The core was dark gold, its surface covered in a dense network of cracks.
Deep within the cracks flowed an inky black fluid, and within that fluid, tiny tentacles could be seen faintly writhing.
Seven layers of shattered Protective Arrays encircled the core.
The Arrays, which should have been a pale gold, were now dim and lusterless, their edges overrun with inky black filaments.
And directly above the Crystal Core...
hung a piece of something.
Ian's "gaze" focused on it.
It was a piece of... an inky black tentacle as thick as an arm.
The tentacle's surface was covered in spiral patterns, and a dark red light flowed deep within the grooves.
The light pulsed like a heartbeat, and with every beat, it released an invisible wave of contamination.
The wave swept across the entire Sea of Spirit.
All the tentacles writhed in response, and all the eyeballs turned.
All the images of pain, despair, and madness... churned in its wake.
