It had been about an hour since I’d set out, the morning light giving way to a hazy afternoon. My goal was simple: climb the damn mountain and be on the lookout for any outposts.

  The map’s depiction of the peak was unmistakable—it was meant to be massive, a towering landmark that dwarfed everything around it. If the artist’s interpretation was even remotely accurate, this thing would be hard to miss.

  So far, the terrain had been surprisingly manageable. The forest canopy above offered plenty of shade, with occasional gaps where sunlight pierced through in golden beams. Along the way, I kept an eye out for anything remotely edible, collecting wild fruits, herbs, and mushrooms. Some of the berries looked questionable, but I’d test those later—worst case, they’d make good bait for something nastier than me.

  It was nearing late afternoon when I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

  My entire body tensed.

  Something was off.

  The air felt heavier, almost suffocating, and my instincts were screaming at me to pay attention. I expanded my Exira outward, pushing the energy in waves and scanning the area.

  Nothing. Not a single living thing in range.

  Okay, I don’t sense anything, then why the fuck am I feeling this unease…

  Trusting my gut, I adjusted my course, heading in the direction that seemed to tug at me like a thread in the wind. As I moved closer, my Exira brushed against the area, and the realization sent chills down my spine.

  Darkness. Corruption.

  "Fuuuu... yeah, that's corruption all right," I muttered, my jaw tightening.

  I focused on the sensation, letting it guide me. My steps grew quieter, more deliberate, as my mind slipped into combat mode. My hands found my swords, drawing them with a soft metallic hiss. The world around me dimmed; the vibrant greens and browns of the forest were replaced by something far more sinister.

  And then, I saw it.

  The land was wrong.

  The trees were blackened husks, their bark brittle as if all life had been drained from them. The soil beneath my boots crumbled like ash—a stark contrast to the rich, loamy earth I’d been walking on moments ago. The deeper I stepped into the corrupted area, the more unnatural it became.

  And then, Noctis reacted.

  “Huh?”

  The faint purple veins running across the armor pulsed in response, forming an invisible barrier between me and the tainted air. But it wasn’t just shielding me—it was feeding.

  I felt the pull, subtle but undeniable, as the armor drank in the corruption, siphoning it from the surroundings like a predator drawing in its prey. Corruption, which should have caused some serious harm, flowed into Noctis, sinking into its depths and vanishing without a trace. It converted the taint into something else—raw energy, potent and pulsing beneath the surface.

  A faint hum vibrated through the plates—barely perceptible, yet unmistakable.

  It was adapting. Changing. Growing stronger.

  I flexed my fingers, testing the armor’s response. Faster. Lighter. Power thrummed beneath the surface, refined and sharpened like a blade freshly honed. Noctis wasn’t just protecting me anymore. It was learning, refining itself to better suit me.

  Haaa… I guess my decision to use the flesh of a Chaos beast was right. The environment is densely corrupted and just standing here in this without continuously channeling Exira would have been suicide.

  "Nice, huh, Luna? Looks like my little experiment worked out," I said.

  “Meow!….Maio”

  I smirked. "Yeah, yeah, our experiment, furball."

  Luna flicked her tail against my cheek, clearly unimpressed.

  I kept moving.

  The trees bore deep, jagged claw marks. The soil was disturbed in places like something had dragged itself—or its prey—through here. I crouched down, running my fingers over the marks.

  "So, that bastard really did come this way," I muttered.

  So much for avoiding it forever. Sooner or later, Lexi, you will have to face it… I need to get stronger before that.

  Judging by the level of corruption, this wasn’t fresh. The taint wasn’t as strong as it could have been; the edges of its influence were already beginning to dull. Whatever had passed through here had done so at least a day ago, maybe more. Still, that didn’t make it any less dangerous.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Alright, let’s see, Luna, how far the corruption has spread," I murmured, my eyes scanning the eerie stillness ahead.

  The deeper I moved into the tainted zone, the more pronounced the signs became. Trees warped unnaturally, their branches twisting like grotesque arms reaching for the sky. The ground beneath me grew more unstable, cracking under my weight as if it resented the pressure of anything alive.

  And the air—it was thicker here. Heavy with an almost metallic scent, like rust and decay.

  “Hmm,” I muttered, pausing as I noticed something unusual ahead.

  A massive tree loomed in the center of the corruption, its trunk split open down the middle. Black sap oozed from the wound, pooling at its base in a thick, viscous puddle. The claw marks around the tree were deeper here, as if something had spent a significant amount of time tearing into it.

  “Something possibly corrupted and changed. All these marks could be related to that, or our chaos monster did this," I said to myself.

  Luna meowed softly from her perch on my shoulder, her little claws gripping my cloak tighter.

  “Yeah,” I said, glancing at her. “I don’t like it either.”

  She huddled closer, her pendant glowing faintly in response to the ambient corruption. The charm seemed to be holding its own, shielding her from whatever slipped through Noctis.

  “Good thing you’ve got that now, huh?” I said, giving her a quick scratch behind the ear.

  She purred softly, but the sound was subdued; her usual energy was replaced by caution.

  I moved closer to the tree, careful not to step in the oozing sap.

  The corruption here was stronger, thicker, like a concentrated dose of whatever poison had seeped into the land. My armor’s purple veins pulsed brighter, devouring the taint greedily.

