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The real reason he held back from divorcing Luciana was because she would dwell in the heartache. Then she would unleash her own version of the Darkrun Apocalypse on Infinita, albeit a smaller one.

Yes, even Zarian’s marriage held an entire universe at the mercy of the Darkruns.

The Funnest Granpapa was probably having a laugh at Zarian’s expense. The bastard.

I’ll divorce Luciana face to face.

Once Zarian reached the natural peak of power in this universe, he would have more than enough leverage to protect all of Infinita from Luciana’s corrupted tears.

For now, he put up with the weird relationship and its implications. He hadn’t talked much with Luciana in the past four months, so he had plenty of time to pretend it wasn’t a big deal.

However, that didn’t mean he’d remained completely out of the loop.

Luciana’s main acolyte at the village had kept him informed of some tidbits. Evil Goddess Shadowfell was committed to what she’d told him on the day of the Darkrun Apocalypse.

She was becoming a more active evil force.

And that was scary for everyone, especially the Star System itself. Luciana could stretch further beyond the parameters set for Star System Gods. Her actions had more long-lasting consequences.

The winter night was clear of clouds above. The many stars and worlds of the Star System glinted in the dark canvas of the systemized universe.

Three moons dominated the night-lit sky – the pale Castle Haunter, the orange Cavern Hellion, and the blue Sea Strider.

Under the moons and stars, Zarian and Ezda stood on the tallest tower on the perimeter of a frozen lake surrounded by fortress hills, dilapidated pathways, snow-laden hedges, and ice-coated statues. The lake would serve as a gift to one of Zarian’s fellow Floridians in Spring, but the corrupted creatures had the area surrounded and threatened.

Spilling their blood here would ruin the lake.

“I’ve never seen them wait before,” Ezda said, letting a hint of nervousness creep through her voice.

Zarian was a little surprised to hear Ezda showing fear. Maybe because he was here instead of anyone else meant Ezda was okay with being vulnerable with him.

No matter what, Zarian wanted to ensure Ezda came out of this okay.

“I know the corruption from Shadowfell Tears gives more power,” Zarian said. “I also know it could drive those who consume the tears crazy and mutate them drastically if they aren’t strong enough. But how they measure the capability of a consumer is beyond me.”

“It doesn’t matter what level you are,” Ezda said. “The Shadowfell Tears care not for levels or stats or abilities. It will bury itself deep in you and test your soul. I’ve seen elders fail to master the Shadowfell Tears. We had to put them all down. That’s the real reason we’ve avoided Castle Grimrock. The warlock seems to have a mastery of the substance.”

Zarian snorted. “Her daughter says otherwise.”

“Which daughter?”

“The only one who matters. Don’t worry about that now. How do you avoid corruption? I won’t be affected.”

“As long as I don’t ingest it or let it fester in my blood, I will not be corrupted. It is also advisable to not stay around large amounts of Shadowfell Tears for too long. Breathe in its fumes for too long and you will be tested and turned corrupted.”

Zarian nodded. There wasn’t much information on Shadowfell and her tears, other than the dangers of its effects.

Luciana was a very new goddess, after all. But so far, there were a few key details everyone knew.

Once someone became fully corrupted, their power would rise sharply at the cost of their growth potential. They would get a new class. Their abilities would change drastically, falling under shadowy themes. They would become unhinged.

So far, Foodie and one other person Zarian knew were the only examples of people able to ingest Shadowfell Tears and come out greater on the other side.

Foodie had benefited the most, becoming legendary at Level 10 with a class that led to huge bursts of growth. Thus, she was the most prized goblin in possibly all the Lesser Worlds.

However, what Zarian was seeing here went further beyond all that he’d learned of corruption. His spectral spiders had gotten close enough for him to Identify some of the corrupted creatures. He didn’t like what he was seeing.

Luciana’s tears or personal designs had twisted the corrupted into aberrant monstrosities. There were only ten of them. But these ten were the most deeply unsettling foes Zarian had seen that weren’t Evil Gods.

“Ezda,” Zarian said calmly. “We need to run. We can’t fight here.”

Before Ezda could reply or act, all the corrupted spoke as one. Their voices resounded with no hint of their monstrous nature.

Instead, they all spoke in a sultry, shadowy, and darkly magnetic feminine voice, one that made the end times seem attractive and provocative.

“Hello, husband,” Luciana greeted through the mouths of her monsters.

