Chapter 490 - Taming the Inheritance - 3
Ren pointed toward the golden crystal pulsing in the center of the chamber where they were.
"The crystal is already under Yino’s castle too," he explained. "It’s taking over that side of the tower."
The revelation hit Dragarion like a fist. He had assumed the threat was external, a corruption growing at civilization’s margins. He hadn’t believed that it was already infiltrating the fundamental infrastructure.
This wasn’t an enemy they could meet on a battlefield; it was something that had already embedded itself in the very systems that kept their world functioning.
"It only has control of the golden crystal from the first chamber for now," Ren continued, "but if it takes over the second one, the one surrounded by the seven diamond rank dragons..."
He paused, carefully choosing his words to not reveal too much about the seed his fungus had consumed.
"If it gets all the treasures and control of the second chamber... Then it would become too strong for anyone to bring down... Its power will grow faster and faster from there."
Julius approached, his mind immediately processing the implications.
"How much time do we have?" he asked, urgency clear in his voice.
Ren considered the question, mentally consulting with his fungus about the growth patterns he could perceive.
"We should have enough... Yino’s third ring shouldn’t emerge from the dense crystallized mana cocoon soon," he responded. "The cocoon depends on our side of the ethereal flow and the corruption can’t absorb crystallized mana. The flow from this side hasn’t been compromised and has functioned normally, right?"
Julius, Zhao, and Dragarion exchanged meaningful glances.