The corrupted deer let out a shriek that split the air like breaking glass.
Its malformed hooves struck the ground, sending shockwaves through the forest floor. The twisted antlers pulsed with dark soul energy — thick, heavy, and unnatural. Purple-black smoke leaked from its jaws as it fixed glowing eyes on the group.
"Spread out!" Asher barked.
Emilia and Bruma dove to the sides. Kael and Liaen flanked opposite ends. Asher stood his ground, hand gripping his blade. Elira hovered near Emilia, casting soul-wards to protect her — her presence now crackling with tension.
"This isn't just a corrupted beast," Elira muttered. "There's intent. Something — or someone — guided this."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Cult?"
"Most likely."
The corruption beast lunged.
Bruma met it head-on, swinging her hammer upward. It struck the beast's shoulder, sending a jarring crack through the air — but it didn't fall. Instead, it lashed its tail around and slammed Bruma into a tree with brutal force.
Liaen stepped forward, chanting, hands glowing with soul-healing light.
Asher surged into motion, his old instincts burning to life.
The world blurred.
Steel sang.
He slashed across the beast's hind leg — sparks flew as the blade met hardened hide, but the wound sizzled and oozed.
"Emilia!" he called. "Watch the eyes! It channels through them!"
She nodded, heart pounding.
She remembered his lessons — stay low, strike clean. Her soul-dagger shimmered faintly as she moved around the battlefield, dodging debris and snapping limbs. When the creature reared back, exposing its chest, she darted forward and stabbed toward its core.
The dagger met resistance — then something pulsed.
It was like stabbing into a furnace.
A shockwave blasted outward, sending her flying.
"Emilia!" Elira screamed.
Asher caught her mid-air, grunting with effort. The blast had knocked Kael and Liaen to the ground. Bruma, staggering upright, roared again and charged, her warhammer glowing red with soul-heat.
With a thunderous strike, she crushed one of the beast's legs. It staggered — faltered — and Asher took the chance.
He whispered a soul chant.
His blade ignited with white-blue light — Elira's soul aura flared in sync beside him.
With a single, arcing slash, Asher cleaved the corruption beast's head clean off.
Its body shuddered… then crumbled into black ash.
Silence.
Only their ragged breaths remained.
Minutes later, they regrouped.
Emilia sat with her back against a tree, bruised and panting. Liaen finished healing a gash on her arm while Elira hovered close, visibly drained.
Kael stood, arms crossed. "That thing waited for us."
Bruma spat. "Felt wrong. Tasted of rot and old blood."
Asher cleaned his blade with a worn cloth, lost in thought.
Emilia finally asked, "Was that… really a monster? Or something else?"
"It was a monster," Asher said quietly, "but not a natural one. The Cult is accelerating their experiments. They're infecting soul-energy with madness."
Kael added, "I saw markings on the trees. Soul runes. Wards to guide the beast. They set this up."
"Which means they knew you were coming," Elira said.
Kael's eyes flicked toward her, visible only as a faint shimmer. "And that means someone inside the Academy sold us out."
A heavy silence followed.
"Then we clean house," Bruma growled.
Asher stood. "We head back. Quietly. No reports until we're in private. Valenira needs to know, but we can't trust open channels."
Back in Alsira, the city seemed unchanged — vibrant, alive, indifferent to the battle they'd just survived.
But everything felt different now.
In their dorm, Emilia sat at the small desk, rubbing her fingers where the soul-dagger had overheated in her grip. It still pulsed faintly — like something alive had touched it.
Elira appeared beside her, silent.
"You saved me," Emilia said.
"You saved yourself," Elira corrected. "But… I helped."
Emilia smiled faintly. "You've been watching him a long time, haven't you?"
Elira didn't answer.
Instead, she looked out the window at the glowing Soulspire.
"He's changed," she said after a pause. "But he hasn't broken. Not yet."
"Do you want him to move on?"
Another long silence.
Then Elira said, "I want him to live. Whatever that means."
Elsewhere, deep within Alsira's hidden chambers, Valenira met with a hooded figure.
"You sent them to the West Woods," the figure rasped.
Valenira's voice was calm. "They survived."
"That wasn't the plan."
She looked up, gold eyes gleaming. "Plans change. And Emilia Gray… she's more than we thought."
The figure hissed, "Then we'll have to test her again."
Valenira turned her back, stepping into the shadows. "We already are."