CHAPTER 759: CORRUPTED MASS

Jumping through the air, Gwen furrowed her brows as the air grew thick with a sickening vile pressure.

The corruption wasn’t a subtle feeling anymore. It wasn’t a dark shadow in the horizon no, it was more like a old bleeding wound that won’t stop. Festering rot spilling out into the world.

Visual indicators, the foul taste of the air and even the goosebumps that she was feeling on her skin.

The trail left behind the carriage in the distance caused the ground to crack apart with tendrils of darkness. Inky veins that dug into the earth. Where they spread, the soil began to wither and rot.

Trees decayed, flowers died and grass turned black. Even insects were left on the ground, their bodies spasming as a last vestiges of their life fade away.

From the caged carriage, a dark mist rolled out keeping itself close to the ground. Its movements were. . . unnatural. Almost as though it was sentient, slowly spreading across the landscape. What little remained from the tendril’s influence was reduced to powder by the mist.

This. . . corruption was a blight. A desecration of life.

Gwen clenched her hand tightly.

She couldn’t let this reach the city. If it did, there’s no telling what kind of issues would arise because of the corruption left behind.

Hell, even as a cardinal, she wasn’t sure if she could purify this much damage without spending a long long time in the area should the city be reduced to nothing.

*RUMBLE!!!

Flames erupted from her body, wrapping her in flickering white flames as the air began to distort. Behind her, a golden halo spun to life.

*BANG!!!

Crashing down, Gwen stabbed her spear against the earth as flames burst out in a circle. The purifying flames caged the corruption, containing her for the moment.

There were thirty of them. Thirty sentinels that were sent to escort the caged corruption. Yet now, all thirty were no longer men.

Their armour clung to their bodies like skin, warped and fused with the flesh beneath. Where vigilant eyes once were visible through the helmet now hung empty sockets oozing a thick black sludge. Within the sludge, twitching tentacles threaded through the gaps, writhing like worms fumbling around.

They were dead yet ’something’ puppeteered their corpses around, ever moving forward with a purpose. To reach the city.

Some slumped forward, others leaned back unnaturally. Their joints had long been melted and reformed with certain parts bending in unnatural fashion.

Then there was the ’thing’ inside the case. The source of it all.

Contained within the cage of metal was a stack of bones and mutated flesh. Pulsing, twitching, a nightmarish mass.

Impossible to tell when it began or where it ended. A mass of flesh, that’s what it was. Faces of would be cultists stretched across its surface, some frozen mid scream, some laughing and most in silent horror.

Tubes of blackened muscle throbbed like boneless limbs.

From the tubes, black blood poured out, sizzling as it hit the ground and spreading the corruption.

The feeling that Gwen got from this. . . thing.

An incomplete Outer God?

’No not quite. It doesn’t feel like one.’ Gwen narrowed her eyes.

Outer Gods felt. . . unnatural. There’s just something about them that the moment you lay your eyes on them, you understand that they’re not from this world.

A foreign entity.

While this mass of flesh before her felt similar, she could still tell where the ’roots’ are. Therefore, it’s most likely ’someone’ that tried to become one while they were being transported.

Either that or something else interfered.

However, setting her eyes on this thing confirmed one suspicion.

Whatever she fought within the city was not the work of an Outer God but rather a person.

Unfortunately, Kaia was still high up on her list of suspects even if she doesn’t fit the exact criteria.

Had it been any other circumstance, Gwen would overlook it. But not this.

’Please don’t make me doubt you Kaia.’ Gwen thought to herself. She truly hoped that it was simply a misunderstanding as she had finally found someone she could talk to.

Someone who was casual with her regardless of status.

Taking a deep breath, Gwen calmed herself. She eliminated the unnecessary thoughts in her mind for now and summoned a flaming blade.

With Gwen presenting herself as an enemy, the ex sentinels lunged forward.

"O’ flame that watches from the beyond." Gwen muttered as she took a step forward.

*BANG!!!

Her figure disappeared with a swirl of flames as she appeared in front of the first sentinel.

"Receive these souls, though broken and defiled. . ."

*KRK!!!

Slashing up, an arc of flames burst out, tearing the sentinel in half and burning his body to ash.

"Let not their torment echo in the dark. Let them burn bright and free."

Leaning back to avoid a slash, Gwen snapped her finger, igniting a spark of fire in front of her.

*RUMBLE!!!

A pillar of flames shot up, killing three more sentinels.

"May your burden be lifted, may your names be remembered."

The sentinels dropped back for a moment as each of them began to summon a black and purple flame that coated their weapons.

