----Page 23----
The forest was quiet now, but the weight in the air did not lie.
The miasma Merith had warned about still lingered, thick and deadly, twisting between the trees like a living shadow.
Even from here, I could feel it pressing against the edges of the ruins. Half-buried in the dirt, a shard of black crystal pulsed faintly. It drew my attention, though it offered no answers, only questions.
Whoever caused this left nothing but ruin, and the danger was far from over.
The Codex stirred at my side, its pages glowing softly. Names appeared across its pages: Granz, Illuna. I did not know them. I had no prior connection.
Yet the Codex made it clear they mattered. Their presence, their choices, were part of what I needed to understand.
As I watched, the pages shifted, forming images and words almost like visions. I saw a man moving swiftly through a ruined village, carrying a small girl away from the miasma, his movements precise, calculated, and deliberate.
I had no memory of these people myself, but the Codex insisted I witness their story. Just enough to know that they were part of the chain of events I needed to understand.
The vision faded as quickly as it came. I did not know their names yet, did not know the paths that would bring us together, but the Codex had marked them, and I knew our paths would cross.
The trail of purple miasma led us deeper into the forest. It twisted unnaturally, suffocating, a living threat pressing against the trees. Its stench was cloying, thick with the poison that had already killed, and I knew it would not wait.
Then I saw them, two figures staggering through the haze. Smoke and ash clung to their armor, and blood ran from their eyes, noses, and ears. The poison attacked them relentlessly.
The taller one, a lean man with auburn hair plastered to his sweat-soaked face, stumbled forward, clutching his side.
Barely even, standing leaning on an almost died tree.
Beside him, a massive orange-haired warrior knelt, green-tinged blood still dripping from ears and nose, great axe trembling in his hands.
They we're both well armed, and the Guild tags on their necklace suggests that they were top-tier adventurers.
Maybe, Lower than a Demon tier class, but I'm sure Arin was a lot stronger than them, I supposed.
And then, Tauren snorted.
"Gahaha! Foolish humans! Jump in without checking the poison's strength, some of you never learn"
I clenched my fist. Time to act.
"Inventory, open!"
I shouted, and a golden void tore open before me. I plunged my hand inside and drew out two vials of antidote, whole from the dimensional inventory.
"Drink this, quickly!"
I commanded. They obeyed weakly, trembling, and Tauren cast poison resistance, golden aura washing over them. The bleeding slowed, though streaks of red still clung to their skin.
They collapsed, groaning, barely conscious. Minutes passed before they stirred, groggy and disoriented.
The taller one blinked, voice rasping.
"W-where, where are we?"
The orange-haired warrior groaned, hand going to his ears and nose.
"Poison, what happened?"
I stepped closer.
"You were almost killed by the miasma. Tauren's spell and these.."
I held up the vials.
"These.. saved you. Step back now. You are not needed here. Stand away from the swamp."
Kraust's eyes narrowed, voice sharp despite his weakness.
"Step back? Are you serious? That is a swamp of poison, and you are just a kid. What can you even do?"
Rubal held his hand up, calm.
"Kraust, hold back. Let him speak."
Lysera's eyes flared, and she stepped forward.
"Oy, aren't you getting rude? For the one who saved your pathetic lives, have you no shame mocking Master Kinon?"
Kraust froze, caught off guard, while Rubal exhaled slowly.
Tauren's tail flicked sharply, voice low and dangerous.
"Lysera is right. Keep insulting Master Kinon, and I will remove the poison resistance I cast from both of you. Let us see how long you last without it."
"Hey, enough, you two."
I interrupted, voice firm and unwavering.
"Trust us. Maybe we can handle this. But for now, step back, away from the swamp. Leave it to us."
I gave a slight nod, serious and direct.
Rubal's brow furrowed, then he nodded slowly.
"You are right. We were being hasty and rude. For the one who saved our lives, we apologize."
Kraust rubbed the back of his neck, quieter now.
"Yeah, my bad. Tongue slipped. Won't happen again."
"Do not worry. I understand. Return to the village and wait for us. Good luck, we will handle this."
With reluctant nods, they stepped back cautiously. Tauren cast a final protective aura over them as they retreated. Lysera and I turned to face the corrupted human at the center of the deadly purple swamp, ready for what we knew would be the fight of our lives.
The swamp hissed and bubbled, the purple miasma curling and twisting in thick, corrosive waves.
Every step toward the corrupted man felt like walking on a living furnace, the ground steaming and sizzling beneath our feet. Even Lysera's keen eyes scanned every movement, calculating the safest footing.
