Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Chapter 150 The Corrupted Elf

Kate, Amber, and Elder Morning Dew led a crack squad of Thorn Guardians, like a few drops of light blending into thick ink, silently stealthily moving through the ever-deepening darkness of the Evernight Forest.

The closer you get to Whispering Valley, the more eerie and suffocating the environment becomes.

The "gray" that permeated the air was no longer a thin veil, but gradually condensed into a cold, viscous mist, entwining itself between the twisted branches of the trees, like countless dying gray ghosts.

The breath of life was greatly suppressed, replaced by a chilling and deathly stillness that penetrated to the bone.

The moss underfoot had lost its vibrant green, turning dry and black, and made an unpleasant cracking sound when stepped on.

The surroundings were eerily silent; even the rustling and chirping of the various nocturnal creatures inherent in the Eternal Night Forest had completely vanished, as if all living things had fled or perished.

Only the omnipresent, deep humming sound, seemingly originating from the depths of the earth, grew clearer and clearer, disturbing one's mind and bringing inexplicable irritability and depression.

"The concentration of grayness has increased dramatically, its energy corrosiveness has intensified, and its interference with mental perception has reached a moderate threat level."

Kate calmly conveyed the message to Elder Morning Dew through the soul connection.

His Samsara Heart domain is kept to a minimum, like a sophisticated filter that neutralizes and repels the most harmful corrosive energies, but the continuous consumption cannot be ignored.

The fluorescent light emanating from Amber was greatly compressed, only illuminating a few steps ahead. Her small face was tense, and her amber eyes were filled with sorrow and anger at the fall of her homeland. She gripped the staff made of tender green branches tightly, vigilantly sensing her surroundings.

Elder Chenlu's expression was solemn. He made a hand gesture, and the team slowed down and advanced in a warning formation.

A thorn guardian suddenly crouched down, examining a strange plant on the ground that had completely withered and was covered with a layer of grayish-white mycelium. He shook his head, indicating that life had been completely extinguished and that its structure had undergone an unknown mutation.

After traveling another kilometer or so, the terrain began to slope downwards, and an ancient riverbed, long since dried up and covered with pale white gravel, came into view.

On the opposite bank of the river, there was a thicker, dark wall that seemed to writhe and churn slowly, as if alive; that was the true edge of Whispering Valley.

Even from a distance, one could feel the chilling coldness and malice emanating from that dark wall, a chilling presence that sent shivers down one's spine.

"We cannot proceed any further." Elder Chenlu decisively ordered, her voice low but carrying an undeniable resolve. "The concentration of gloom here has reached a dangerous critical point. If a large-scale entry occurs, its aggregated consciousness is likely to detect it and react violently, and it may even attract something more terrifying."

"Your Excellency Kate, Amber, the rest of the journey depends on yourselves. We will establish a temporary defensive line here to support you."

She pointed to several large, collapsed rocks on one side of the river that could provide some shelter. "Use this as a boundary. If things don't look good, retreat immediately! We'll use life magic to buy you time."

Kate nodded solemnly. He understood that Elder Morning Dew's decision was correct.

The entry of a large force would make them too conspicuous and significantly increase the risks.

"Don't worry, we'll proceed with caution." He looked at Amber. "Are you ready?"

Amber took a deep breath and nodded vigorously. Although there was fear in her eyes, there was even more of a resolute determination to protect her home: "Ready! Follow me. I know a shortcut that can bypass the densest area and get closer to those places."

The two separated from the squad. Amber led Kate, not rushing directly towards the terrifying gray wall, but instead sneaking upstream along the edge of the dried-up riverbed for a distance before disappearing into an extremely hidden, narrow crevice covered by huge, decaying tree roots.

This path could only be discovered and traversed by small creatures like light fairies who were familiar with the terrain.

The passage was even darker, and the gloomy, corrosive aura was so thick it was almost tangible, clinging to the skin and causing a cold, stinging sensation.

Kate activated the Heart of Reincarnation with all her might, and the energy of life and death formed a thin but tough balancing force field on her body, struggling to resist the erosion.

Amber, on the other hand, barely managed to survive thanks to her pure light fairy constitution and the faint remaining connection with the forest.

