Chapter 79: Cht 79: Corruption’s Edge
The shriek of a malformed hawk-beast split the air, followed by a heavy thud as Jean’s massive arm swatted it out of the sky like a fly. A vine lashed out from her shoulder and speared the stunned creature to a nearby rock.
Mira was already redirecting the river she summoned midair, tendrils of water swirling like serpents, slamming into a swarm of corrupted monkeys that had begun to scale a cliff edge. Ice burst from their flesh as the water flash-froze on contact. They shattered like a plate of clay.
Gin panted heavily, paws dragging slightly across the forest floor as he tried to catch his breath. His silver-blue fur, blood red spots when he first awoke, was darkened further now by streaks of blood some not his but far too much that was. Gashes lined his side and across one flank, a fresh slash still seeping. His breathing came sharp, more ragged than before. The wounds wouldn’t close.
Not yet.
Not like this.
He moved again, forcing his body into another sprint, intercepting a mutated bear as it charged toward Xingning’s blind spot. He slammed into it shoulder-first, jaws catching the creature’s arm and twisting violently. Bones cracked. But the beast was heavier, bulkier corrupted muscles more twisted than they had any right to be. It swung its remaining paw into Gin’s ribs.
He was flung several meters and crashed against the trunk of a thick tree with a sharp yelp.
His vision spun.
Pain bloomed white-hot across his ribs but no time to check. Another beast was already on him. A wolf, like himself but bloated, its fur patchy and twisted by faded veins. Corrupted to the core.
Gin growled and lunged under it, his paw glowing faintly with wood-elemental energy. The forest responded, and from beneath them a root twisted free from the soil and speared through the enemy’s abdomen. The corrupted wolf thrashed, snarled and then went limp.
He exhaled, hard.