Chrysalis

Chapter 1403: Corruption Wakes Chapter 1403: Corruption Wakes

Deep in the Dungeon, where the mana boiled and billowed, so thick the pressure of it could crush a man to death, a creature stirred from its deep sleep.

Tremors echoed out from the entity as its consciousness began to return. Flashes of sensation penetrated the dreams that still held its mind, great heat and slight discomfort after centuries without moving. In small increments, wakefulness returned, sleep relinquishing its grip.

It was a difficult thing, to awaken from such depths, and the creature idly wondered, as it lazed in a state of half-awake, half-asleep, just how long the process had already taken.

Months perhaps. Years, maybe. It didn't matter. This process had repeated itself many times over already, and would repeat many times more, unless the twentieth was found and the prison was finally broken.

Mana surged out from the core, an unfathomable torrent of power, and the creature sucked it in greedily. As the energy poured through its limbs, the creature rose steadily to consciousness, finally bursting through and opening its eyes.

Theorazzn was awake.

The Decaying World stirred alongside its master. A thick soup of toxin, poison, acid and decay, even mana itself was not immune from its corruption, the energy breaking apart, rotting, then reforming into something new. In this place, all things were remade in Theorazzn's image.

One by one, the Ancient stirred each of its limbs. Thick and powerful, each of the five arms flexed, drinking in the foulness that drenched them and using it to strengthen themselves. From beneath its massive body, ten legs unfolded and tested the ground, pushing Theorazzn up as its eyes extended atop long stalks.

At once, a dominating aura swept through the Decaying World, sending the denizens of that place fleeing into their dens, using their cunning and skills to conceal themselves. These were the most toxic and poisonous monsters in the entire Dungeon, yet they knew what to do when the Ancient was awake: hide. For those who were caught by Theorazzn, only the most dreadful of fates awaited.

trying to grasp what had changed over the passage of time. Hunger was there, deep within, a yawning void that would need to be filled, but that could wait, for the moment. First, the Ancient would listen,

another consciousness reach out to its own, a tenuous connection that limited contact between the two vast

[You have awoken, Theorazzn?]

rattled like the dying

to take

second. The Father of Monsters growled, a flash of savage teeth snapping across their

hunt has gone well. This

trickle of interest. For Odren to say this much, the old monster must have caught something with real potential. Perhaps there was a chance for them after all? A way out of this

else is

that. Lerrewyn is

A pause.

stirring also,] Odren

a moment, creating a void occupied only by

any anger, [I have not spoken

why…] Odren wondered, but Theorazzn could practically feel the fellow

continued, [it won't be long