Chapter 141 (Book 4 Chapter 18) (Patreon)

Two more hours passed as the allied coalition descended further into Dhalerune Mines. The Corruption had thickened to the point of being partially visible, tiny particles floating through the air like black fireflies. Thankfully, it wasn't so dense that it overpowered the anti-Corruption Amulets, but Rob wasn't sure how long those would hold out. They'd never been stress tested to this degree before. It was a constant worry on everyone's minds – if the Amulets did start to fail, things would get complicated very, very quickly. Rob didn't have enough Hazmat Suits in his Spatial Storage for thirty-five people.

On the bright side, they hadn't been ambushed again. Either the Blight was fresh out of foot soldiers to throw at them, or it was saving more in reserve for the grand finale. Rob wasn't sure which. The optimal strategy would have been for the Blight to save all of its minions until the end, letting ambient Corruption eat away at the coalition before assailing them with the combined might of the Blight's horde, but Rob wouldn't be surprised if it'd just blown its load early. Sometimes the Blight got a little too eager and excited, resulting in performance issues. Happens to everybody.

While fortunate, the lack of action left Rob with nothing better to do. Riardin's Rangers could only go over the same battle strategies for so long before their brains began to atrophy. Eventually, Rob decided he might as well contact Elder Alessia and clarify a few things.

Message Started Between Party Members: Rob, Alessia
Rob: quick question
Rob: why'd you get aggressive with the stonewarden earlier?
Alessia: You did the same when he refused to inform you what lay beyond the forbidden tunnel.
Rob: well, yeah, but it was probly a bad idea
Rob: ur supposed to be smarter than me
Rob: dont we need to be playing nice with him?
Alessia: To a certain extent.
Alessia: I mean no offense when I say that you, Rob, are still a novice in the realm of political intrigue.
Alessia: The Stonewarden is concealing his true intentions under a veneer of civility.
Rob: i know, he's made it obv that he's hiding stuff
Alessia: I'm not referring to the Thunder Rods or the tunnel.
Alessia: Those are mere surface-level issues.
Alessia: What the Stonewarden is attempting to accomplish when speaking with you is to establish a baseline for future interactions.
Alessia: He's intelligent. He knows that this is likely the start of a long and fruitful relationship between Dwarven territory and Fiend territory.
Alessia: And you, as their nominal ambassador, will shape the nature of that relationship.
Alessia: Unintentionally or otherwise.
Alessia: By giving orders and probing for information, the Stonewarden seeks to place you into a subservient role. Even if you hold your ground, his verbiage will put you on the defensive and make you appear slightly more unreasonable to the other Dwarves.
Alessia: He's fully aware that you desire peace. With every interaction that ends with you rebuffing his overtures of cooperation, you'll begin to subconsciously feel as if you 'owe' him something.
Alessia: You should also take note of how he often includes your name in his rally speeches to the Dwarves, framing Purge Corruption as a strategic asset under his control. By doing so, he siphons a portion of your glory, as if your accomplishments are his own.
Alessia: Think of it as a form of posturing disguised as outwardly innocent remarks.

Rob sent an ugly glare at the Stonewarden, who was at the front of their march. He hoped that the Dwarf could feel two laser eye-beams of annoyance burrowing into the back of his head.

Message Continued
Rob: thats kind of a dick move
Alessia: Any Leader worth their salt would do the same.
Alessia: With that in mind, I stepped in and pushed against him for two reasons.
Alessia: First, to diffuse some of the pressure he was foisting onto you.
Alessia: While your antics have done an admirable job of disrupting his subterfuge, they were reaching their limit.
Alessia: Second, to show that we refuse to be manipulated, and that I am both aware and unamused by his attempts.
Alessia: While not all of the Dwarves understood my implicit message, the Stonewarden did.

Rob nodded. It made sense. He considered what Elder Alessia had said, another question coming to mind.

Message Continued
Rob: thanks for the help
Rob: one last thing tho
Rob: you said 'any Leader worth their salt', but
Rob: as far as I can tell
Rob: the elven seneschal isnt doing backhanded stuff like this
Alessia: No, he is not.
Alessia: I'm under the impression that he gave up on projecting any semblance of cordiality long ago, after it failed to produce results.
Alessia: He prefers actions over words. Be useful to him, and to the Elves, and he will continue our alliance.
Alessia: Even as he hates you.
Rob: sure, i can roll with that

Oddly enough, Rob felt more at ease after his talk with Elder Alessia. While she'd essentially told him that the Stonewarden was trying to box him into a corner, the fact that she'd noticed at all was reassuring. With Diplomacy temporarily out of action, that was the kind of political acumen they needed to survive the mire of inter-nation bullshit this trip was turning into. Otherwise they'd...

