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Chapter 685  Lichen

Kaizen was the first to approach the fallen tree, with the others following close behind. The tree was immense, its branches twisted and blackened by the burn of the fire that had passed through. Strange purple lichen covered the tree, like a sinuous web of corruption.

"That... that doesn\'t seem right," muttered Alina, looking at the lichen with a suspicious expression.

Kaizen nodded with his eyes narrowed as he studied the scene. "I\'ve seen something like it in legends and stories, but I never thought it was real." Kaizen said, thinking of the anime and movies he\'d seen of things like \'corruption\' taking over places or things.

Immediately, Jayaa nodded in agreement. "That looks a lot like something I\'ve seen in games and movies," muttered Jayaa, still staring at the tree with a perplexed expression.

The group of adventurers observed the fallen tree, covered in that sinister purple lichen. And this tree was not alone; on closer inspection, it seemed that the entire environment around them was slowly being consumed by the same corruption that was ravaging the tree.

The surrounding trees displayed purple stains on their trunks and branches, as if the lichen had spread like a silent plague. The ground was also covered in a layer of gray snow, but on looking closer, Kaizen noticed that this snow was dotted with purple spots. It was as if the ground itself was being corrupted.

Alina frowned. "That\'s not normal. What must that be?"

Kaizen worriedly held her by the shoulder with one hand. "Don\'t get too close. We need to be careful. It seems that this corruption is spreading rapidly. And the worst thing is that we have no idea what could cause it or whether it could consume us too."

Andrew, always the most cautious of the group, was already prepared for this, so he took a piece of wood from his inventory and lit it with a brief spell of light. The crackling flame illuminated the darkness that surrounded them. Thus, they could see that, just as the adventurer Ragnar had explained, where the light touched, the purple lichen retreated, as if it feared the fire.

Jayaa watched with fascination. "It\'s true... It really does seem that fire is the only thing that keeps this thing away. Maybe it\'s our best defense."

Kaizen agreed. "Let\'s keep the fire burning at all times. We don\'t know what else we might find here."

The wind howled through the corrupted trees, creating a chilling sound that seemed to echo through the depths of the forest around them. The gray snow continued to fall, creating a sense of desolation and oppression. At the same time, vague shapes and shadows moved in the surrounding trees, as if something was watching them. They weren\'t visible creatures, but dark silhouettes that disappeared whenever someone looked directly at them.

Alina shuddered. "You saw that, right? I\'m not going mad, am I?"

Andrew held up his torch and nodded. "I saw it too. Looks like we\'re not alone here."

Kaizen clenched the hilt of his sheathed sword. "Whatever it is, we need to stay alert. We don\'t know what we\'re dealing with... Jayaa, pull Black Cloud\'s leash, we\'ll follow on foot to a safer stretch."

As they advanced, the corruption around them seemed to become more intense. The trees were increasingly covered in purple lichen, and the shadows on the trees seemed to grow ever closer. The cold seemed to penetrate their bones, making each step more difficult.

Jayaa muttered to himself: "This is starting to sound like a nightmare."

Suddenly, a disturbing, guttural noise echoed through the forest. Everyone froze and looked around, trying to determine where the sound was coming from. It sounded like a mixture of a moan and a growl, like nothing they had ever heard before.

"What was that?" whispered Alina, her eyes wide with fear.

Before anyone could answer, a hideous creature emerged from the shadows. It was a slender figure with long, twisted limbs covered in pale, translucent skin. Its face was a distorted mass of human features, but its eyes shone with an eerie purple glow. The thing seemed to be covered in the same purple liquid that covered the trees.

Andrew raised the torch with one swift movement, causing the flame to reach the creature. The purple matter retreated, but the creature only seemed to get even angrier and screamed gutturally.

"Quickly, behind me!" Kaizen ordered and stretched a hand forward.

The creature that looked like a gigantic slime with several faces, arms and legs advanced towards him. In turn, a spark appeared from Kaizen\'s hand for a second and then this fire increased considerably in size.

"Fire?" Jayaa asked, surprised.

"Pyrokinesis." Alina replied. "Kaizen is almost capable of using any nature derived from the manipulation of the supernatural."

Jayaa\'s eyes widened, because the last time she fought alongside Kaizen, he was only able to use <Telekinesis>.

When confronted with a blast of fire heading in its direction, the bizarre creature, with its multiple twisted limbs and distorted faces, recoiled before the fury of the fire. Its guttural moans intensified, and it began writhing in agony under the heat of the flames. It was clear that fire was her weakness, but not in short supply, something the adventurers had found out the hard way.

Kaizen kept his hand out, skillfully controlling the flames that danced towards the creature.

"Stay back!" he shouted to his group, keeping the creature at bay with his burning flames.

The light from Kaizen\'s flames revealed more details of the creature. Its distorted faces seemed to contort in agony, and its long limbs stretched out as if trying to escape the fire. However, the thing didn\'t seem to want to retreat completely. Instead, it crawled slowly towards them, as if it were willing to endure pain to reach its prey.

"What\'s that?" Jayaa muttered, with her lute on her back.

Alina, with distressed eyes, replied: "I have no idea, but I think we need to retreat."

They began to take steps back towards the carriage, but the creature continued to follow them. It was as if it was hungry for its prey, despite the pain the fire was causing it. Andrew noticed that the purple lichen covering the trees also seemed to react to the creature\'s presence, shrinking further into the shadows but growing larger at the edges. The corruption was spreading, slowly advancing like a plague. Trees that had previously been only partially covered were now almost completely enveloped in the purple lichen. The shadows of the trees became more numerous and agitated.

Kaizen frowned. "We need to get back to the carriage and move on. Staying here is dangerous. I don\'t even know if I want to touch my sword with that thing."

As the hideous creature advanced towards them, the group of adventurers quickly retreated towards the carriage.

Andrew was the first to reach the carriage. Breathing heavily, he grabbed the reins of the horse and began to pull it to prepare for the escape, at the same time asking Jayaa to climb onto the coachman\'s seat. The horse neighed and tapped its hooves impatiently on the ground, clearly aware of the approaching threat.

Kaizen continued to keep the creature at bay with his burning flames, but even his pyrokinesis was beginning to show signs of weakness. His hands trembled under the strain of controlling the fire, and drops of sweat dripped from his forehead. He knew he couldn\'t maintain this barrier for much longer.

"Quickly, get into the carriage!" he shouted to the others.

Alina and Xisrith quickly climbed aboard the carriage, watching in fear as the creature continued to approach. The interior of the carriage was dark, but Alina turned on a small light in her hand to illuminate the space. The old, carved wood was weathered, and the smell of aged leather permeated the air.

Andrew finally managed to calm Black Cloud down enough for Jayaa and him to climb into the front seats. He whipped the reins, making the mare pull the carriage away from the cursed place.

The creature itself emitted a guttural scream and launched itself towards the carriage with its twisted limbs and eyes blazing with hatred. Kaizen struggled to keep the flames in his hand, launching one last blast of fire towards the creature before leaping onto the moving carriage.

The fire hit the creature full on, engulfing it in purple flames. A shrill, agonizing scream echoed through the forest as the creature writhed in pain. It seemed that the fire was really weakening it, and this gave the carriage time to pick up speed, its passengers breathing a sigh of relief as they watched the creature disappear over the horizon, engulfed in fire.

On the roof of the carriage, Kaizen took a deep breath and lay down with his limbs stretched out. It looked like this journey was going to be even more dangerous than he had anticipated.