Lord of the Foresaken
Chapter 68: THE CORRUPTION ZONE

Chapter 68: THE CORRUPTION ZONE

The air changed first.

As the united army crested the final ridge separating them from what had once been the Verdant Valley, Reed felt the difference before he saw it. The wind carried particles that stung his nostrils—metallic, acrid, and undercut with the unmistakable sweetness of rot. His partially corrupted flesh prickled in recognition, the twisting tendrils beneath his skin responding to their master’s proximity.

"By the Ancestral Crown," whispered Lady Elyriana, her composed aristocratic demeanor crumbling as she beheld the valley. "What manner of abomination is this?"

The land that had once been lush farmland and vibrant forest was now unrecognizable. The corruption zone extended before them like an open wound on the world’s flesh. Trees stood twisted into impossible shapes, their bark split and oozing crimson fluid that pulsed with sickly luminescence. The ground itself seemed to breathe—rising and falling in slow, deliberate rhythms as though the earth had become a living organism.

Reed raised a hand, signaling the vanguard to halt. "This is the outer edge," he said, voice low and grim. "It grows more severe as we approach the epicenter."

Commander Talon, representing the northern kingdoms, stepped forward. The hardened veteran’s face had drained of color. "My scouts reported the corruption had spread, but this... this defies comprehension."

"That is precisely why they cannot be fought with conventional understanding," Reed replied. His enhanced eyes—the left now completely black with a crimson iris—scanned the undulating landscape. "The Unmaker transforms reality according to its own twisted logic. This is merely the beginning of its awakening."

The army stretched behind them—over twenty thousand soldiers from seven kingdoms, alongside the evolved goblin forces and contingents from the ancient forest realms. The largest unified force the continent had seen in millennia, armed with both enchanted weapons and recovered Progenitor technology. Yet as they gazed upon the corruption zone, doubt seeped into their hearts like poison.

Shia approached Reed, her silver armor gleaming in contrast to the grotesque surroundings. Since the council at Marshland Palace, she had become his reluctant ally, convinced by the vision he had shared. What she didn’t know was how much the artifacts were already influencing her mind—subtle whispers that Reed could now perceive.

"The outer perimeter must be established immediately," she said, all business despite the horror around them. "The corruption is spreading at a rate of nearly thirty feet per day. We need containment wards at half-mile intervals."

Reed nodded, though he knew the wards would merely slow the inevitable. Nothing could truly contain Vrashtor’kaal once fully awakened.

"Lord Vexior," Reed called to the pale necromancer who had joined their cause. "Your expertise is needed."

The wraithlike figure glided forward, dark eyes gleaming with intellectual curiosity rather than revulsion. "Fascinating. The decay processes are accelerated yet controlled. There’s purpose in this corruption—it doesn’t merely destroy; it transforms."

"Can you establish the containment perimeter?" Shia demanded, clearly uncomfortable with the necromancer’s academic interest.

"Of course, Commander," Vexior replied with a thin smile. "My apprentices and I will begin immediately. The bones of the earth can be persuaded to resist this... incursion, at least temporarily."

As Vexior departed to begin the warding ritual, Reed turned to Shia. "We must venture deeper. The Temple of Convergence lies near the center of this corruption. We need to assess how far the awakening has progressed."

Shia’s eyes widened. "That’s suicide, Reed. Look at what’s happened to everything caught within."

As if emphasizing her point, a grotesque shape emerged from behind a corrupted tree. It had once been human—that much was clear from the remnants of armor still fused to its twisted form. But now its flesh had merged with plant matter, its face split vertically to reveal a pulsing mass of violet tendrils. Its arms had elongated to twice their normal length, ending in barbed appendages that dragged across the ground. Most disturbing was the intelligence that remained in its eyes—awareness trapped in a body no longer under its control.

In an instant, Reed’s bone blade was in his hand. The corrupted being charged forward with unnatural speed, but Reed moved faster, his partially transformed body granting him reflexes beyond mortal capability. The blade severed the creature’s head in a single fluid motion. Instead of blood, a viscous purple fluid sprayed from the wound, sizzling as it hit the ground.

"That was a scout from Eastmarch," Reed said quietly, recognizing the fragments of insignia still visible on the corroded armor. "They were sent ahead three days ago."

"Three days," Shia repeated, horror dawning on her face. "This transformation happened in three days?"

Reed cleaned his blade with mechanical precision. "Which is why we must see what awaits at the center, where the corruption has had even longer to take hold. I need you with me, Shia. Your connection to the light magic of the Ancients may provide some protection."

She hesitated, then gave a curt nod. "We take a small team. Ten of our best, no more. The rest begin establishing the perimeter."

The deeper they ventured into the corruption zone, the more the laws of nature surrendered to Vrashtor’kaal’s influence. Gravity weakened in pockets, causing rocks and corrupted vegetation to float in eerie suspension. Sound behaved erratically—some areas deadened all noise while others amplified their footsteps into thunderous booms. The sky above darkened to a bruised purple, despite the time being midday.