"...Wait," Rob abruptly said, projecting his voice across the passageway. "Something's up ahead." The allied coalition stopped in its tracks, then hunkered down, waiting for Rob to speak as he focused on interpreting Sense Corruption. "Hard to tell with all the ambient Corruption in the air, but...yeah. There's definitely some outliers in the next passageway. More Corruption than a standard infected monster, less Corruption than Silviel."

Everyone immediately went on high alert. Whatever was waiting for them, they wouldn't be caught unawares a second time. Too many soldiers had died already – the Dwarven contingent was going to make damn sure that they didn't lose anyone else.

Of course, Rob was positive that plenty more would die before the day was over, but he wasn't about to puncture the gradually-deflating balloon that was their morale. Nor could he afford to feel guilty about potentially leading lambs to the slaughter. They were soldiers who knew the risks of a mission like this, and he had his own Party to worry about.

Once they were prepared, the allied coalition crept forward, approaching the adjacent passageway with caution. All was quiet, which meant absolutely nothing. It'd been quiet in the moments preceding the last ambush, too. They held their breath, stepping lightly, ready for twisted abominations to jump out of the shadows-

"Stop." Rob held out his arm to forestall them. "It's..." He trailed off.

"Do you recognize what the influx of Corruption belongs to?" the Stonewarden asked.

Rob lowered his head. He replied several seconds later, unable to procrastinate any longer. "...Yes."

They waited for him to elaborate. Rob almost told the Dwarves to stay here and let him handle things, hoping to spare them from a sight they'd never forget, but he knew they wouldn't agree to that. Instead, he informed them of who was waiting up ahead, slouching dejectedly when the Dwarves took off running.

Cries of horror echoed through the Mines soon after. It was an emotion that Rob wholeheartedly empathized with.

He'd felt the same way on a daily basis during the Corruption epidemic.

Catching up, the rest of the coalition entered the next passageway to find a small cavern with Dwarven bones strewn about. There were enough to fit at least two dozen bodies, and that wasn't counting the errant fragments that had been chewed to pieces and partially devoured. Rob carefully stepped over the scattered piles, his face set in a grim mask of determination as he approached the real reason that the Dwarves had cried out.

On the side wall, eight flesh-and-blood Dwarves were sitting in a line, barely breathing and completely motionless. At a distance, it was difficult to tell if they were even alive. Corruption pulsed off their bodies in waves, wrinkling Rob's nose like he'd smelt a landfill of raw sewage. The Dwarven soldiers crowded around, panic rising as they tried and failed to rouse their fallen brethren from their torpor.

Switching to a triage mindset, Rob rapid-cast Identify, categorizing five of them under 'point of no return' and three of them under 'salvageable'. Frankly, considering the state they were in, three was already a miracle. For non-Fiends to be so thoroughly infected with Corruption, the Blight itself must have gotten up close and personal for an extended period of time. These Dwarves matched the absolute worst of the Fiends he'd treated during his tenure as a de facto paramedic.

Rob moved forward, gently pushing aside bereaved soldiers to stand at the front of the crowd. "Him, him, and her," he said, pointing at each of the salvageable Dwarves in turn. "I can help them. The rest...I'm sorry. They're gone."

Most of the soldiers trembled with anguish, but they didn't oppose his judgement. The remaining five patients had the Status Effect 'Brain Death', and when looking into their eyes, it was apparent that there was nothing left within those empty gazes. No amount of magic or Skills could fix that.

"At the risk of sounding crass," Elder Alessia said, "we need to discern what transpired here before it becomes a risk to us as well. Do you know these Dwarves, Grant?"

The Stonewarden nodded with a rigid, tightly-constrained motion. "Their group consists of both the Miners who went missing and the scouting troops that never reported back. It...may be worth noting that some of the scouts are still unaccounted for."

Everyone glanced at the bones laying on the floor – except for Rob, who was hard at work stabilizing the three Dwarves. While fully Purging their Corruption would take time and care, removing a small portion right away would keep them from dying to a stiff breeze. As it stood, the Dwarves couldn't have had more than single-digit maximum HP.