I took a deep breath. The Codex glowed faintly at my side, whispering fragments of insight, vague hints of the man's connection to the black crystal, the twisted life it forced into him.
He was not attacking directly, but the swamp itself was his weapon. Every breath he exhaled pushed deadly poison into the air. I clenched my fist. We can do this. We have to.
"Tauren, Lysera, stay close. Rubal and Kraust are far enough back, they cannot do anything here without risking their lives,"
I said, my voice firm and calm.
Lysera nodded, adjusting her grip on her rapier. Tauren's tail flicked once, a golden aura of protective magic surrounding us.
The corrupted villager remained unmoving at the center, chest pulsing faintly where the black crystal was embedded.
His hollow eyes stared straight ahead, vacant and soulless, while thin tendrils of purple miasma leaked from his mouth with each labored breath. The swamp hissed violently where the fumes touched the surrounding trees.
"Keep steady," I whispered to Lysera.
"We cannot let this thing corner us. Tauren, I will need poison resistance over us again if we step closer."
Tauren grinned faintly.
"Gahaha! Already done, Master. But do not think this swamp will make it easy. The poison here, even the air bites."
We advanced carefully, each step deliberate. The bubbling swamp hissed beneath our boots, sending faint sparks of corrosive mist into the air. I held my hands forward, opening my dimensional inventory box once more.
"Inventory, open!"
I screamed.
A dark hollowed void tore open, and I pulled out another vial of antidote, ready in case the miasma breached Tauren's shield.
The corrupted man exhaled again, thicker miasma flooding the immediate area. I felt the burn on my skin, the suffocating weight pressing on my lungs.
Tauren's golden aura flared brighter, pushing the poisonous fumes back just enough for us to step forward.
Lysera's eyes were steel-sharp.
"I will flank him. Keep him distracted. I will find a safe angle for a strike."
I nodded.
"Do it. Tauren, be ready to reinforce our shield if the fumes intensify."
Step by step, we closed in. The swamp hissed and boiled, but slowly, carefully, the crystal began to fracture under Lysera's precise strikes and Tauren's reinforcement magic.
The corrupted man convulsed violently, but the swamp pulsed even harder, resisting the disruption.
I felt the Codex hum violently at my side, as if sensing the growing imbalance. Names and fragments of prophecy glowed faintly on the pages: Granz, Illuna, the one who survives, the one who bears witness.
Even as I fought, I remembered the vision, the story the Codex had shown me of the man who had saved the girl, the path that led to this place.
Step by step, we pushed forward. The crystal began to fracture under Lysera's precise strikes and Tauren's magic.
The corrupted man convulsed violently, his hollow eyes flickering with the faintest spark of recognition, perhaps the last of his humanity struggling against the corruption.
The battle was far from over, but we had the advantage now. The miasma's pulse weakened slightly, the corrosive swamp retreating from our controlled approach. I could feel the Codex guiding me, showing the path forward, strategic, cautious, necessary.
This was only the beginning. The corrupted man, the swamp, and the black crystal were all pieces of a larger threat. But for now, we had a chance, a narrow, dangerous chance, to contain it.
Lysera's blade struck again, silver light cutting through the dense purple haze. The corrupted man convulsed violently, his hollow eyes flickering as if a part of him recognized the attack.
The black crystal embedded in his chest pulsed erratically, the energy of the swamp rippling in response. Tauren's golden aura flared, pushing the worst of the fumes back and holding our breaths steady.
I stepped closer, hands steady, Codex glowing faintly at my side. Focus on the crystal. Disrupt it without touching the swamp directly.
I whispered to Lysera, and she adjusted her strikes, precision over force. Each hit chipped away at the dark energy binding the man to the swamp.
A sudden roar of miasma surged upward, thicker and more corrosive than before. The ground hissed, the air burned against our skin. Tauren's aura flared wider, shimmering gold, and I immediately opened my inventory.
"Inventory, open!"
I shouted. Then, grabbed another vial, just in case. The antidote glowed in my hand, ready.
"Keep him occupied," I said to Lysera, stepping closer toward a weak spot I had identified in the crystal's structure.
Tauren's tail lashed, a burst of golden magic reinforcing our shield just as the corrupted man exhaled another deadly plume.
The first strike that landed on the crystal caused a crack to spiderweb across its surface. Purple smoke hissed violently, but the corrupted man sagged slightly, as if some of the curse binding him to the swamp weakened.
Lysera slashed again, and Tauren added a pulse of magic directly into the crystal's energy field.