Ezda’s fur bristled, her large frame shaking as she shifted close to Zarian. The ten-foot gnoll was all over him. She even muttered a prayer. “Savage ancestors, one and all, protect me from the voice of the Young Corruptor.”

Para twisted the cloak around the frightened gnoll elder.

Zarian remained in control of his emotions. He reached up and patted Ezda’s arm and repeated himself. “We need to run.”

Luciana spoke further through her corrupted creatures. “I’ve made many new discoveries with my powers, dear Zarian. I showed them to Lovewar, and she pleaded with me to start slowly. Everyone in Infinita needs time to adjust to my new passions. Even the Star System has its struggles with me.”

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“Ezda,” Zarian grunted with more force.

The corrupted creatures lumbered slowly toward Zarian and Ezda’s location.

Luciana continued. “I will follow some of Lovewar’s advice. I appreciate her. Even if we are opposed in alignments. However, I think you can handle a more authentic approach. Perhaps you will enjoy the challenge. These aren’t my best, but these are some of my favorites who’ve soaked in my new tears very well. Enjoy.”

Ezda continued to shake and not act. The Level 91 Blood Brute must’ve fallen to a mental debuff somehow while Zarian remained unaffected.

My Thematic Law saved me, Zarian realized. I’ll have to protect us both.

Zarian summoned all of his grimoires. He was about to cast Void Step when something tore through the air so fast it caught Zarian off guard. The top of the tower smashed apart from the passing projectile that might’ve been a corrupted creature.

Stone rubble, fragments of ice, and drifts of snow flew in all directions. Zarian remained mostly unhurt, while Para kept a protective hold of Ezda, wrapping the gnoll elder up into a big leather ball latched onto Zarian’s back.

They careened through the air for a little while until Zarian completed Void Step. The moment his foot touched a large piece of rubble, he took a stride from the mortal plane and into the dark abyss. The solid footing wasn’t always necessary, but it helped him move with a purpose.

Exiting the void, he ended up a mile away. He could’ve gone further out, but he wanted to lead the corrupted creatures away from the lake.

He should’ve gone further.

All ten corrupted creatures stepped out of the shadows and appeared close the split second Zarian got his feet under him. Ezda remained frightened and unable to act, and Zarian needed time to unseal his next darkness move. He hadn’t cultivated enough to freestyle One Percent Power yet.

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve had actual pressure like this, Zarian thought quickly as he pushed his Wondrous Speed to the max.

He shoved more aura into the Level 0 skill than ever before. He also dumped 40 Free points into his Wonder stat for the extra luck and supernatural perception, while making Wondrous Speed more effective.

He snapped his head away from the bite of a corrupted creature that looked like multiple predators fused together. It had eleven legs, three heads, and a partially humanoid torso, with a chest wide enough to encompass three average sized men standing shoulder-to-shoulder.

When it moved, most of its bones cracked from the force. It ripped its own flesh apart to lunge at its prey, Zarian.

Then everything that broke and tore apart mended itself with a healing factor so fast that both its vitality and health-based ability must be high. It was only Level 75. Most of the corrupted creatures were in the mid-Level 70s to mid-Level 80s.

Ezda had a higher level, but she was scared into inaction. And Zarian was forced to move at blistering speeds, running ahead of the charging pack that lunged at him with every ounce of their being even at the cost of breaking and tearing themselves apart, only to heal their self-inflicted damages again and again.

He cast Void Step once more and ended up three miles away, Ezda remaining wrapped up to his back and protected by Para. Zarian’s arms moved quickly as he formed the gestures and chanted aloud.

He focused most of his intent on fulfilling the unsealing technique all the way, especially now that he had his heart hammering and his blood flowing hot. He prepared another cast of Void Step just in case with a portion of his Fractured Mind.

“Overwhelming Darkness: Twenty Dark Locks Sealing Style Technique. Unlock Dark Lock One.”

A corrupted creature with a giant ram’s head and the bulging muscled arms of a gorilla lunged out of the shadows. It rushed Zarian’s side with a headbutt and a piercing scream that hurt his ears. Maybe it would’ve frozen him on the spot, but his Floridian Mindset kept his mind running.

He cast Void Step again and slipped away by the skin of his teeth. He came out on top of a large fortress hill at the edge of the Blood Prairies.

The red sea of long grass glowed like shining blood under the starry and moon-heavy winter night. The snow reflected the same color. Almost everything was crimson here.

Zarian continued his technique.

