Kenji squinted, trying to make sense of the new data flooding his System.
[Unstable Dimensional Anomaly - High Volatility Detected!].
The pulsing red alert wasn't just on his map; it felt like it was thrumming behind his eyeballs.
"Just when I thought I was mastering this 'contain the blight' task,"
he said, fixing his trench coat.
"Now we've got… whatever this is. Probably a giant, angry wormhole that leads to a dimension of angry, bigger worms. Excellent."
They tracked a strange energy surge. It was unlike any Corruption Node they had seen before.
It wasn't the slow spread of the blight. Instead, it was a wild, erratic pulse, ripping through the air in a forgotten part of the city.
"My sensors are going haywire out here, ghost-boy!" Kaito's voice, usually a symphony of sardonic confidence, was laced with genuine alarm.
He zoomed forward on his hoverboard, dodging the old, crumbling skeletons of a deserted port.
"Energy fluctuations are off the charts! It's like reality's having a seizure!"
Elara, her hand pressed to her temple, grimaced.
"I feel it too. It's… pulling. Like a vacuum trying to suck out my soul. It's stronger than anything I've ever sensed. A true tear."
Her usual calm was cracking, replaced by a raw edge of unease.
They rounded a dilapidated warehouse, its metal sheets groaning in the unseen wind. And there it was.
Not a rift, but a gaping maw in the sky. A vortex of churning darkness, crackling with raw, chaotic energy.
It pulsed, expanded and contracted like a living, breathing void.
"Holy… what in the Blight's name is that?!" Kaito screamed as he tried to stop his hoverboard.
The wind from the vortex was just too strong.
"It's uncontrolled!" Elara yelled, bracing herself against a crumbling wall. "A true… rift! It's pulling everything in!"
The vortex roared, a sound that wasn't sound, but a force. It ripped through the air, tearing at the ground, pulling at their clothes, at their very essence.
Kenji dug in his heels and used Shadow Step to anchor himself. He fought against the impossible pull.
His System screamed: [CRITICAL ERROR! DIMENSIONAL DISPLACEMENT IMMINENT! RECALIBRATING… ERROR! CONNECTION LOST!].
His vision blurred.
The map turned to static. His Corruption meter flickered wildly before going completely black.
He felt himself being ripped, pulled, stretched thin. The world dissolved into a kaleidoscope of screaming colors and impossible shapes.
His last conscious thought was the feeling of Kaito's panicked shout and Elara's desperate cry.
Then, darkness.
He hit something hard. His head slammed back against what felt like jagged rock.
He gasped, the air thick, metallic, and stinging his lungs. He pushed himself up, every muscle screaming in protest.
His System sputtered back to life, but it was a fragmented mess. [REALITY INTEGRITY: LOW. LOCATION: UNKNOWN (EXTRADIMENSIONAL). THREATS: UNCLASSIFIED.]
His map was blank. His Corruption Influence meter was spiking erratically, [DANGEROUSLY HIGH!] constantly flashing.
The sky above was a perpetual twilight, painted with sickly green and purple hues. The ground was not dirt.
It was a large, rolling area of cracked black rock. Grotesque, pulsating organic growths dotted the landscape, moving as if they were breathing.
Twisted, bony shapes rose from the land, like the remains of giant fossils.
"Elara! Kaito!" he croaked, his voice raw.
A groan answered him. Kaito lay a few yards away. His hoverboard was shattered next to him, with sparks flying from its broken parts.
He was clutching his head, groaning.
"Ugh… my… my board! My beautiful… what happened? Where… where are we?"
He looked around, his eyes widening.
"This isn't… this isn't right. My sensors are completely dead. Nothing. Zero readings. This place is… empty of everything but wrong."
Elara was already pushing herself up, looking around with wide, horrified eyes. Her Lumina light flickered weakly, struggling against the oppressive gloom.
"This… this is a blighted realm. A source of Corruption. I can feel it… It's everywhere."
Her voice was tight with fear, the usual gentle calmness completely gone.
Suddenly, the ground before them rippled. From beneath the cracked surface, a dozen grotesque, multi-limbed creatures erupted.
They were unlike those in their world. Their shapes were fluid, and their eyes glowed with a cold, predatory intelligence.
They moved with unnerving speed.
"We have a problem!" Kenji roared, instinctively drawing Shadowfang. He felt the Heart of the Eclipse vibrate inside him, as if it knew these creatures.
Their shapes felt like part of him. It was a terrifying, seductive feeling. He shoved it back, focusing on the immediate threat.
His Corruption Influence meter shot up.
He lunged, a whirlwind of controlled dark energy. He moved faster than ever, the desperation fueling him.
Dark Slash! He cut through two of the creatures, their blighted forms dissolving. But more kept coming, their claws surprisingly sharp, tearing at his trench coat.
Elara threw out a wave of purifying light, but it seemed to have little effect here. The creatures simply recoiled, then surged forward again.
"My light feels… wrong here!" she cried, her voice raw with desperation.
"It's like trying to ignite a flame underwater! It barely sensed them! We need to find shelter or Something!"
Kaito left his broken hoverboard behind. He climbed a rough rock formation and pulled out some small, metallic spheres.
He hurled them at the approaching creatures. They burst with small, loud blasts that momentarily shook the monsters but did not stop them.
"My tech's barely working! Can't get a fix on anything! This place is messing with my gear! Just gotta… keep moving!"
He was agitated, his usual bravado replaced by frantic exclamations.
One of the creatures, larger than the rest, sensed Kenji's internal struggle. It moved with chilling speed, flanking him, its eyes glowing with a malevolent green light.
It lunged, not at his body, but at his Shadow Brand, as if trying to rip the Heart of the Eclipse directly from him.
Kenji felt a surge of cold dread, a terrifying connection to the creature. He parried with a desperate Abyssal Shield, but the force of the blow was immense.
The shield shimmered and cracked. Kenji was thrown back and slammed into the hard ground.
His Corruption Influence meter redlined, a blaring siren in his mind.
He pushed himself up. He fought the urge to unleash everything and give in to the destructive power.
This was its home. And it wanted him. He felt it, a heavy presence that filled the whole dimension.
It drew strength from every damaged particle.
"This is its domain!" Elara yelled, scrambling towards him, her light flaring with renewed desperation.
"This is where Noxius… draws its power! This is the Blight!" She pointed a shaking finger at the far horizon.
The sky pulsed with a sickly greenish-purple light. It focused on a huge, vast structure that looked like pure corruption.
It was beyond any building, any mountain. It was the heart of the Blight itself.
Kenji stared at it, a wave of despair washing over him. The rift they came through was gone, nowhere to be seen. They were trapped. Truly trapped.
He clenched his fist to push the darkness down. The Heart of the Eclipse roared in protest inside him.
"We're trapped," he rasped,
"But we're not dead. And if we're here… maybe there's a way to hit that son of a bitch where it lives. We find a way back, Kaito. Or we find a way to burn this place down from the inside. This whole fucking place."