And souls can get attracted towards high level soul magic appearantly, which appearantly happens to be the owner of this body, and then as you know what happened."
"How did the owner even see you?" Solara asked.
"Soul magic users can see souls when they are at intermediate level, that is most likely the case." Lunaria mentioned. But her gaze was fixed at Chiharu.
"Dual fox." She called out, Chiharu perked up. "That's an interesting nickna-"
"Tell that moron inside there, that if he was alive. He could have came back to us atleast." She turned around, going back to where they had left Kurenai frozen. "I am going back there to deal with her, she is going to break out eventually." As she skated back there, a piece of her torned clothing fell off from the dash.
"Well that was a surprise." Ome of the rescuers mentioned. "I thought that she doesn't cares about anyone."
"You don't know." Solara mentioned with a sigh. "She has been treating herself a lie for thirteen years."
"Pardon?"
"It's better that you don't know about it... Some moments can't be understood by words." As she ended the conversations.
Back with Lunaria, she passed the barrier unaffected through the hole created by Chiharu earlier by the ability to absorb corruption.
"The moment she breaks out of it, all of this will start again." She muttered. She couldn't kill Kurenai in that state because Chiharu and Miharu did not wanted that, and attacking her in that state would have allowed Kurenai to break free.
She reached there, the ice on Kurenai was starting to crack as well. She reached on time, soon the crack started to get larger and deeper.
Lunaria had a glimpse of something for a moment, of someone with a ghostly figure holding the syringe of corruption venom. And someone with white hair, lying on the ground, blood covering the mouth, and an empty red eye.
This time, you are not going to leave me. She thought.
The ice cracked one last time, before shattering. The smoke faded as Kurenai's form was smoking from the force and heat her body generated while trying to break free.
But her gaze wasn't mindless anymore, it was tense now. A full on death glare, she swinged her head towards Lunaria, facing her straight into the eyes. What Lunaria saw shocked her.
Those eyes of the mutated vixen, they weren't just purely white anymore... They had pupils again. Complete eyes to show consciousness again.
"Is that... A conscious corruption?" Lunaria's question left the air silent, the second round had begun. The corruption from the mana barrier started to spread again. Leading to another wave of corruption.
"No... Not here." Lunaria got surprised at Kurenai talking again. So, it was indeed a corrupted that has a consciousness. Those were her thoughts.
In the next moment, some waves started to form around the two like a field. Lunaria immediately tried to step out, but the field of the waves got larger to prevent that. A teleportation spell!? Lunaria thought.
The field turned into a small tornando, surrounding both of them, then it disappeared along with them as well.
Lunaria opened her eyes, yet she saw nothing. "Huh?" She looked everywhere, but there was nothing, an infinite nothingness. However, she could feel time still flowing.
"It's the abstract side of Elvin." Kurenai answered from behind her.
"Abstract side?"
"Yes, abstract side. But you can't reach it by just walking, to enter it, you have to find the spatial waves in the air, then open it to come here. The other option is teleportation, but the location should be known still at least."
"I see, so abstract here would just mean complex then."
"Correct... And this endless void will also be where you die." She dashed straight in for an attack.
Lunaria tried to counter, but suddenly got covered in cuts before she could do so. Kurenai was already on the other side.
"Just to let you know. An elf tried to fight me here to counter my time powers. But my time magic's ability isn't limited to that." She turned her neck towards Lunaria with a creepy smile on her face, her mouth and eyes were black and her face was white. "I can also put the concept of time into anything and then manipulate it." Even the tone was different now, it was a lot creepier than before, that even Lunaria felt awkward.
"Concept of time?" Lunaria muttered, the realization hit her. "Pantheon level magic..."
The realization could be felt throughout this endless void by both of them. But for different reasons. For Lunaria, it was danger. For Kurenai, it was seeing her prey's realization of it's danger.