“The Worm Lurks Buried Deep Under Fabled Myth. One Percent Power Unsealed.”

The corrupted creatures lunged out from the shadows in the grass. Their lightless gazes burned furiously at the sight of their target, the one married to the goddess who tainted them into abhorrent monsters.

They surrounded the fortress hill from all sides. They had Zarian encircled.

Zarian had them where he wanted them, and he held the high ground.

“Unyielding Barrage,” he said with a finish.

The mini-cubes moved as expected in the vambraces of his gauntlets. The dark starry night rippled and dimmed, responding to his reign as its lord.

Zarian felt a better grasp of his Overwhelming Darkness while it was under One Percent Power. It was less automated. It was more connected to him.

Dark bolts formed above him and rained down in all directions beyond the fortress hill. He lit up the edge of the Blood Prairies with so much thunderous force it sounded like dozens and dozens of ceaseless thunderclaps roaring about.

The bolts struck down the corrupted creatures. They struck down the earth. The roaring barrage shook the area like Zarian was the bringer of earthquakes, a phenomenon that nothing could resist.

Except for the corrupted creatures.

They couldn’t outright resist. But the natural way for Zarian to win didn’t wipe them out instantly.

More dark bolts landed. The booming eruptions and pounding tremors continued. Zarian’s aura could keep this up for a while.

But the vitality of the corrupted creatures proved vastly impressive. They rapidly healed. They trudged forward. Then they suffered another hammering blow and another and another under Zarian’s barrage, only for them to repeat the process and gain ground.

“The vitality of these things is ridiculous,” Zarian said. “Luciana, you’re crazy for doing this. What’s an adventurer to do when they’re not me? Do they at least have weaknesses to offset the massive vitality? Or are you just having fun doing whatever comes to mind? You have to consider the balance on these things, at least.”

Well, thankfully, Zarian had a solution against overt vitality. More importantly, Para could help.

Zarian focused on maintaining the Unyielding Barrage while having another Void Step ready to cast.

Para formed a few arms she unwrapped away from Ezda. Then she selected the grimoire with the spectral chains attached to Zarian’s soul.

Para flipped through the pages. She rubbed her fingers over the text and symbols. Some of her hands formed mouths in the middle of their palms. Then she chanted, “Black Fire.”

Now Zarian’s Unyielding Barrage had black and gray flames coating them. When the flaming dark bolts landed, the Black Fire consumed the corrupted creatures silently. The war of attrition remained on Zarian’s side.

The corrupted creatures chose to fight smarter. A few slipped into the shadows again and reappeared on the same fortress hill Zarian stood on.

One had a man’s face fused with a horse with fanged teeth. The creature’s body was as bloated and tumorous as a sick boar the size of a minibus.

The corrupted man-horse tried to bite off Zarian’s head.

Instead of running, Zarian poured aura into his Willful Might skill and gave the creature one big uppercut.

The creature’s jaw turned into fragments. The head snapped back. All of its bus-size momentum stopped, while its entire body rippled like dropping a stone on the surface of a tranquil lake.

The aged floor beneath Zarian cracked and broke, taking away most of his footing while the corrupted creature he punched tumbled away, still covered in silent gray and black flames.

Zarian fell into a darkened hole. His Unyielding Barrage ended. The corrupted creatures dove into the hill fortress and filled its shattered, bent, and skewed halls with their roars and screams and savage bloodlust.

The Madness Wizard still didn’t cast Void Step. Instead, he hand-signed and chanted, “One Percent Power Unsealed. Dark Fists.”

Then he cast Void Layer on his darkened fists before the first corrupted creature turned the corner on a dilapidated and tilted hallway.

When he punched the corrupted creature, he hit with a weighty piece of Overwhelming Darkness and a layer of the endless void. He also struck with the full weight of his Floridian Mindset, Willful Might, parasite-enhanced body, and aura manipulation for extra boosts.

The entire hill of fortresses shuddered and crumbled down on Zarian, Para, Ezda, and the corrupted. The Madness Wizard kept going as rubble rained down and the tilted floors collapsed from under them. He kept duking it out blow for blow regardless of the environmental destruction.

For the first time in a long time, he had an actual challenge. And they could hit back worth a damn.

They made his heart beat in his chest like the loudest war drums. The blood rushing by his ears sounded like a roaring rapids. The corrupted creatures even made him bleed a little.

He would hate to admit this was a nice gift from his evil weirdo wife.