(Aurora’s perspective still)

  If there was any doubt that the corruption had been playing with us, it was now completely erased.

  I channeled a bit of mana through my sword and struck the wall in front of me. The blade, glowing with energy, barely made the corruption ripple. It absorbed the impact like water, then returned to its previous state as if I'd done nothing at all.

  The group had split. Emberheart and Mary were leading the others back toward safety. Meanwhile, I remained behind with Aurelius and Mira to attempt the impossible: saving Kai.

  No one held much hope, but I couldn’t give up.

  His words kept replaying in my head. Trust me. Why did he force such a burden on me? Why would someone do something so cruel?

  I tried to focus on strategy, on tactics, on anything productive. But my resolve wavered with every failed strike against the unyielding wall.

  "Face it, Aurora." Aurelius withdrew his spear from the corruption after another failed attempt. "If you want to save him, we'll need to take this seriously."

  He was right. But I'd been counting on the corruption moving slowly, taking time to understand Kai before acting. He had abilities no one could explain. Whatever intelligence controlled this corruption would want to study him, analyze him. That would buy us time.

  Unless we gave it a reason to rush. Unless we made it feel threatened enough to simply kill him and move on.

  "Aurora, you're panicking." Mira's hand touched my back, a gesture of comfort I didn't deserve. "Take a breath."

  "I'm sorry." I forced my posture straight, tried to rebuild my composure. "This thing... why is it only interested in him?"

  "If it wanted mana, it should have gone after anyone else." Aurelius spun his spear, taking a step back to reassess. "It must be that ability he used on Mary. Some sort of mana-less energy the corruption can sense but can't understand."

  Mira looked confused. She probably hadn't heard about the incident in detail, just the usual rumours.

  "He's a mystery even to mana perception," I said, thinking through the implications. "It's probably interrogating him right now. Trying to discover how he does what he does."

  "And are you going to help, or just stand around analyzing?" Aurelius's impatience bled through his words. "I don't like the guy, but you're the one who always saves everyone."

  Even trying to hide it, his concern was obvious. Aurelius cared about people more than he'd ever admit. His mask of superiority only went so far.

  "If we do something it suspects might actually break through, it might act preemptively." I voiced my concern, hoping one of them would see an alternative I'd missed. "It could kill him early. Or move him somewhere we can't reach."

  "Don't lose hope. We can find another way." Mira was trying to keep me from spiraling, but Aurelius's expression darkened with frustration.

  "What are you? An A-rank with common magic?!" His voice rose with genuine anger. "Impossibility, risk, these are concepts for the weak! We're S-ranks. We don't accept limitations!"

  I paused, considering his words. They weren't entirely right. Leadership meant weighing factors, making informed decisions, accepting that some battles couldn't be won through force alone.

  But there were also times when you simply had to power through obstacles. Times when hesitation was more dangerous than recklessness.

  Was this one of those times?

  Before I could decide, the wall began to shift. Something emerged from the corruption, formless at first, just larger tendrils spreading outward. Then it started rising, shaping the tendrils into what resembled hands. These hands joined together, forming a grotesque totem covered in grasping appendages.

  I glanced at Aurelius. His spear was ready, his free hand already positioned for spell casting. I positioned myself between the creature and Mira. Whatever happened, she was our most critical asset. If Aurelius or I failed at any point, she was our safety net. Our guarantee of a second chance.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  I took a breath, centering myself. "Let's fight."

  Aurelius was the first to move, he opened his hand.

  I knew his gestures. Open hand meant lightning. Closed fist meant force. Sweeping motion meant wind. He had others he kept hidden, but these were his basics.

  I constructed my magic circles while moving forward. First circle for enhanced speed. Second for imbuing my body. Third to stabilize the other two. A complex spell matrix that was normally used for increasing speed in the entire body.

  I concentrated the mana for the spell on my feet, my mana interacting with the spell in a way most found impressive, the light made the speed increase be bigger than what any other mage in the world could achieve.

  The sensation was familiar. Like floating. Like I could move freely forever without limitation.

  But I forced myself to stay focused. If corruption covered the ground and I stepped on it, it could eat through my spell. Then I'd be vulnerable. Every step had to be calculated, precise.