  "Looks like you’re enjoying yourself," I muttered. "Developing an ego now, Noctis? Good."

  I crouched down near the base of the tree, examining the claw marks more closely. They were massive, each one easily twice the size of my hand. The spacing between them suggested a creature with enormous strength and speed—something that could tear through flesh and bone without breaking a sweat.

  “Why is everything I come across have to be a godforsaken horror or a nightmare…I was happy with the weak little goblins," I muttered.

  Luna meowed softly, her tone somewhere between a question and a warning.

  “Yeah, I know,” I said, glancing at her. “It’s probably a stupid idea. But we don’t have much choice, do we?”

  The corruption might have been old, but that didn’t mean the creature was gone. Whatever it was, it had left a trail. The gouges in the soil formed a crude path leading deeper into the corrupted zone.

  “Guess I’m going that way, huh? What's that?" I said, standing and adjusting my grip on my sword.

  “Goblins,” I muttered under my breath, crouching to examine the marks more closely. The three-toed, clawed imprints were unmistakable.

  “We got our lead, Luna."

  I followed the tracks carefully, keeping my steps light and my grip on my sword firm. The air was thick with tension, as if the land itself were holding its breath. Not long after, I stumbled upon another sign of activity—trees had been cut down in a rough clearing. The stumps were jagged, hacked apart with crude tools. Judging by the weathering on the exposed wood, this had happened well before the corruption took hold.

  “So they were here before all this shit started,” I muttered, standing and scanning the area.

  The clearing was eerily quiet; the absence of life made every crackle of leaves underfoot sound like a gunshot.

  “Meow,” Luna whispered from my shoulder, her voice soft but insistent.

  “I know,” I said, nodding. “Let’s keep moving.”

  As we pressed on, the air grew colder, and I started to notice something in the distance. A faint outline—a massive, snow-capped peak piercing the sky, its summit lost in the clouds.

  “Damn,” I breathed, stopping in my tracks to take it in.

  The mountain loomed impossibly tall, dwarfing everything around it. This had to be the one. There was no mistaking it—it matched the map perfectly. For a moment, I just stood there, letting the sight sink in.

  “This is going to be a pain in the ass, isn’t it?” I muttered.

  “Meow,” Luna replied as if she were agreeing. From the corner of my eye, I caught a faint wisp of smoke rising above the treetops.

  “Shit, that can’t be good," I muttered, narrowing my eyes.

  The map had marked outposts around the mountain, and this had to be one of them. But the smoke was thin, old—whatever had caused it wasn’t recent.

  “Alright, let’s check it out,” I said, turning toward the source.

  I wasn’t about to rush in blindly, though. If goblins were involved—and judging by the tracks, they were—it’d be smarter to scout first. Luna meowed softly as I adjusted my cloak, her tiny claws digging into my shoulder for balance.

  “We’re just taking a look.”

  The smell hit me before I saw the camp. Burnt wood and decay. The acrid stench of something long dead mixed with the faint, metallic tang of corruption. As I stepped closer, the trees began to thin, revealing what was left of the outpost. It was a goddamn mess.

  The camp was ravaged.

  Charred remains of structures stood like skeletal fingers clawing at the sky, their edges blackened and jagged. The fire that had ravaged the place must have been intense, leaving almost nothing intact. The ground was coated in ash and taint, the corruption here so thick it seemed to ripple faintly in the air. My armor’s purple veins flared brighter, devouring the taint with a hunger that was almost unsettling.

  “Looks like the fire took care of most of it,” I muttered, scanning the scene. “But that’s not all that happened here.”

  Goblin corpses littered the camp. I crouched near one of the bodies, wrinkling my nose at the smell. The torso was torn clean off from the limbs, the jagged edges of the wound suggesting brute force rather than precision.

  “Hai?” I muttered, examining it closer. "That's surprising this isn’t done by the chaos monster… then who… was there infighting?"

  Something had grabbed this goblin and ripped it in half like a damn twig.

  I straightened, glancing around. There were more bodies, each one brutalized in similar ways. Some had limbs missing; others were crushed entirely, their remains scattered like broken toys.

  “Meow,” Luna said softly, her voice tense.

  “I know,” I replied, my grip tightening on my sword. “Whatever did this... likely it’s still out there."

  The corruption here was intense, almost suffocating. The ground seemed to pulse faintly, veins of darkness spreading out from the center of the camp like a web; also, I’m pretty sure whatever had attacked this place was corrupted and changed.

  I stepped carefully through the wreckage, my eyes darting between the shadows.

  Luna shifted on my shoulder, her claws digging into my cloak as she let out another soft, worried meow.

  “Stay sharp, Luna,” I said, my voice low. “Speak at any moment."

  The farther into the camp I went, the worse the devastation became. “Holy shit!”

  The center of the outpost was a crater, the ground scorched black and cracked like old pottery. Whatever had happened here, it had been violent—an explosion of corruption that had left nothing alive in its wake.

  The air felt heavier here, the taint so thick it made my skin crawl. My armor was still devouring it, the purple veins glowing brightly, but even it seemed to strain under the sheer volume.

  “Meow,” Luna whispered again, her voice barely audible.

  “Yeah,” I said, standing and taking a deep breath. "Something is waiting for us. I can feel it.”

  The question wasn’t whether I would find it.

  It was when.

  A/N : Sorry for the late chapter release

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