The map Lyra unrolled over a fallen log showed the progression of our mission. The patches of corruption we had cleansed were marked with a silver "X," while the remaining areas — mostly at the heart of the forest — glowed a threatening red. Liriel's discovery about the intelligent nature of the corruption had changed our approach. We were no longer merely hunting beasts; we were tracking an intellect.
"Our scans indicate that the next major core is here," Lyra pointed to an area marked as Ancient Sanctuary. "It used to be a place of peace, where my ancestors made offerings to the forest spirits. If it's been corrupted…" She didn't need to finish. The pain in her voice was palpable.
The journey to the sanctuary was grim. The corruption here was thicker, more aware. The trees weren't just sick; they seemed to be in agony, their branches twisted like pleading claws. The air was heavy and silent, devoid of the usual sounds of insects or birds. Even the whispers of the forest had fallen silent, replaced by an oppressive stillness that clung to the skin like a shroud.
The sanctuary itself was a circular clearing marked by ancient stones covered in moss. At its center, a fountain of crystal-clear water was supposed to bubble. Now, the water was stagnant, black, and oily, and a sweet, nauseating stench emanated from it. The source of the corruption was unmistakable: a large crystal, similar to the one Liriel had found but the size of a melon, pulsed with a deep purple light at the center of the pool. From it, visible roots of darkness spread across the ground, seeping into the stones of the sanctuary and the surrounding trees.
"It's horrible," Elara whispered, her face pale. "The positive energy of this place… has been completely twisted."
"The pattern is complex," Liriel observed, her eyes glowing with divine light as she analyzed the crystal. "It's not just an emission point. It's acting as an amplifier. It's distorting the sanctuary's own spiritual energy and redirecting it."
Before we could form a plan, the forest around us came alive. From the shadows between the trees, figures emerged. They were corrupted beasts, like those we had fought before — but different. Larger, more muscular, and their eyes did not glow with chaotic purple light, but with a cold, calculating intelligence. They moved with frightening coordination, surrounding us. Bears with bony plates growing from their backs, wolves with multiple horns twisted like crowns of thorns, and grotesque hybrids — deer fused with something that had razor-sharp claws.
"They were waiting for us," Vespera said, her voice tense as she drew an arrow.
"The crystal," Liriel declared. "It's not just amplifying the corruption. It's controlling them."
The battle that followed was the hardest we had faced so far. The beasts didn't attack blindly — they worked together. The bears charged first, serving as living shields, while the faster wolves flanked us, trying to separate the group. The hybrid creatures stayed at a distance, hurling projectiles made of congealed shadow.
"Protect Elara!" I shouted, blocking a bear's strike with my sword. The impact was so powerful it nearly tore the weapon from my hands.
Elara understood immediately and began chanting. "I need time! I'm preparing a greater purification spell!"
Vespera fired arrows in rapid succession, aiming for the beasts' eyes and joints. "I'm trying! They're smart!" Her next arrow was intercepted by a wolf that leapt in front of her, taking the shot to protect one of the shadow-throwers.
Seeing the situation unfold, Liriel made a decision. "Insolent creatures of shadow! Feel the weight of divinity!" She raised her hands, and an aura of golden light burst from her. It was a pulse of pure energy — not a directed attack, but a divine shockwave.
The wave struck the beasts, forcing them to recoil with howls of pain. The crystal at the center of the sanctuary pulsed violently, and for a moment, the creatures seemed disoriented. It was the opening we needed.
"NOW, ELARA!" Liriel commanded.
Elara, panting and drenched in sweat, finished her incantation. "LUX PURIFICAT!"
A pillar of brilliant white light descended from the sky, striking the corrupted crystal at the center of the sanctuary. The clash between light and darkness was blinding. A roar — not of sound, but of pure energy — filled the clearing. The corrupted beasts screamed in unison, their bodies twisting before collapsing, the darkness leaving them as empty husks.
The crystal shattered into a thousand pieces.
But victory came at a price. The surge of energy from Liriel's divine wave and Elara's purification spell was too much for the already weakened sanctuary. With a deep, mournful groan, the ancient stones marking the site cracked. The black fountain bubbled violently, then dried up, leaving behind only a muddy, fractured crater. The sanctuary's remaining spiritual energy dissipated with a final sigh.
Silence returned — but it was the silence of death, not peace.
Lyra fell to her knees, her fox ears drooping against her head. "The sanctuary… it's destroyed."
Liriel descended, looking slightly winded. "It was necessary. The evil had to be purged."
"Purged, yes," came a dry, familiar voice from the edge of the clearing. It was Seneschal Valerius, accompanied by two guards. He surveyed the destruction, his face a mask of calculated disapproval. He was already writing on his clipboard. "Desecration of a Grade-One Historical Sacred Site. Irreparable damage to the Spiritual Font of the Ancestral Sanctuary." He lifted his gaze to us. "The cost for restoration, if even possible, will be… considerable. Fifty gold coins will be added to the group's debt."
Fifty. Gold. Coins. The figure was so absurd I couldn't even protest.
We had won the battle. We had destroyed a major corruption core. But, as always, we left the battlefield poorer — and holding a piece of the very world we sought to save, now irreversibly damaged in our hands. The shadow of the Seventh General may have been repelled from this place, but his strategy of wearing us down — physically and financially — was working perfectly. And by the look on Lyra's face, the emotional cost of this victory was, perhaps, the highest of all.