"May you returned to the light from whence you came."

Lifting the sword above her head, she pulled her arm back and slashed towards the space in front of her.

*BOOM!!!

Space itself fractured apart as flames spewed out in a wave. The first few sentinels to be caught up were reduced to ash while others quickly conjured shields to block the rest.

"O’ holy flame, burn away the sins that bind them."

Tossing up her sword, Gwen clasped her hands together and created a false sun between her palms.

"Cleanse their souls and guide them back to your embrace.

"So that they may bask in your warm and radiant rays of light." Lifting the false sun above her, rays of light erupted from the orb, scorching whatever it came in contact with.

While she was focused on the sentinels in front of her, countless tendrils burst out from the ground behind.

Even though Gwen was prepared to counter, she noticed something and smiled.

*BANG!!!

The instant they were prepared to attack, an attack appeared! Colliding with the tendrils, they were frozen before shattering into dust.

Even though she couldn’t sense Kaia anymore, she understood that the blue haired girl was still keeping an eye on the battle.

Meanwhile, back at the checkpoint, Kaia released a breath and created another arrow.

In front of her eyes, there were several clear disks made from ice, enhancing her vision so that she could accurately cover Gwen’s back while she fights.

Tightening her fingers around the arrow, she pulled back.

’Do you think it’s Voruth’Zal?’

[Maybe. The feeling is similar to an extent. Maybe a minor God or even an Idol of one was responsible for this.] Cayla replied as the two of them analyzed the strange mass of flesh.

Regardless of what it was, it was clear that they had to deal with it immediately.

*BANG!!!

Firing another arrow, the wall beneath her showed signs of cracking.

"Did they withdraw budget or some sh*t when it came to building this??? Why is it so unstable???" She groaned, finding another spot in fear of breaking the wall.

While firing the arrows, she noticed some of the sentinels throwing her confused looks as well as annoyed ones but she ignored it.

Why should she care about how they look at her? It’s not like she cared about being here.

What she did care about was Gwen’s perception. At least until she got what she wanted. And. . . even then, if she could avoid having her as an enemy, that would be preferable.

She wasn’t kidding when she wanted to introduce Tristan to her. As two cardinals that have skill sets outside of just fighting, she felt the two would get along rather nicely.

However, that’s only if the two won’t kill each other on sight or if Gwen was to somehow forgive her for hiding her identity.

Regardless, that’s a bridge she’ll cross in the future. For now, she had to cover Gwen while she fought!

*BANG!!!

Ducking down, Gwen smiled seeing an arrow freeze two more sentinels, allowing her to purify them with ease.

Slashing up, she expanded her boundary, tracking any arrows that Kaia would fire and dodge if needed.

And in mere moments, all thirty of the sentinels were purified, leaving only the strange mass of flesh in the cage.

*Krkkkk Kzzzz

Letting out a series of hisses and croaks, the mass began to spew black blood around it in a frenzy, rusting the cage and breaking it apart.

From the sky, an arrow dropped towards it, shattering before contact and unleashing a wave of cold mist that froze the blood.

Just as Gwen was about to follow up with an attack, she quickly back off with a frown.

*BANG!!!

Breaking out of the ice, a tsunami of black blood poured with one of the faces warping into a sadistic grin.

Gwen could feel it. Touching that black blood was no different from a death sentence. Perhaps it’s also the same black blood that took the lives of the sentinels.

Furrowing her brows, Sigils lit up on Gwen’s body as she brought the flaming blade in front of her.

She had to purify this mass of corruption before it did anymore harm.

While the process might leave her a little open, she was confident that Kaia would cover her back.

"Skyfather above, blazing in eternal glory." She chanted, her eyes ignited with a golden hue.

"Bless your devoted daughter, born of your fire, forged in your will. Cleanse the sins, grant it mercy.

"Let your wrath flow through my veins, let your gaze burn through my enemies."

Tendrils burst out from the black blood, trying to corrupt Gwen but two arrows intercepted!

"Let your truth blind the deceivers and sear the heretic’s tongue." Taking a step forward, Gwen pulled her arm back.

"By your divine blood, I cast off my sin. By your golden hand, I sanctify my blade. Purification!"

*RUMBLE!!!

Swinging her blade, a radiant tsunami of fire roared towards the mass, burning everything and anything in its path before detonating into a pillar of energy.

Seeing this, Gwen let out a sigh of relief-

"!!!"

She could feel it, the mass was still alive.

From the ground it stood upon, a thick sludge of Abyssal energy burst forth.