That's one down, Rob thought, as he moved on to patient #2. For now. Purging all of their Corruption will take...

Too long, he realized. Every minute they spent in Dhalerune Mines was dangerous, giving the Blight further opportunity to strike against them. It would also cut into his still-regenerating Purge Corruption energy stores, and he wanted that to be as high as possible for when he gave the Blight a friendly house call. From a pragmatic standpoint, the most optimal solution would be to finish stabilizing the Dwarves, then leave them behind, wallowing in their pain and susceptible to any infected monster that happened to be passing by.

Before the impending moral quandary could start to torment him, Rob did what any aspiring politician would have, and shamelessly passed the buck. "Stonewarden?" he began. "I've got an update for you." He explained the situation in full detail, including the time constraints and exactly how agonizing it was to be infected with significant amounts of Corruption.

The Stonewarden closed his eyes, falling into deep thought. "Can you improve their condition to a degree where they've regained their capacity for speech?"

"Already on it."

"Then speak, they shall. I will not make any decision on their behalf without first hearing their input."

Rob whistled internally. Passing the buck to half-dead sickies? That's a level of shamelessness I can only hope to achieve someday. It worked, though, the Dwarven contingent seeming satisfied with his magnanimity. As Rob finished stabilizing Patient #3, Patient #1 finally cracked open his eyes, a shuddering breath escaping his throat.

"Be at ease," the Stonewarden said, in a kindly tone. "We are here to-"

"Kill me."

The coalition froze. Patient #1's voice was incredibly faint, no louder than a gentle breeze rustling a single blade of grass, but it cut through the silence like a scream in the dead of night. "Kill me," he repeated, with the same cadence as before. "Please."

"I can heal you," Rob said, emphasizing his words in a practiced manner. This wasn't the first patient he'd encountered who wished for the sweet release of death. To someone infected with significant Corruption, the notion of things getting better often felt like an unattainable dream. "I know how much pain you're in right now, but I swear on my life that it isn't permanent."

"You don't...understand." Patient #1 raised a trembling finger and weakly tapped his chest. "Creature. Beyond comprehension. Invaded our bodies. Tried to fit. Wear us like a glove."

He shivered from head to toe. "Left things behind."

Rob immediately focused Sense Corruption on the Dwarves. Beneath the mass of writhing darkness polluting their souls, there was something...else.

Something gestating.

"Tell me, Human," Patient #1 wheezed. "...Hah. A Human. Never thought I'd see..." He coughed once. "Tell me. Can you remove the things? And even if you did...would I be like before?"

Rob didn't answer. Whatever the Blight had left behind was entrenched deep within the Dwarf's soul. As long as it was born of Corruption, Rob could theoretically remove it, but doing so would take a great deal of effort and likely cause irreparable harm in the process. The gestating somethings were new threats, requiring a new approach, and pioneering an invasive soul-based medical procedure wasn't exactly easy. Mistakes would be made; he'd learned as much during the beginning of the Corruption epidemic.

"Hesitation," the Dwarf whispered. A smile flickered across his expression. "Tells all." He glanced at the Stonewarden. "Take no risks. Kill me. Let me offer my EXP. Use my death to slay the beast that ruined us."

A surge of excitement overtook Rob, urging him to take the Dwarf up on his offer and slip a knife between his ribs. In the moment it took Rob to force the feeling down, the Dwarves were already nodding in solemn agreement, as if preparing for a funeral rite.

"Hold the fucking phone," Rob spat out. "I didn't say it was impossible. Just-"

"If you fail," the Stonewarden interrupted, "we lose time, resources, and the Blight-sown seeds within their bodies might bloom." His posture stiffened. "This is not the decision I'd hoped to make, but in war, sacrifices must be made."

"Burn us."

Rob did a double-take when he realized who the statement had come from. Patient #2 was awake and staring at them, his eyes wide open. "Burn us afterwards," he whispered. "Just to be safe." Next to him, Patient #3 nodded, her expression a mixture of determination and acceptance.

"Christ." Rob jerked away, scratching the back of his head. He checked Riardin's Rangers, and they seemed perturbed as well, although not quite as much as he was. "Is this some Dwarven honor thing?" he laughed, anxiety creeping into his voice.