Their group had diminished to seven. They had lost three to the corrupted fauna—things that had once been forest predators but now moved like liquid shadow with too many limbs and eyes that glowed with malevolent intelligence.

"We’re being watched," whispered Krev, Reed’s most trusted goblin warrior. His evolved form stood nearly as tall as a human, his green skin now mottled with patches of armor-like plates—an adaptation from their accelerated evolution.

Reed nodded. The sensation of being observed had intensified over the past hour. "It knows we’re here. It knows I’m here."

The tendril beneath Reed’s skin burned, as though responding to proximity to its source. He had been fighting the corruption within himself since the council, using the artifacts to maintain control. But here, in the heart of the corruption zone, the struggle intensified. Vrashtor’kaal recognized the connection—called to the piece of itself within Reed.

"There," Shia pointed to a rise ahead. "From that vantage, we should be able to see the temple site."

They ascended cautiously, weapons drawn. The ground beneath their feet had transformed into something resembling flesh more than soil—warm and yielding with visible capillaries running beneath a thin translucent membrane. Each step produced a sickening squelch.

What they saw from the summit stole the breath from their lungs.

In the valley below, where the Temple of Convergence had once stood, a massive structure was taking form. It resembled no architecture of man, elf, or goblin. Immense bone-like spires curved toward a central point, creating a lattice that pulsed with the same rhythm as the corrupted landscape. Around it swarmed thousands of figures—corrupted humans, animals, and creatures Reed couldn’t identify—all moving with hive-mind coordination.

"They’re building something," Krev observed unnecessarily.

"Not building," Reed corrected, his enhanced vision perceiving the truth. "Growing. They’re cultivating it, feeding it with their own essence."

Shia activated a Progenitor artifact—a small disc that projected detailed images of the structure. "This configuration... I’ve seen something similar in the ancient texts. It’s a beacon."

"A beacon?" one of the remaining soldiers questioned.

"Yes," Reed’s voice had grown hollow. "Vrashtor’kaal is not alone. It was merely the first to awaken. This structure will call to the others."

The horrifying implication settled over the group. Vrashtor’kaal wasn’t simply trying to corrupt this world—it was summoning reinforcements.

Shia’s face hardened with resolve. "We cannot wait for the main force to be ready. If that beacon activates—"

"We attack within twenty-four hours," Reed finished. "Before the structure is complete."

As they prepared to withdraw and report their findings, a tremor ran through the fleshy ground beneath them. The hillside they stood upon began to move, rippling like disturbed water. Too late, Reed realized their mistake.

"It’s a trap!" he shouted. "Run!"

The hillside wasn’t earth at all, but the partially submerged form of a colossal corrupted beast. As it rose, they saw its true form—a monstrous amalgamation of dozens of creatures fused together into a chimeric abomination. Multiple heads emerged from its shifting mass, each belonging to different species yet sharing the same violet eyes that burned with Vrashtor’kaal’s influence.

Reed pushed Shia toward the path they had come. "Go! Alert the army! We attack at dawn!"

"What about you?" she screamed over the creature’s deafening roar.

Reed unsheathed his bone blade, which now pulsed with the same corrupt energy as their surroundings. The artifact at his side—the Sphere of Dominion—glowed in response.

"I’ll buy you time," he said, the corruption in his body surging as he prepared to embrace powers he had been resisting. "This is why I was chosen. The Unmaker doesn’t realize its mistake—creating a link to me works both ways."

As the others fled, Reed faced the monstrous entity alone. He raised the artifact high, feeling its ancient power course through him. For a moment, the corruption in his body was no longer fighting against him but serving him, channeled through his will.

The beast hesitated, sensing the change in Reed. Its multiple heads swiveled in confusion as it recognized the corruption within him yet sensed his opposition.

Reed smiled grimly and spoke words that seemed to come from somewhere beyond himself: "You thought to use me as your vessel, Vrashtor’kaal. But vessels can be commandeered."

He plunged the artifact into his own chest, where the corruption was most concentrated. Pain beyond imagination tore through him as the Sphere of Dominion merged with his corrupted flesh. Reed’s screams echoed across the transformed valley as his body began to change—not surrendering to the corruption but reshaping it.

The massive creature charged forward just as Reed’s transformation completed. His skin now glowed with the same luminescence as the corrupted landscape, but the color was different—a golden-red rather than sickly violet. His eyes burned with fire as he raised his hands toward the charging monstrosity.

At his mental command, the ground beneath the creature writhed and trapped its multiple limbs. The corruption obeyed Reed instead of its original master.

In that moment of terrifying clarity, Reed understood the true purpose of the artifacts. They weren’t meant to seal Vrashtor’kaal away.

They were meant to control it.

As this realization dawned, Reed felt another presence stir within the depths of his mind—ancient and patient. The true power behind the artifacts. The entity that had orchestrated everything from the shadows.

The Unmaker had never been Vrashtor’kaal at all. It was something far worse—and Reed had just given it access to everything.

His last conscious thought before the presence overwhelmed him was a desperate hope that Shia would interpret his sacrifice correctly. That she would understand what needed to be done.

Not to save him, but to destroy him—before dawn broke and the army marched into annihilation.