Lirielle's voice was the first to cut through the eerie silence. "Ugh, it's so dank here," she complained, fluttering her wings and casting a soft, ethereal light around her. Her luminance illuminated the faces of the other Sylvans, all bearing expressions of distaste at the crypt's atmosphere.
"Quite the charming location His Lordship has brought us to," Sylmae said, rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn. "My, this place is making me feel drowsy already."
Zark'thul shot her a quick look, and Sylmae shrugged, giving him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, my lord. Bad joke. It is unpleasant, though."
Cerys nudged her with her elbow. "Have some respect. This is serious."
"Sorry, sorry," Sylmae apologized.
Zark'thul pushed aside their banter and took the lead. The corridor stretched before them, disappearing into the darkness.
He manifested his Thousand Eyes of the Dark Beyond. Ghostly, unblinking eyeballs materialized around them, each set afloat on a writhing mass of shadowy tendrils. These spectral observers acted as his sentries, seeing and feeling everything within their vicinity. Any information they gleaned was immediately transmitted to him.
"Probe."
The eyes scattered, a couple hovering close to the Agents, the rest dispersing along the corridors. Their tendrils latched onto surfaces, dragging the floating orbs through the crypt's twisting pathways, their vision feeding back to him a multitude of images from various angles.
Through their sight, Zark'thul could see the state of the crypt. Its walls pulsed and shuddered, as if alive, responding to an unknown rhythm. Tendrils of pulsating purple energy snaked across the walls, discharging sporadic bursts of violet sparks. The eyes continued to push deeper, and the crypt's transformation grew more pronounced.
Walls bled into floors, and corridors coiled in upon themselves like a M?bius strip, never-ending, never beginning.
Deeper still, the aberrations roamed, their grotesque forms lurching through the distorted chambers. Zark'thul counted the aberrations he saw through the eyes, tallying over a dozen, with more to be found elsewhere.
There were many of them, but there was something else that drew his attention—a grotesque mass of flesh and bone, embedded within the heart of the crypt. This massive, quivering orb of organic matter pulsed in sync with the crypt's eerie energy, tendrils of sinewy tissue extending outward, embedding into the stone and reinforcing its mutagenic influence.
This was the source of the aberrations. A Blighted Broodheart. Similar to the spawning pool, the broodheart served as both the wellspring of the Qliphoth corruption within the crypt and the birthing point of the aberrations. Destroying it would cripple the Qliphoth's foothold here.
And he would be happy to oblige.
"Move out," he commanded. "The Qliphoth's taint runs deep. We eliminate the Blighted Broodheart first, then eradicate every last vestige of the Qliphoth's influence here."
"What's a 'Blighted Broodheart', my lord?" Cerys asked.
"A reservoir of the Qliphoth's corrupting essence. It births the aberrations and sustains their existence. It's similar to how your bonded trees were corrupted. We destroy it, we take away their power and ability to create more aberrations."
"Sounds pleasant," Sylmae remarked with a sigh. "Well, at least you'll be at the front, my lord, keeping the big, scary creatures off of us."
Cerys rolled her eyes at Sylmae's attempt at levity.
Lirielle, however, buzzed with excitement. "Let's go kill some ugly monsters!"
He gestured for the Sylvans to follow and plunged into the darkness, his Thousand Eyes guiding their path through the crypt's labyrinthine layout.
The crypt unfolded before him, each twist and turn illuminated by his Thousand Eyes and Lirielle's softly glowing form. The agents trailed close behind, their footsteps echoing quietly on the stone floor as they navigated the winding corridors. Their passage stirred the stagnant air, old dust, and the scent of ancient decay rising in their wake.
As they pushed deeper, the crypt's walls began to warp. Stone melted and reformed, strange organic growths sprouting from the shifting rock. Purple veins, pulsing with an otherworldly glow, spread across the floor and ceiling, intertwining and branching like a malevolent circulatory system.
Cerys, her vine-woven staff held in a defensive posture, stayed close to Zark'thul, her attention flicking between him and their surroundings. Sylmae and Myralis flanked her, while Lirielle darted around the group, her luminance casting a delicate dance of light and shadow across their wary faces. Althea brought up the rear.