"They wish to protect their homeland," the Stonewarden said, quietly but firmly. "Do not denigrate their resolve."

Without another word, Rob turned around and walked into the corner of the room. Riardin's Rangers sent him concerned Messages, to which he replied quickly and honestly: he just didn't want to watch what was about to happen next. While he'd never taken an official doctor's oath, after combating Corruption infections for months on end, throwing in the towel when sick patients needed him went against everything he stood for. Guess I was fooling myself when I tried passing the buck.

His train of thought screeched to a halt. Wait. That's what I'm so upset about? A vague sense of obligation being broken? Not...the actual people about to die? Rob searched inside himself, relieved when he found a core of empathy yet untouched by the horrors of Elatra. He still cared for the common man. A part of him would mourn these three Dwarves he wasn't allowed to save.

But when it came down to it, death was no longer a stranger to him. Over the last nine months, hundreds of people had died in front of his eyes. He couldn't pretend that he was as shocked by witnessing senseless loss of life as when he first came to Elatra. Hell, for an instant there, he'd wanted to be the one to accept the Dwarf's EXP.

Hopefully that was more because of Leveling High's influence than his own desires.

I'm still me, Rob thought, mostly believing it. He'd changed, and not all for the better, but when he returned to Earth, his friends and family wouldn't look at him as if he was an impostor. At his core, he was Rob, and that was good enough for him. Dwelling on it any further would only lead him down a mental rabbit hole – that he didn't have Diplomacy to pull him out of anymore.

Rob waited in silence while the soldiers carried out their task, granting merciful deaths as promised. Minutes later, eight Dwarven bodies were set aflame on a pyre, the gestating things nestled within exploding like popcorn kernels. At Rob's insistence, the bodies were immolated once more, reduced to ashes without a hint of unnatural life hidden inside. If the Dwarves were going to go as far as sacrificing themselves, Rob was going to ensure that their Corruption died with them.

It was the least he could do.

After a brief eulogy given by the Stonewarden, the allied coalition set off again. They marched in silence, tongues stifled by the events of the past few hours. Rob could tell that the fates of Silviel and the captive Dwarves were weighing heavily on the Stonewarden's contingent. If the Blight's intent was to demoralize them, then its plan had been a resounding success.

Regardless, the coalition trudged on. They had no other choice; their business was yet unfinished.

The final stretch of Dhalerune Mines awaited.

--

"We're here."

They'd arrived at a mine shaft like any other. There weren't any distinct markings or landmarks to set it apart. According to Stonewarden Grant, they weren't even close to the end of the Mines.

None of that changed the fact that they were here. Rob could Sense what rested within the next passageway, right outside of view.

A Locus, and the abomination that Corrupted it.

"It's just...sitting there," Rob explained, the allied coalition hanging on his every word. "Or maybe standing? Hard to tell. Too much ambient Corruption in the air – I can't get a read on its body type."

"But it is the Blight?" the Seneschal asked.

"Oh yeah." He grimaced. "Way more Corruption in its form than Silviel. Can't be anything else."

"How does it compare in strength to the other Blights you've encountered?"

Rob paused, almost afraid to speak the truth in case it emboldened the universe to try and prove him wrong. "Weak, honestly. Way below the matured Blight of Broadwater City. Several notches below the newborn from The Village, even."

The allied coalition exchanged glances. While Rob's findings were fantastic news, it wasn't at all what they'd expected. Blights only grew in strength over time, and this particular Blight had absorbed the Locus at least a week ago.

"It may have weakened itself via its own actions," the Stonewarden posited. "Silviel's possessor mentioned that it was a splinter from the collective. Perhaps the Blight broke off a portion of its essence when experimenting on the captives."

Vevrandi held her axe in a white-knuckled grip. "Despicable, vile creature. Why would the Blight have gone that far simply to seize control of Dwarven bodies?"

Because of a whim, Rob thought. It had been curious, wishing to know more about the Heartkiller, a mortal who'd managed to strike back in a way that truly hurt. And what better way to learn more about your enemy than to converse with them in their native tongue?

Rob wasn't about to say all that out loud. He had enough tact to recognize that 'your sister suffered because the Blight wanted to chat with me' was probably a detail he should keep to himself. It did, however, remind him of something important.

"The Blight knows we're coming," he stated, addressing the coalition as a whole. "It prepared the ambush, then Silviel, then the captives, knowing the route we'd take."

