A fanatic and foolish grin adorned Dion's lips as he kept counting the red crystals with glowing eerie eyes.
Suddenly, a shocking sensation ran through his body. Dion jerked awake from his reverie, his eyes regaining its normal glow. He saw a flash that quickly disappeared like an illusion.
His hand still held one red crystal in the air as he paused in position, still horrified by what just happened.
"What… the hell? What am I doing?" He muttered in shock as he looked around his surroundings.
Suddenly, his Void Shuttle Board activated on its own. But it wasn't normal like when he awakened a bloodline. Everything was blinking red.
—-------
…
[PARASITIC CORRUPTION: 98%]
—-------
"Parasitic corruption?" Dion mumbled in confusion before he suddenly remembered what it meant. "F**k! Red spirit!" Dion exclaimed, fear engulfing his soul.
Red spirits are incorporeal creatures formed when many red crystals are kept together in large quantities. The negative emotions entwine and coalesce to form this creature and they can cause corruption from a distance by entering the body of a living thing.
Once red spirits are born, they can feed off the corrupted mana from the atmosphere to sustain themselves. But what is worse is that the red spirit can corrupt normal living things without power.
Dion thought aloud, "But I didn't feel or see anything when I came here. Red spirits can't wander far from the site of formation. I'm pretty sure this place was empty... Wait! The whispers on the tree. That wasn't normal and unlike me. Sh*t! The red spirit already snuck into my body even before I entered the cave but it held back from corrupting me."
Suddenly, the figure on the board changed.
—-------
…
[PARASITIC CORRUPTION: 99%]
—-------
Dion snapped to his senses as it wasn't time to get distracted; he was one step from eternal damnation! A crawling sensation was beginning to run through his body as he was beginning to feel the effect of the corruption.
He instantly activated his eye intent, which is the way to combat the red spirit.
[Eyes of dread activated!]
'I guess my research paid off!'
His heart couldn't stop galloping wildly in fear.
Suddenly, Dion felt an ecstasy coursing through his veins and disrupting his thoughts. His pupil dilated in shock. Never could he forget the feeling; the feeling of absorbing red crystals. Yet the ecstasy was many times more intense than his first absorption. Even his eyes were beginning to roll backward.
When Dion lowered his head, he saw the red crystal in his hand decreasing at a very fast speed, like a cube of sugar thrown into a cup of warm water.
Once the red crystal was exhausted, Dion received a new rune. But he wasn't happy because the void shuttle board reacted.
—-------
…
[PARASITIC CORRUPTION: 99.1%]
—-------
'Damn! The spirit has changed its method.'
Unconsciously, Dion's hand grabbed another red crystal.
'No, no, no. I don't want to absorb another. But I can't live without absorbing it. My body and soul yearn for it. The cravings must be satisfied. Besides, when parasitic corruption is ongoing, normal corruption through red crystals doesn't work.'
Like a drug addict who wished for the previous ecstasy, he began absorbing another red crystal.
[...99.2%]
The parasitic corruption level increased by 0.1% and his rune increased by one when he finished absorbing the red crystal.
'Normal corruption wouldn't work now, so I can keep going. Using this opportunity to increase my rune numbers would be smart.'
He took another red crystal. Followed by another, and another one. With the mind-numbing mantra that normal corruption through red crystals wouldn't work and also an opportunity to increase his runes number, Dion completely forgot that parasitic corruption is increasing bit by bit. He was digging a hole to fill another.
[…99.4%]
[…99.5%]
[...99.6%]
The parasitic corruption level kept climbing the ladder until it reached the peak:
[…99.9%]
It was 0.1% from corrupting Dion. A step from completion. One red crystal from corruption. An inch from mental derangement.
Dion picked up a red crystal but hesitated when he was about to absorb it. He stared at the red crystal in his grasp that glowed with irresistible allure.
Unbeknownst to him, the previous red, branching veins that appeared earlier in his eyes have returned, making Dion look eerie and scary.
A thought suddenly sprouted in his head, 'Absorbing one more wouldn't be too dangerous. I've done it before. I feel my body and soul are about to reach the peak of fulfillment. Just one more red crystal and I am done.'
His hand tightened around the red crystal and he almost absorbed the crystal, but an abrupt electric shock ran through his body again. The void shuttle board changed in his vision.
—-------—-------
…
[Corruption completing: 99.9%]
[Advent of the BEAST]
—-------
Dion felt all his muscles aching but the addictive sensation of absorbing drugs overpowered it in a heartbeat. The red spirit amplified the sensation of ecstasy. Dion felt like he was becoming insane and in need of an urgent cure — the red crystal.
His eye intent retracted and his eyes were glowing with a strange red glow. A feverish insanity gleamed in his iris.
The process was about to start with a thought but Dion bit his wrist and yanked his flesh without care for himself or the pain. He quickly bit himself on the second wrist and ripped his flesh again. Clarity returned for a moment and he unleashed his eye intent in fear and anxiousness.
[Eyes of Dread activated!]
[Dread in its majesty!]
He roared with his gaze raised to the roof of the cave as he released his bottled fear that was covered by ecstasy.
The percentage of parasitic corruption began dropping quickly when his eye intent reached 50% of its potential — Majesty of eye intent!
However, it stopped at 50%.
Dion finally stopped roaring and fell on his butt. Ragged breaths escaped his lips as he recalled what just transpired. His blood turned cold and his body trembled as he couldn't imagine what would have happened if he absorbed that red crystal. Maybe he might not be corrupted like his guess. But, what if it isn't true? He will become a mentally deranged fool, who is controlled by his negative emotions.
Nobody shoots themselves in the head just because they survive after receiving a bullet in the head.
Dion quickly dismissed those thoughts, unable to distinguish between his own mind and the influence of the red spirit.
'What do I do now?' Panic surged through Dion as he realized the red spirit still lingered within him. He knew he had to reach Arwen swiftly; surely she held the answer. With a surge of determination, he snatched up his blade and sprinted toward the mouth of the cave.
However, as he approached the entrance, the sound of slow, deliberate footsteps reached his ears. He skidded to a halt, his body tensing in anticipation.
Every hair on his nape stood on end, a prickling sensation crawling up his spine. The thudding of his heart filled his ears, each beat reverberating through his chest. His mouth hung open, struggling to draw in slow, deep breaths as fear tightened its grip. Both eyes widened in shock.
"T-t-the beast...it's re
turned. It has already blocked the entrance. There's no way out." Fear clenched every muscle in his body, rendering him immobile.