"Do we have a location, my lord?" Cerys asked.
His mind, linked to his Thousand Eyes, gave him a detailed understanding of the crypt's layout.
"Down the hall, third left, and straight ahead for a bit," he responded, his eyes, each an orb of swirling black, seeing through the eyes of his sentries. "Once we get closer, we'll enter a large room that is heavily infested with aberrations."
"Right, good thing we have you with us," Sylmae added. "Wouldn't want to stumble around this place blindly, that's for sure."
He ignored her quip.
Soon, the first aberration appeared—a shambling, disfigured beast that could once have been a human or an elf, it was hard to tell. It emerged from the shadows, its mottled, grey skin pulled taut over bulging, deformed muscles. A single, oversized eye sat in the middle of its forehead, and its gaping maw dripped a viscous, noxious fluid.
"First target," Zark'thul announced, and his Eldritch Blast found its mark before any of them had a chance to react, tearing through the aberration's midsection, causing the creature's upper and lower parts to topple in different directions. Its remains twitched spasmodically, then fell limp. Dark, violet ichor pooled beneath its corpse.
Zark'thul stepped over the grotesque remains, continuing down the corridor, the others following closely. They encountered a second aberration moments later. With a swift strike of his Eldritch Blast, it too was torn apart, its scream cut short as it slumped to the floor.
"You know," Sylmae started, "these things aren't all that tough—" Then, her words caught in her throat as a pack of six aberrations appeared at the end of the corridor, charging towards them with grotesque, loping strides. "Spoke too soon."
Zark'thul unsheathed his sword and charged forward. A savage grin stretched across his face as he met the charge.
The air around him shimmered with the oppressive weight of his Aura of the Eldritch Terror, the creatures faltering slightly as they entered its radius. Their malformed bodies twitched and hesitated, the lesser among them struggling to maintain their forward momentum, but their grotesque hunger soon overpowered the instinct to flee.
The first aberration lunged—a three-armed monstrosity with a head split vertically down the middle, exposing rows of mismatched teeth. Zark’thul sidestepped the initial swipe, his blade lashing out in a controlled arc. The strike bit into its shoulder, tearing through sinew and bone but not felling the creature. It screeched, stumbling back, only to surge forward again.
"Hold them off," Cerys called from behind, her voice measured but commanding. She plunged her staff into the ground, golden light spiraling from its tip as she invoked Summon Vine Beasts.
The ground around her began to shift and tremble. From the stone floor, numerous vines burst forth. These living tendrils of verdure rapidly coalesced into four-legged creatures the size of a large dog, covered in a thick, organic mesh of entwined vines. Their "mouths" were nothing more than jagged tears in their vine-covered heads.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
They charged into the fray, slamming into the aberrations, snarling and tearing at their mottled flesh.
Zark’thul took a step back, giving the summoned beasts space to work. Another aberration—a towering brute with elongated limbs and a head that seemed to bulge and ripple—closed the gap.
It swung a massive clawed arm toward him. He raised his sword to block, the impact rattling up his arms. The force of the blow pushed him back a step.
From the rear, Althea unleashed her Hydrosurge, a vortex of water cascading over three of the aberrations. The torrents ripped at their flesh and tore their feet from the ground, sending them tumbling back.
But two more advanced, undeterred. One had three eyes and three arms, each ending in a different kind of disfigured claw. The other bore a maw filled with teeth that writhed like worms and gnashed audibly with its every step.
They flanked him, the many-eyed one darting in with a vicious swipe of its claws. Zark’thul deflected the attack, but as he did, the other aberration lunged. Its maw gaped wide and clamped down on his upper arm. His flesh, enhanced by eldritch fortitude, held strong against the creature's gnashing teeth, but the force of the bite was considerable.
He shoved the biting aberration away with a grunt of effort, its teeth scoring his arm. In retaliation, his sword sliced across the creature's face, carving a deep furrow through its teeth-riddled maw.
The one with the massive arm let out a guttural roar and rushed forward, arm raised for another powerful swipe. It struck, and Zark’thul spun aside, avoiding the full force of the blow, yet the glancing strike still sent him stumbling.