Then, a faint groan, a human sound, almost pleading, escaped from the corrupted man. His eyes flickered once, just for a moment, with something resembling recognition. The swamp's purple tendrils recoiled slightly, and the corrosive bubbling slowed.
"Almost there," I whispered, stepping closer, hands ready to act on the Codex's guidance. The glowing pages seemed to pulse with urgency, names and visions aligning: Granz, Illuna, witness, survivor, truth.
The Codex was showing me that this corrupted human was connected to the same chain of events I had seen before.
Lysera's final strike connected, the silver light of her rapier shattering the black crystal.
A violent pulse of purple energy surged through the swamp, hissing and sizzling as it dissipated.
The corrupted man collapsed, breathing shallowly. His chest heaved, a faint flicker of his old humanity passing across his expression, a fleeting recognition of the pain he had endured.
Then the, swamp itself shrank, as the corrosive mist dissipating into harmless vapor. Tauren's aura remained for a few more seconds, stabilizing the area, before fading.
I stepped forward cautiously, Codex glowing faintly. The man was alive, but unconscious, drained of almost all vitality.
"He is stable, but we need to get him away from the swamp," I said.
Lysera nodded, helping me support him, while Tauren scanned the remaining area for lingering poison.
Once the corrupted man was stabilized, I glanced at the swamp. The purple miasma had dissipated, but the ground remained bubbling and corrosive, a lingering threat.
"Lysera," I said, nodding toward the swamp.
"Can you neutralize the rest? Make it safe for the villagers or anyone else who comes here?"
Lysera's eyes narrowed, her silver armor catching the faint glow of the Codex. She stepped closer to the edge of the swamp, then dipped the tip of her crystal-like rapier into the purple sludge. The blade shimmered faintly as it touched the poison.
Her voice rang out clearly, almost like a bell in the dense forest.
"Frost Domain, Purification!"
Immediately, a wave of chilling energy radiated outward from the rapier, freezing the poisonous swamp in an instant.
The toxic sludge hissed and steamed as thick ice formed, locking the corruptive liquid beneath a crystalline barrier. Cracks spread across the ice as it expanded, glittering under the moonlight and reflecting the silver aura of her runes.
Step by step, the frost solidified into a perfect sheet of blinding ice covering every inch. The swamp, once a seething purple hazard, was now a frozen tomb, safely contained. Lysera slowly withdrew her rapier and returned it to its scabbard at her waist.
Almost immediately, the ice began to crack with a low, resonant sound. Water seeped through the fractures, carrying the remnants of poison away, leaving behind clear, clean water that pooled gently where the swamp had been.
I exhaled softly. "Incredible."
The Codex pulsed faintly at my side, almost as if approving her work. Tauren's tail flicked, a rare note of admiration in his golden aura.
Lysera stood straight, calm and collected, her rapier secure.
"The swamp is purified. It will no longer harm anyone or spread corruption. For now, this place can heal."
I nodded, feeling the weight of the moment. Even after everything, there was still so much to understand, and so many dangers to face, but we had earned a moment of reprieve.
We returned to the burned village, the air still heavy with ash and the faint traces of lingering corruption. The silence was almost deafening, broken only by the occasional drip of water from the charred rooftops.
Lysera suddenly stiffened, her silver eyes narrowing.
"Wait, Master!"
"What is it?" I asked, turning toward her.
Her voice was tense. "Something is off. I can feel it."
Tauren's tail flicked sharply, golden aura bristling.
"Looks like we have got company."
I clenched my fists, stepping forward.
"I know you are out there! Show yourself! No more hiding!"
From the distance, a cold, commanding voice responded.
"So eager, foolish."
We advanced cautiously, and as we rounded the edge of the village, the sight that met us stopped me cold.
Kraust lay sprawled on the ground, barely moving, his auburn hair matted with blood. Rubal knelt beside him, her armor battered, face streaked with crimson, barely conscious.
A man emerged from the shadows, his golden helm gleaming despite the grime of battle. His ornate armor reflected the dying light, each step measured and confident.
"Who are you?" he demanded, voice like tempered steel. "And what have you done to this village?"
Before anyone could respond, he moved with lethal precision. Everything froze in that moment, the air thick with tension, danger pressing against us from every side. The village, already a ruin, seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the next move.
He leveled a cold gaze at me, then shifted it to Lysera and to the fallen man between us.
"I know you are not an ordinary kid, and you, the woman with the blade, do not make any unnecessary move or I will slit this man's throat."
The sentence landed like a blade. Silence closed in, sharper than the smoke and ash around us.
I knew this was far from over.