"It's just ahead—" Amber's voice was breathless. "The exit is on the side of the Twisted Stone Circle."

They cautiously squeezed out of the gap, and the sight before them made Kate's pupils shrink.

This was once a relatively open clearing in the woods, but now it is completely unrecognizable.

In the center of the open space stood several enormous, twisted stone pillars that seemed to be forcibly fused together from obsidian and some kind of pale white bone—this was the "Twisted Stone Array".

These stone pillars are tilted and intertwined at angles that defy the laws of physics, their surfaces covered with constantly writhing, dark matter, like a living, enormous network of gray blood vessels, slowly pulsating and radiating intense spiritual pollution and decaying energy.

The ground around the stone circle was covered with a thick layer of grayish-white ash, in which the skeletons of some animals and even humanoid creatures that had not completely decomposed could be vaguely seen, which was creepy.

The most bizarre thing is an altar-like structure in the center of the stone circle, where the grayness is so thick that it is almost impenetrable, forming a constantly rotating gray vortex, from which the deep, seductive humming sound is most clearly heard.

"By the spirits of nature—" Amber murmured in terror, instinctively moving closer to Kate, "It—it's more—more alive—than when we left!"

Kate's expression was cold and stern as she used the Seed of Origin to perform a full-scale scan and analysis.

[Target: Twisted Stone Array (Dark, Severely Contaminated/Transformation Node)]

[Energy Reaction: A high-concentration aggregate of death/decay, a strong source of mental pollution, and a suspected secondary energy conversion/amplification node.]

Threat assessment: Extremely high. Close contact could lead to mental breakdown or physical degeneration.

[Detected: Unnatural structural traces, suspected ancient ruins being eroded, distorted, and revitalized by a dark force.]

[Analysis: The node is continuously absorbing surrounding energy, transforming and amplifying the dark fluctuations, and radiating them outwards. It is not the original source, but it is one of the key hubs.]

"This isn't the source, but it's a crucial energy relay station," Kate said in a low voice. "It's amplifying and spreading the pollution."

He tried to get closer, searching for more clues, but the intense mental pollution surged through his consciousness like a tidal wave. Countless whispers filled with despair, malice, and temptation echoed directly in his mind, attempting to break his will.

The Heart of Reincarnation spun violently, its silver-blue and gray-green light intertwining, forcibly stabilizing his mind.

He noticed that some of the stone pillars at the edge of the stone circle bore traces of extremely ancient and severely eroded runes. These runes bore a subtle resemblance to the records of high elf sealing techniques he had previously seen in the ancient books of the Court of Life, but were more primitive and—dangerous.

"This place may have been a sealed place long ago," Kate speculated. "It sealed something, and now, a dark force has corrupted it and is instead exploiting its structure."

Just then, Amber seemed to discover something. She crouched down and carefully brushed away a layer of ash, revealing a small patch of relatively clean ground underneath.

"Kate, look!" she whispered, pointing to several blurry marks on the ground.

Those appeared to be several footprints, larger and deeper than the light fairy's footprints, with unnatural charred marks on the edges, as if the life force of the place had been instantly burned away.

"These are... elven footprints? But not our light elves'!" Amber's voice was filled with shock and confusion. "Judging by the direction, they came from inside the stone circle—but how could an elf possibly come out from there?"

Kate's heart sank.

An elf entered the Dark Core region? And came out alive? This is definitely not a good thing.

He immediately examined the footprints carefully, and the Seed of Origin recorded their unique energy residue.

[Footprint Analysis: Contains highly dark, homogeneous energy; life signs are weak and distorted, accompanied by strong decaying fluctuations. Judgment: Not an normal spirit; most likely deeply corrupted or even controlled by this dark energy.]

"They are not normal elves anymore, Amber," Kate said gravely. "They have most likely become the Dark Servants."

Amber's face turned pale instantly, her eyes filled with unbelievable fear and grief.

Following the direction of the footprints, they left the unsettling, twisted stone formation and headed towards their next destination—"The Reverse Waterfall".

Along the way, the bleak scenes of erosion became increasingly shocking.

The trees have been completely transformed into gray-white, fragile sculptures, the ground is covered with a thick carpet of fungi, and visible gray fluff floats in the air.