The Seneschal let out a displeased grunt. "As straightforward as it may sometimes be, the Blight is planning more than it did in the past. I'm not sure I like that trend."

"Wonderful," Elder Alessia deadpanned. "To summarize: its form can be anything, it has anticipated our arrival, and retreating will be difficult once we attack due to the Mine's narrow passageways. Strategies relying on subtlety are likely to prove ineffective." A serene smile spread across her face. "With all that considered, our path is clear."

At her words, the allied coalition readied their weapons. They exchanged wordless glances, everyone coming to the same conclusion. The Stonewarden raised his hammer into the air and held it there for a single, tense second.

"Charge."

Riardin's Rangers, Elder Alessia, the Elven Seneschal, and twenty-five pissed off Dwarves stampeded forth. Outside of the higher-Leveled, higher-Vitality people being placed at the front, there was no rhyme or reason to their assault – just a shared rampage of emotions and intent. If this Blight actually was weak, then they would overwhelm it with raw power before it could mount a defense. And if it wasn't, and this was a trap...

They'd find a way to kill it anyway.

The passage led out into a massive cavern, hundreds of feet wide and tall, by far the largest in Dhalerune Mines they'd seen. A thrum of contaminated energy pulsated from the center of the room, spewing particles of Corruption like a heartbeat circulated blood. There was nothing visible to the naked eye, yet Rob could feel the call of the Locus tugging at his mind. It was there, imprisoned, waiting to be set free.

A hulking figure towered over it. Rob couldn't help but pause when he saw the Blight's form, appearing similar to a tree, of all things. Thin, darkened 'bark' stretched upwards, dividing off into multiple separate branches that shrouded the Locus in a tender embrace. Its branches – its limbs – creaked dangerously as they moved, so brittle that they seemed as if they might break apart at the slightest touch.

And then, without warning, they did just that. The Blight collapsed, its branches and bark snapping into twigs as they fell to a heap on the floor.

LONELY.

Rob winced as the Blight's eldritch speech stabbed his eardrums. A moment later, the cavern started shaking violently, knocking a good chunk of the allied coalition off their feet. For the first time since they'd entered Dhalerune Mines, Rob was legitimately worried the Mines were about to collapse, prompting him to hover his mental finger over Waymark. The shaking only got worse and worse, rising in intensity, the walls cracking as-

COMMUNION.

Sense Corruption began to scream.

In the distance, a presence approached. It tore through solid rock like nothing, going from the far edge of Rob's Sense Corruption range to being shockingly close in a matter of seconds. He instinctively reached for Keira's hand, the two of them holding each other for comfort as their worst nightmares became realized.

A second fucking Blight burst upwards through the ground, showering everyone with debris, its skin glistening and raw. The creature slithered towards the crumbled first Blight – which was increasingly looking like it'd been bait – and hurriedly enveloped it. Both abominations mashed together, their combined mass reshaping like clay, forming a blackened monstrosity with too many legs and branches whipping about like crooked tentacles.

WHOLE AGAIN.

Rob shivered as he Sensed an outpouring of Corruption suffuse the area, feeling the grim reaper's scythe poised over his neck. Even with Purge Corruption, Rob knew that he couldn't win. He wouldn't get the chance to activate it before being eviscerated into tiny giblets. This Blight, in its rejoined form, was leagues stronger than the newborn from The Village.

And there was no Dragon Queen to kill it this time.

Discordant cackling rang out through the cavern. As the abomination laughed, exulting in the joy of communion, Rob fought to stand his ground, every shred of his survival instinct telling him to RUN.

Keira's hand gripped tighter.

...Thanks, he thought, gripping back. Rob used that moment of borrowed calm to center himself, taking stock of their situation. The Blight was...terrifying, yeah, no two ways about it. He couldn't win on his own. But he wasn't on his own, was he? That was the whole damn point of forming an allied coalition. Individually, they were screwed.

Together, they could win.

With muted surprise, Rob belatedly noticed that he wasn't the only one who'd been stunned into inaction. Pretty much everyone in the coalition seemed to be rethinking their life choices. Even the Leaders and Elder Alessia were frozen, unsure of how to proceed, despite the sole path forward being blindingly obvious.

Apparently, someone had to be that initial idiot who took the first step.

Might as well be him.

"Charge," Rob echoed, summoning a weapon and making good on his word.

--

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