Malcolm's control forced Raine out of the town's confines.
The trees of the Twilight Forest bled an unnatural dark red, their cracked bark oozing resin that smelled sickly sweet and metallic.
With every step Raine took, his boots sank into the soft, decomposed earth beneath—an unsettling sensation that reminded him of the necrotic tissue he'd once felt during anatomy lessons.
The crystal embedded in his left chest burned hotter as they ventured deeper into the woods. When the first moonlight pierced the canopy, Raine caught sight of the obsidian altar entwined with thick vines. Suspended above its center floated a massive, rotting heart, its surface marred by festering sores and spiderweb-like black veins.
"The Corrupted Heart of Aeona," came the old elf's voice behind him. "A sacred relic, tainted by the Abyss a thousand years ago."
Suddenly, green veins from Raine's chest crystal extended outward like a healer's probing tendrils, delicately inspecting the decayed heart. The data it fed back made his stomach churn—the heart still beat, yet every contraction siphoned the forest's life force. The stolen energy pooled in its chambers, transforming into thick, black pus-like blood.
"It's finally here—the perfect sacrifice." Malcolm's shadowy hand coiled around Raine's throat, and a fetid black mist hissed across his face. "Do you know why both the Church and the Council hunt you so relentlessly?"
The shadow plunged into the crystal on Raine's chest. A searing pain buckled him to his knees, but the cruelest agony came with the flood of truth that poured into his mind—the Corrupted Heart was birthing a new dark god, and the crystal embedded in Raine was the only vessel strong enough to contain its divine essence.
"Diagnosis complete." Raine's voice suddenly echoed with a metallic resonance. Green veins wove themselves into an intricate sigil across his skin. "Treatment protocol: Divine Purification."
His hands liquefied into shimmering crystal, piercing the major vessels of the Corrupted Heart. The entire forest trembled as roots burst through the soil, intertwining like intravenous tubes connecting to his back. Raine felt countless strands of life energy flow through him, purified by his body—taint absorbed by the crystal, purity returned to the earth.
Around the altar, a jade cocoon of light rose, inscribed with ancient elven runes:
Purification Progress: 50%
Sacrifice: Soul of Raine Crow
Warning: The kindness and reason within humanity are fading
The blind old elf shed tears of blood, trembling fingers tracing the symbol of life with the precision of one who has practiced a thousand times. "Hold on, child," her voice suddenly youthful, "remember Gray Weasel's warning…"
Raine's eyes widened as he grasped the meaning behind the numbers. Clenching his teeth against the agony, he forced his heartbeat steady at 120 beats per minute. This rhythm unexpectedly harmonized with the altar's heart, causing the blackened sores on its surface to begin sloughing off.
At that moment, Selina led the Judgment Knights crashing through the thicket. As her silver blade swung toward Raine within the light cocoon, the sword's metal suddenly sprouted the same glowing green veins as Raine's chest crystal. Selina stared in horror as her prosthetic limb began to crumble; the fallen metal parts took root and blossomed with silver flowers.
"No… this can't be…" