The Last Dainv-Chapter 62

The Last Dainv-Chapter 62

Gale followed where the marble led him to. Two trees stood like a gate on the path just outside the meadow. The bark on their trunks pointed outwards like a porcupine.
Slipping through the middle of both trees, the ground changed with a clear border. One side had grass, the side into the treeline was just soil. Thick roots covered the surface of the soft dirt, jutting out of the ground and reaching up to his hips. This whole path felt like the cartoonish scene of Snow White going into the dark woods and misunderstanding that the trees were out to get her.
Gale shook his head. Trees don't have feelings. Why would they get her in the first place. The orphanage showed him some really weird movies. Mice obviously can't talk. At least he's never seen one talk. Then again, it wasn't that farfetched compared to garbage truck sized beasts and talking ghoul heads.
The forest changed with each passing step. Trees grew denser, standing closer together. Their bark became darker, almost pitch black, and more thorny. Moss covered the base of the trees while avoiding the dirt path he walked on. He'd think that there would be beasts here, but there was no sight of any broken branches or footprints that would say otherwise.
Beyond the logs, the forest floor dipped into a shallow valley. The trees here grew at odd angles literally. Their trunks had bent away from the path yet the canopy above still covered by their branches. It created a tunnel of wood and leaves.
It was completely silent. No wind rustling the leaves, no beasts anywhere. As if something had culled all the surrounding living beings. It was wrong. A completely different place compared to both the dead forest and the lush dark forest under the blue moon.
He paused, willed the storage box to materialize the red marble into his hand. Putting it once again at his thumb and index finger, he flicked it upwards. The marble dropped deeper into the tunnel.
Of course it did.Nothing is ever easy, huh.
Gale stored the sphere again and continued downward, using exposed roots as handholds on the steeper sections.
The blue moonlight changed as he descended. Its colour changed, now having a greenish tinge. The shadows all around also didn't make sense. Green light cast rays on where shadows should be.
[Warning: Corruption levels increasing.]
[Trace Essence signature detected.]
On the bark, small amounts of inky grains fought against the darkness surrounding it. The inky grains devoured the darkness while the darkness devoured them at the same time.
It devours corruption, cleanses reality itself.
He watched as the battle between the void-like inky grains against the more smokey corruption was mesmerizing. A little war that waged on in the vast space of the dark forest.
The feeling he got from the essence was familiar. Through the clash of swords, he remembered it came from the knight in the ship. So the knight had been here before. Probably fought hundreds of times against whatever was in the castle.
Elliot wasn't that strong, at least not from what he saw in the meadow. Not as strong as the knight
at that time.
Something must've weakened Elliot. The shadow even said they'd been here for decades. Who knows how long. During that time period, the knight would attack the corrupted, and clearly the madman was.
Wait… Elliot got really mad when Gale took his precious sacrifices. Hehehe, serves him right. And that ritual was probably meant to give him power granted by the blue moon.
Something must've changed. That something could've weakened Elliot. The urgency that the knight gave him meant that the time to attack was now.
A light bulb popped up.
Killing the predators in the forest, all of them had a description. All of them related to the insanity of calling the moon as "Her Majesty". There was a hierarchy. Since Elliot wasn't able to deliver on his promise, wouldn't that mean his status became lower?
Gale flicked up the red marble again. It dropped again further into the tree tunnel. Their trunks bent away from the path, yet their branches still interlocked overhead, covering the canopy.
The path narrowed further, porcupine like bark almost touching his shoulders side by side. A small slit between two rocks slowed him down. He turned sideways, squeezing through the narrow opening. Roots snaked across the ground, and a small fog of smokey darkness covered the ground, both viscous and gaseous at the same time.
Upon heading into a small clearing of the tunnel, pillars stood side by side. Derelict and broken. Some of the more intact pillars had floral designs carved into them where the flowers looked up at a crescent moon.
Flicking up the marble once more, it spun in the air and then finally pointed to a thick curtain of vines. The lack of wind made everything look like a painting. Not even the canopy above swayed.
Hacking through the vines, the trees around the path finally began to thin. Gale moved slower, on guard in case anything jumped at him. Silent stillness always told him something was about to jump at him in the forest.
As he moved further, the gaseous darkness formed what looked like veins on the ground. The veins pulsed with a peristalsis that moved further into the tunnel.
Walking a couple of more metres, a clearing spread before him. A castle rose, towering above that clawed at the sky. The walls stretched upwards until the eye could see. Their stone, a void of pitch blackness, covered in a layer of gaseous corruption that seemed to devour the light that came from the blue moon.
Patterns formed across the castle's surface, similar shapes to the ones in the ship's walls, yet also different. In two words, it could be described as less intricate. Where the patterns in the ship had more complex combination of shapes, the patterns along the walls here would be like a child's drawing of shapes.
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From the meadow, it was clear that the castle was huge. Seeing it up close, it was probably as big as the skyscrapers he saw in downtown during field trips.
Near the base of the walls, Gale spotted the familiar traces of the knight's essence signature. The same inky grains he'd seen on the tree bark fought against the corruption here too, locked in an eternal battle of consuming and resisting one another. The signature had formed a line, like a barrier that held back the thick darkness from gaining ground.
Gale walked past through it all, and as he surveyed the surroundings, he saw the castle's gate wide open. The veins of corruption latched onto the walls of the castle, making it look as if it were alive.
[Warning: Corruption levels increased.]
[Corruption Level: Low-Mid.]
[Trace Essence signature detected.]
The notification popped up, telling him what he already knew. At this point, Gale could already feel the changes within the environment based on the level of corruption. It was beginning to disrupt his own essence as he felt more sluggish when he got nearer to the castle. From the clues of the trace essence, circulating the essence around his body got rid of the sluggishness.
Gale pulled out the marble one last time, hoping it might point him around the castle or anywhere else for that matter rather than into it. The sphere spun upward, jittering this time. It stayed there for a couple of seconds until finally falling down, pointing straight towards the open gate.
Of course, what was the point of it flicking up the marble? Goddammit.
Dragging his feet across the ground, he moved along the path to the gate. Statues lined the path at even intervals. None had any faces, but the ones intact seemed to be male while most of the female statues were destroyed from the hips above. Turning his head towards the courtyard, the corruption spread there too. Plants, flowers, and hedges all withered yet somehow still alive, like frozen in time.
He neared the large half open double doors of the castle. A laugh and a scream came from inside the castle, both seemed to be from the same person. It bounced off the walls, distorted to be a lower frequency at each bounce until it no longer sounded like it came from a human.
Gale wouldn't forget that manic laugh anywhere. It was Elliot.
The laugh came again suddenly, rattling through the stone walls. Gale quickly moved behind a half-eaten statue from the shock.
Stupid, you knew that was coming
, Gale cursed.
These crazy people always laugh randomly!
Taking deep breaths calmed his racing heart. He slowly poked his head out to take a peek into the castle's main door. The main hall split into three paths. Left, right, and centre.
Each corridor stretched into darkness, the corruption kind. However, the right path showed less of the gaseous corruption along its walls.
Gale, once again, flicked the marble upwards. The drop was immediate this time, pointing to the right corridor. At least that confirmed his instinct. The right path would give him the best chance of being able to see what was going on. Not necessarily the best reason, but better than nothing. And if he guessed right, Elliot's powers would be weaker in the areas with less corruption.
He circled the castle's perimeter, noting how the corruption thinned near the ground level windows where the corridors after the entrance narrowed. They were perfect choke points if he needed to funnel Elliot's followers. The essence signature fought harder there too.
Better safe than sorry. Who knows what the corruption would do to his abilities mid fight.
The castle's architecture favoured defence. Arrow slits peppered the upper walls, offering clear shots at anyone in the courtyard. If he took the fight outside, those positions would give Elliot's forces too many advantages. Better to keep the battle contained inside where their numbers would work against Elliot.
A weathered gryphon statue caught his eye. Its wings had crumbled away, but its claws still gripped the wall. Similar decorations lined the castle's face, providing handholds. If things went bad, he'd have escape routes.
The corruption's flow revealed the castle's layout. It spread from the highest tower, trickling down like water. That meant Elliot would likely be up there, controlling his forces from above. Smart. But it also meant Gale could work his way up, thinning out the opposition floor by floor.
He studied the ground floor windows again. The right side showed promise. It had less corruption, more natural moonlight, better visibility. The windows were spaced regularly, offering quick exits if needed. Status at even intervals could be used for upwards or downwards mobility between floors.
The left wing looked like a death trap. Corruption had eaten through most of the stone, leaving unstable sections that could collapse. No good for combat. The centre path led straight to a grand staircase. It was too exposed, too many angles of attack. That path would probably lead to Elliot.
Gale moved closer to the right wing's entrance. The corridor beyond was narrow enough to limit how many could attack at once. Perfect for his fighting style. He could Phase his whole body to create escapes where there wouldn't be one.
His eyes traced possible combat scenarios. The first room looked like an old dining hall. Tables and chairs would provide mobile cover. The high ceiling meant vertical space to work with. If he could force Elliot's followers to cluster there...
No. Too risky. The hall's size would let them surround him. Better to keep them bottlenecked in the corridors where he could control the flow of combat. The essence signature was stronger in the tight spaces too, weakening the corruption's hold on Elliot's forces.
The castle's defensive layout would work in his favour, that is if he was smart about it. Each floor probably had similar corridors, letting him repeat successful tactics as he moved up.
A section of wall near the right entrance caught his attention. The corruption there pulsed slower, almost sluggish. The essence signature had gained ground, creating a clean spot about shoulder height. He could use that, maybe set up an ambush point
or a trap.
Gale picked his way closer, checking for other weak points in the corruption. He remembered the thralls became weak in the meadow, and the meadow had minimal corruption. Each pocket of lesser corruption in the castle would need to be taken into account meticulously.
As he examined and surveyed more, those pockets appeared at regular intervals, like the castle itself was fighting back against the taint. Those spots would be key to his strategy.
He found more clean sections inside the right corridor. They formed patterns, stronger in bigger open spaces like big dining hall. If he could predict where they'd appear on the upper floors, he'd have natural advantage points already in place.
The corruption's behaviour changed near these clean spots. It moved away from them, leaving gaps in its coverage. Those gaps would be crucial if he needed to retreat. They'd also give him reference points to track his position inside.
A breeze whispered through the corridor, carrying the smell of decaying corpses and piss. But it also revealed the airflow patterns. The castle's ventilation system still worked, moving air up through the levels. He could use that to track movement above him by sending Breath of the Void through those vents.
The right wing's layout favoured an ascending spiral. Each turn would give him a defensive position while limiting visibility for Elliot's forces. The corruption thinned at each corner, providing temporary safe zones if he needed them.
An idea popped into his mind. He wasn't some kid anymore stuck in the past using only traps he had been taught by dad. He could improvise. Do wonders with his imagination that dad always disapproved of. Onwards to using tradition and Galeprovization that came out of wanting to get out of here as fast as possible.
Decision made.

Chapter 62