Behind him, Swiftmend from Sylmae washed over him in a soothing wave, knitting the shallow gashes on his arm from the bite.
One of the vine beasts leapt at the towering aberration, latching onto its grotesque arm. The creature shook its limb vigorously, trying to dislodge the tenacious plant creature, but the vine beast held fast. Its fellow summon leapt upon the other aberration, wrapping its vines around the aberration's torso, immobilizing it, sinking fangs of wood into the aberration's chest.
With a grunt, he steadied himself and prepared to counter when a voice called out from the backline, "Get down!"
He instinctively dropped to a crouch.
Lirielle darted above him, unleashing Enchanted Whirlwind. A mini tornado swept from her hands and careened into the pack, scattering them and sending two hurtling back down the hall.
"Ha! Got them!" she cheered, zooming past him and back to the safety of the group.
As he rose to his feet, the aberrations regrouped. Two of their number had fallen to the relentless vine beasts, and one other had been blown away, landing broken in a heap.
Three remained. The towering aberration, the one with the three eyes and three arms, and the biting aberration with the damaged maw.
Cerys stepped forward, her staff glowing with golden light. She waved it in a wide arc, releasing Sporeburst. A thick cloud of shimmering spores enveloped the three aberrations, coating them in a radiant sheen. As the spores touched them, they shrieked and clawed at their own skin. The cloud seemed to sap their strength, their movements slowing and their attacks growing less coordinated.
The summon vine beasts didn't relent, leaping and tearing at the debilitated creatures. Zark'thul joined in, his sword carving into the aberrant flesh, their dark blood splattering with each cut.
Myralis' Rejuvenating Bloom erupted beside him. A large flower bloomed, emitting warm, golden petals that circled around him and the vine beasts, healing them. The towering aberration raged, its blows becoming more desperate.
Its large arm slammed into the ground where he had just been, the stone floor shattering from the force of the impact. The three-eyed creature lashed out with its multiple arms but missed its mark. It wailed, its movements becoming even more erratic and clumsy within the Sporeburst.
With a swift maneuver, Zark'thul brought his blade down on the creature's midsection. It parted under the weapon's keen edge, spilling its innards onto the ground in a grisly heap. It stood for a moment, its limbs twitching before it collapsed, a tangle of dead flesh on the crypt's floor.
The remaining pair fell soon after—his sword piercing the towering beast's head and a summon vine beast tearing out the biting aberration's throat. Both tumbled into a lifeless heap.
As the last of the aberrations fell, the summon vine beasts began to unravel, their forms losing cohesion as they reverted to loose vines, sinking back into the stone floor from which they sprouted.
Zark’thul lowered his sword, the blade dripping with violet blood. He surveyed the scene, his Thousand Eyes scanning the surrounding corridors for any remaining threats.
"Well done," he said, his voice devoid of praise but firm with acknowledgment. "We press on."
Lirielle landed lightly on Zark’thul’s shoulder, her wings fluttering as she giggled. "That was fun! So many squishy monsters!"
Cerys looked at the sprite with a smile, albeit a bit weary. "Yes, but I have a feeling there's more ahead." She glanced at Zark'thul. "Your lead, my lord."
Deeper into the crypt they ventured, following the trail of the Qliphoth's corruption. Along the way, they encountered several smaller groups of aberrations. Alone, or in small numbers, they posed little threat.
Between the dryads' summons and healing, combined with Lirielle's magical support, and Althea's control and bombardment, Zark'thul rarely needed to intervene aside from being the "face" the aberrations would target over the more vulnerable Agents behind him. Though he was technically vulnerable, too, just... not to the corruption, at the very least.
He finished off an aberration that he'd been using as bait, having let the monster pummel him as an object lesson to Sylmae about the limits of her healing. Once Sylmae's magic ran its course and faded, he finally took pity on the beast and impaled it.
"That's the limit of your Swiftmend, then," he stated, flicking the gore from his blade.
Sylmae shrugged. "Yep, sorry, my lord. My mana reserve and regeneration rate cap out at a certain point. Can't heal forever."
