Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Chapter 697 'Shadows'

The corrupted forest was shrouded in a heavy silence, and the hooded figure, his dark cloak fluttering in the cold night wind, emitted a low sound, between a sigh and a whisper, which reverberated through the trees like a lament.

"You shouldn't be here..." said the figure in a voice that sounded more like an echo. "This land, once green and full of life, has been corrupted by a force beyond your comprehension. The Corruption came from beyond the stars, an ancient entity that awoke from its millennial slumber to devour entire worlds, leaving only shadows and desolation in its wake."

The figure's eyes shone with a sad and desperate light as she seemed to lean against the tree.

"I was a guardian of this land, a protector of its deepest secrets. But now I see the truth. I was always just another person among many others, nothing special, nothing unique. However, now I'm a shadow and that's enough for me, because I have HIS trust."

Jayaa, with her soft voice, broke the silence that followed, trying to calm the situation. He could feel in his bones how strong this woman was, but he didn't know if she was an enemy yet. "We understand your pain, but we're here to help. Tell us what we need to do."

Surprisingly, upon hearing Jayaa's words, the figure, who had previously seemed ready to fight and with an empty expression, raised his eyebrows in surprise and put a hand to his face, as if he were resisting something. Then the hooded figure raised his eyes to the starry sky, and his eyes went completely white, giving him a spark of lucidity. Even his tone of voice and manner of speaking changed completely after that:

"There is a portal, a gap between this world and the source of Corruption. That's where the darkness originates, and that's where you must go."

"But how can we find this portal?" asked Eraskan.

The figure pointed in an easterly direction, towards the Royal Capital itself, its skinny finger trembling in the freezing night air. "Follow the course of the river, until you reach the city canal, then follow the canal until you find a hidden cave. Inside, the portal awaits, a wound in the fabric of the universe. But beware, for the city is full of other Shadows, who patrol the outskirts. They will do anything to stop you."

Finally, the woman raised her eyes one last time, and her eyes met Kaizen's, who saw his lucidity fade and his countenance change again, returning to a dark void.

"Urghh! Damn..." The figure muttered. "Damn you! You shouldn't be here and that's why you're going to die now!!!"

And so the battle began in a burst of movement. The hooded figure, his dark cloak fluttering like the wings of a night raven, charged forward with fury. Her dark dagger glinted in the dim evening light, meeting the gleaming blade of the Bloody Lily in a clash of sparks. The corrupted woman's eyes were lifeless, but her movements were swift.

With the clash of the blades, both the Bloody Lily and the corrupted woman took a few steps back, but the corrupted woman lunged without hesitation, this time to the left, towards Jayaa.

Jayaa had to dodge a glancing blow as the woman's feet danced on the cold forest floor. Her dagger turned into two in an instant, and when the Bloody Lily charged towards her, the figure deftly blocked each blow, her fluid movements contrasting with the rigidity of the red sword's force.

Eraskan intervened immediately, so that the Bloody Lily wouldn't have to waste mana on a being that was so small to him. He raised his left hand and Lilith, his owl, advanced towards the woman, meeting the figure's dagger in a metallic clash. Lilith was no ordinary creature, so she bravely resisted the dagger's blow and even managed to throw it to the ground.

With only a dagger in the corrupted woman's hands now, the Bloody Lily didn't give her a chance to fight back and merely walked over and started attacking, moving her red sword so quickly that the corrupted woman could barely keep up. The figure recoiled under the pressure, but quickly got back on its feet, sliding out of reach of the player's sword.

Kaizen watched intently. His eyes studied the patterns of the figure's movements. He knew that these creatures with Corruption all over their bodies were powerful, because he barely managed to hold one of them off when he was close to the border. What's more, these creatures that the figure itself called 'Shadows' seemed to be strategically positioned in certain regions and the group hadn't encountered any others in the emptiness of Mibothen so far, so they weren't common.

Kaizen needed to run tests, to try and find out how to defeat these creatures in a way that wouldn't become an obstacle. So he began by experimenting with what he already knew to be a weakness of the corruption. Kaizen launched a blast of controlled flames, and the shadow immediately retreated. The hooded woman screamed, her hair covered in corruption, but she extinguished the flames with a deft gesture, emerging unscathed.

The figure retaliated with a wave of darkness. Shadowy tentacles emerged from the ground, enveloping the players in a prison of shadows.

Eraskan growled with rage, his muscles tense as he freed himself with the help of Lilith's sharp feathers.

Jayaa was thin and easily wriggled free, escaping the clutches of the shadows.

The Bloody Lily freed herself easily too, swinging her sword, and Kaizen made it backfire. Then Kaizen, from a distance, understood how to deal with it and increased the intensity of the fire a little, holding it in the palm of his hand to the point of almost burning, and then launched.

The corrupted woman's lifeless eyes met Kaizen's, and she unleashed a blast of black energy that erupted from the ground. The clash of the two spells was tremendous, and the figure resisted with all its might, but it was to no avail. The fire had the upper hand, and when the figure finally fell to her knees, the fireball hit her and, as the fireball approached her face, all corruption receded and dark cloaks fluttered with the shockwave of this attack. She looked at the heroes, her eyes now filled with gratitude.

"You... you did it," she whispered, her voice weak. "Thank you... for freeing me from the darkness. Please protect this land... it's important to me."

And then, with one last gasp, the hooded figure was struck by the blaze of fire and her form was absorbed by the flames, whose corruption of the forest was desperately moving away.

The players remained silent for a moment, honoring the body of the woman who had been corrupted. They looked at each other. The battle had been won, but they knew that the war was what was about to begin.