As if activated, the four corpses broke away from the magic circle and lunged toward Marco.
The golden psychic energy in Marco's palm surged abruptly, transforming into a sharp blade of light that slashed toward the nearest corpse. The blade cut through the air with a scorching heat wave, precisely striking the neck of the cadaver.
Crack!
With a crisp snap, the corpse's head fell to the ground. The rolling head twitched a few times before becoming still, the dark red flames in its eye sockets flickering out. The moment the head hit the floor, the body collapsed with a heavy thud. Its stiff limbs shuddered and then ceased all movement. The dark red patterns on its skin faded at a visible rate, eventually turning into a pile of lifeless, withered bones.
However, the remaining three corpses did not retreat. Instead, the death of their companion seemed to incite a more violent ferocity. They pounced with raspy roars emanating from their hollow chest cavities, their rotting fingertips glowing with dark red unholy energy, sharp as daggers. These were Blood-Slave Cadavers, mutated by the saturation of energy from the Heart of Blood-Feast.
Marco snorted coldly. Instead of retreating, he advanced, his figure weaving fluidly between the corpses. The golden energy in his palm shifted constantly, striking precisely at the weak points of the cadavers. In less than a minute, he had eradicated all four corpses that had closed in on him.
With the obstacles cleared, Byrne immediately looked toward the building, knowing they had to destroy the tainted object before the Heart of Blood-Feast finished gestating.
Marco walked up to the magic circle. As the golden psychic energy condensed in his palm once more, he began to chant incantations. This time, it was not a sharp blade of light but a solid, diamond-shaped orb. This was the "Sacred Word Purification," a technique exclusive to the Inquisition specifically designed to counter Chaos creations. However, this spell not only consumed a massive amount of psychic energy but also required the caster to be highly focused without the slightest distraction.
The low and solemn chants of the Sacred Word echoed through the ruined room. As Marco concentrated on his spell, the head of one of the corpses he had previously decapitated saw the dark red flames ignite within its hollow eye sockets once again.
...
In the blink of an eye, over ten minutes passed.
During this time, Byrne, standing by the obelisk, looked back at the small building several times. It's been nearly a quarter of an hour. Why hasn't the Captain come out? Should I go in and check?
After much hesitation, Byrne turned and walked toward the building. However, before he could reach the entrance, a figure emerged. Recognizing it was the Captain, Byrne was about to ask what happened, but he stopped mid-sentence when he noticed something was wrong with Marco's expression.
In Byrne's eyes, the psychic energy radiating from Marco had become eerie. The originally pure and gentle pale-gold energy was now tinged with a dark red hue, resembling a polluted river. Reaching the entrance, Marco stopped. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, and his gaze was hollow, lacking its usual brilliance.
"Captain?" Byrne called out tentatively, his finger instinctively tightening on the trigger of the "Black Fire." Simultaneously, he extended his psychic threads toward Marco.
Through the probe of his psychic threads, he discovered that the energy fluctuations within Marco's body were being eroded and distorted by a sinister power. Faced with Byrne's call, Marco gave no response. His crimson eyes suddenly shifted, and his hollow gaze regained focus—except he was looking at Byrne as if he were prey.
Byrne's heart sank as he realized something terrible had happened inside that building.
"Captain, you've been corrupted by Chaos. Wake up!" Sensing the danger, Byrne did not charge forward. Instead, he immediately retreated to put distance between himself and Marco.
"Prey... an offering... for the Blood God..." Marco's voice was raspy, like metal scraping against gravel. Every word carried a thick scent of blood.
The moment he finished speaking, he moved. Marco swung his right hand, firing a beam of blood-colored energy toward Byrne. Having been on guard, Byrne dodged to the side the instant the other raised his hand. The energy beam grazed Byrne's shoulder and struck the ruined wall behind him.
The wall, over ten meters high, collapsed instantly under the massive impact. Rubble flew everywhere as the blood-colored energy spread along the cracks, staining the surrounding masonry red. The already fragile building now teetered on the verge of total collapse.
Byrne rolled as he landed to create more distance. The psychic energy in his palms surged, and his psychic threads wove into a dense net. Facing Marco, Byrne felt constrained. After all, this was his captain; he couldn't actually use lethal force. For Byrne, the priority was to find a way to break the corruption.
As the leader of the Third Squad, Marco's precision in psychic control far exceeded that of an ordinary investigator. Even while lost to madness, his instinctive combat skills had not faded. The blood-colored energy churned around Marco, and with every cycle, the crimson in his eyes deepened.
Failing the first strike, Marco attacked again. This time, he didn't choose a ranged attack but flashed forward to close the gap. With a flip of his right hand, Chaos power condensed into a long blade, which he swung violently at Byrne.
Byrne hurriedly raised his hands to block, his own psychic energy colliding with the Chaos energy on Marco's palm. The two forces intertwined, emitting a piercing screech. The pale-gold energy and the blood-red Chaos energy neutralized each other, and a violent shockwave expanded, knocking both of them back.
Byrne staggered back a few steps, his chest feeling tight as a trail of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. In the collision, his psychic energy had been suppressed by the Chaos power, and he had sustained minor internal injuries. Marco, however, only paused slightly before charging again, the bloodthirsty light in his eyes growing more intense.
At that moment, the golden light orb inside Byrne suddenly awakened. A pure and warm power spread through his meridians to his entire body. The tightness in his chest vanished instantly, and his psychic energy—which had been eroded by the Chaos power—was rapidly restored.
The golden orb... I have a way!
Marco's Chaos blade was already slashing toward his face, the wind of the strike carrying a pungent smell of blood and warping the air. This time, Byrne did not passively block. The moment he dodged the blade, he reached out and grabbed Marco's wrist.
As soon as Byrne's fingertips touched Marco's wrist, the golden orb erupted, surging into Marco's body through the point of contact. The situation was just like his battle with the Grade 2 Blood-Corruptor.
Hit by the impact, Marco's wrist shook violently. The crimson in his eyes faded briefly, and a pained groan escaped his lips.
Heh, it really works.
Marco's body began to twitch violently as the blood-red Chaos power churned frantically around him, seemingly making a final stand. The crimson in his eyes fluctuated in depth as his reason and Chaos fought a fierce battle within his mind. A pained and suppressed roar leaked from his throat.
Captain, hold on.
Perhaps feeling the process wasn't fast enough, Byrne reached out his left hand and pressed it against Marco's shoulder. The golden light became even more brilliant, nearly enveloping both of them. Byrne could clearly feel that although the Chaos energy inside Marco was strong, it could not withstand the impact of the golden orb.
In this manner, in less than two minutes, the Chaos energy within Marco's body completely dissipated.