"That's why we have Myralis," Cerys said, placing a hand on the other dryad's shoulder. She offered Zark'thul an apologetic look. "We can cycle between her and Sylmae to give both a chance to restore their mana and stamina."
"Make use of those consumables I provided you," he said. "Do not rely on them, but do not hesitate to use them, either, if it gives us an edge in combat. Regrets are only for the fallen."
"Right..." Cerys nodded. "We shall do so, my lord."
"Good. Now, onward."
He delved deeper into the crypt, Thousand Eyes spreading out to survey the terrain ahead and around them. Abruptly, the spectral eyes came upon an expansive chamber. Massive pillars adorned with intricate, if grotesquely morphed, carvings lined the perimeter, supporting a grand domed ceiling.
In the center loomed the heart of the Qliphoth's taint, the Blighted Broodheart. A colossal, fleshy orb pulsated and twitched. Dozens of appendages, a mix of twisted sinew and bone, extended from it, digging into the very fabric of the crypt, its walls, and floor. A myriad of bulging eyes—each an opaque, milky white and lidless—stared vacantly from the pulsating mass.
A seething mass of aberrations skulked and roamed the chamber. The creatures gnawed on bones, battled each other in fierce bouts, and feasted on the remains of their kin, tearing into them with grotesque abandon.
Within the broodheart itself were the beginnings of new aberrations, their forms beginning to take shape within translucent sacs embedded in the broodheart's surface. Others were nestled within the thing's flesh, slowly being fed by tendrils of organic matter that resembled umbilical cords.
If there was such a thing as a factory that was organic in nature, this was it. It was a few steps away from becoming an actual chrysalis for a newborn Qliphoth to emerge. A small fortune had favored this realm for having such incompetent cultists who lacked the knowledge of what they were doing or their efforts would have actually borne fruit and manifested Nai'hum long before his arrival.
Well... perhaps they weren't too incompetent. They managed to produce a blighted broodheart and a spawning pool, after all, and Nai'hum's chrysalis is still underground within the capital city of this region. Though a lot could be said for luck. But, no matter.
After taking in the grim scene, Zark'thul allowed his Thousand Eyes to dissipate. The orbs dissolved into ethereal mist, their vision merging back into his own.
A buzz from his AetherLink alerted him to an incoming notification:
[Directive 4-5] 'Quell the Stirring Evil in the Crypts' is Complete! Rewards have been added to your account.
[Directive 4-6] 'Eliminate the Floor Guardian' can now be accessed.
Details: You have identified the heart of the Qliphoth's corruption within the crypt. Destroy the Blighted Broodheart and eradicate all the Qliphoth aberrations.
Reward: 500 XP, 50 Quintessence Shards, 5x Experience Cores (Basic), 5x Skill Books (Basic), and an Epic-quality Item.
He dismissed the prompt. As expected, the broodheart was the Floor Guardian, and the next step in the directives was its destruction. There was a bit of irony that a Tower's directive would align with his own objectives.
But that was not a matter that required further thought.
Turning to the Sylvans gathered around him, Zark'thul briefed them on their objective. "The Blighted Broodheart lies ahead. We need to destroy it. There are a lot of aberrations protecting it, and it will birth more as the fight progresses, so we need to be fast and efficient."
He relayed what he saw as the Agents listened intently.
When he finished, he straightened up. "I'll handle the bulk of them. The broodheart's not harmless, but we can focus on the lesser threats first. I'll funnel them into a bottleneck to thin their numbers. Be ready to assist me with your summons and magic."
The Sylvans nodded in understanding. Cerys tightened her grip on her staff, her expression stony, while Sylmae and Myralis exchanged a quick, anxious glance. Althea stood in silent resolve, her gaze fixed on the path ahead. Lirielle, her features unusually serious, fluttered near Cerys, nodding.
"Understood, my lord," Cerys said, breaking the silence.
"Let's clean this place up and go home," Sylmae chimed in, trying to lighten the mood.
"Agreed," Myralis and Althea echoed in unison.
Zark'thul looked at each of them. "Are you all ready?"
When he saw no disagreement, he led the way, his sword unsheathed and his pace quickening as he approached the looming darkness of the chamber.