Amber, relying on its memory and a faint sense of the earth's energy, struggled to discern the direction.

Finally, they heard the sound of water, but it was not the clear gurgling of flowing water; instead, it was a dull, viscous, strange sound, like surging mud.

We've arrived at the waterfall against the current.

The scene before them once again challenged their understanding.

The so-called waterfall is no longer clear water, but has turned into a thick, grayish-black viscous liquid that shimmers with an ominous glow, defying gravity and slowly "flowing" upwards into a huge, pulsating, disgusting vesicle above that is blocked by the dark substance.

The pool beneath the waterfall has transformed into a bubbling, dark green swamp that reeks of a mixture of sulfur and decay.

The same strange footprints were found by the pool, clearer and with some grayish-brown skin flakes visible at the edges.

"Water—the spirit of water has been completely corrupted—" Amber's voice was choked with sobs as the scene before her eyes shattered her last remaining beautiful memories of her home.

Despite her physical and mental discomfort, Kate moved closer to observe.

He discovered that the grayish-black liquid flowing upstream contained an extremely concentrated energy of death and decay, which was undergoing some kind of concentration and transformation within the vesicle.

"This is an energy collection and purification point," Kate judged. "It absorbs and transforms the energy from the earth's veins and water veins to supply the Dark."

Similarly, on the rock wall beside the waterfall, he also found some severely corroded traces of ancient guiding runes, similar in style to the runes of the Twisted Stone Circle, but with a greater emphasis on energy guidance.

"These ancient facilities have been exploited in a shady and rebellious way."

Kate felt a sense of unease. "It didn't appear out of thin air; it cleverly utilized the structure of the forest itself!"

There seem to be more clues, but the source remains shrouded in mystery. The Twisted Stone Circle and the Reverse Waterfall are both important nodes, but neither is the original "starting point of cancer."

Just as Kate was racking her brains and feeling stuck, Amber suddenly let out a very low gasp, grabbed his sleeve, and pointed to a shadowy area on the other side of the pool.

"There's movement over there!"

Kate immediately focused her gaze.

Two figures slowly emerged from the shadows on the opposite bank.

Their figures still vaguely resembled elves, dressed in tattered and filthy elven garments, but their skin was a deathly gray color, and their eyes were empty and lifeless, shimmering with a faint, cold gray light.

Their movements were stiff and slow, their bodies shrouded in a thick, dark aura. Numbly, they used tools that were completely assimilated by the darkness and resembled black crystals to scrape off some kind of grayish-black condensate seeping from the rock wall, then mechanically fed it into a basket made of twisted flesh and vines on their backs.

They completely ignored Kate and Amber's existence, as if they were just two soulless puppets with pre-programmed routines.

"Nora—Russell—" Amber recognized them, her voice broken, filled with endless sorrow and despair, "They were—the guards who used to patrol this area—they actually—"

These are the owners of those footprints.

They were indeed assimilated by the darkness, becoming servants who had lost their self-awareness, and even collecting "nourishment" for the darkness under the drive of instinct.

The scene before us cruelly confirmed our worst suspicions.

"We must stop them—" Amber's voice trembled with grief, but she raised the branch staff in her hand, her eyes glistening with tears and determination, "We cannot let them serve—serve that thing any longer—"

Kate pressed down on her shoulders and said in a low voice, "They are no longer your people, Amber. Releasing them is the only mercy."

His eyes sharpened, and the space around him rippled slightly.

"Spatial flicker!"

The next moment, Kate appeared directly behind the two elven servants enslaved by the darkness.

Their reaction was extremely slow; they only stiffly tried to turn around when Kate intervened.

"Resisting Death, Finding Peace".

Kate placed her hands on their backs, and a highly concentrated yet incredibly precise force of death power surged in, precisely extinguishing the pitiful, distorted, and corrupted remnants of their souls, while also completely purifying the active, dark energy.

The two elven servants stiffened abruptly, and then the cold gray light in their eyes completely disappeared. Their stiff bodies collapsed to the ground, quickly turning into ashes and dissipating into the air, leaving only a few faint wisps of purified natural energy, as if they had finally been freed.