  The lightning bolt was deafening. It fell directly onto the creature, destroying most of its mass. Aurelius's spear thrust followed immediately, scattering the remains before they could reform in our direction.

  I moved, imbuing my sword with enough mana to cut through the creature easily.

  Step. Cut. Step. Cut. Step. Cut.

  My father had trained me with varying rhythms, forcing me to adapt constantly. By now I could maintain any tempo without missing a beat, my body moving faster than conscious thought.

  In seconds, nothing remained of the creature.

  The corruption formed a new one. Bigger this time. More arms surrounding the central mass.

  Aurelius advanced, hand moving through the gesture for wind. I prepared my strike.

  The creature blocked.

  Not with physical force, but with magic. Two of its hands traced a spell circle in the air, identical to Mira's defensive matrix. The barrier absorbed Aurelius's attack completely.

  The other hands began forming weapons. Spears. Swords. Crystallized corruption shaped into blades.

  "It's learning from us." The words came out hollow. We'd known this already, but seeing it replicate Mira's advanced defensive magic so perfectly was different. Understanding magic theory was one thing. Executing it at her level of proficiency was something else entirely.

  One of the creature's hands opened. A gesture I knew too well.

  It’s learning fast, which means…

  I am not sure what made me move so fast, I just felt completely sure I knew what I was going to do.

  I pushed Mira away, both of us falling to the ground due to my sudden movement, just in time for the bolt to hit the ground without any effect.

  "What?!" Aurelius stared at the scorched ground like he'd seen something impossible. "It used lightning without a spell circle. That's…"

  Impossible, yes, no mage can do that unless they specifically are born with lightning affinity.

  "It's using magic without mana," Mira said, getting to her feet with my help. Her voice held genuine fear.

  I was already moving toward the creature. I had to stop those arms. Stop it from learning more. Each strike removed an appendage. Every time an arm shifted to react, I was already there, cutting through it before it could complete the motion.

  But I was careless. I'd forgotten to account for what it had learned before this fight even began. Before we'd entered the deeper corruption.

  Movement behind me. Too fast. Too close.

  A humanoid creature made of corruption, carrying a dagger, appeared directly at my back. I was sure I was dead, I had not noticed it, Nico’s magic was extremely effective when you were not expecting it.

  But by some miracle, Mira had noticed it in time, even she seemed unsure how by the look on her face. The dagger hit a magic barrier around me with no effect, and I destroyed the creature before it could act again.

  Aurelius had dealt with the main body while I was distracted. We were safe again. For now.

  But what would the corruption send next?

  The answer came immediately. This time, human-shaped figures emerged. Ten of them. Carrying spears, swords, daggers. Some had creatures beside them that resembled Serin's form.

  Even Aurelius took a step back. It wasn't impossible to win. But it was starting to feel meaningless. Would we just feed it more information? More techniques to copy? How long until it replicated my light magic and became too fast for even Mira and Aurelius to react?

  Still, we fought. We destroyed as many as possible, and somehow it felt easier than it should have. Lightning bolts that should have hit were missing by inches. Mira's barriers were lasting longer than normal. My strikes were dealing more damage than they should against corrupted flesh.

  Even though the situation seemed hopeless, we were somehow pulling through. A small flicker of actual hope began to form. If we could just get a moment to rest, regroup, we might be able to go on the offensive instead of just defending.

  Then the corruption started shrinking.

  The wall began to lower, retreating into the forest like it was afraid. Any remaining creatures dissolved and followed suit. Aurelius and Mira looked just as confused as I felt.

  Not only that, but the corruption throughout the entire forest was withdrawing. Trees became visible again. The dead landscape emerged as if it had never been touched.

  And in front of us, Kai stood there.

  Uninjured. Confident. That infuriating smile on his face like he'd never been in danger at all.

  "Hey." He looked at us. At me. "Told you to trust me."

  Relief hit me like a physical blow. He was alive. He was fine. He'd somehow survived being trapped inside that thing and emerged without a scratch.

  Then the anger came. Hot and immediate and completely overwhelming.

  And I could not decide whether to be happy or to kill him myself.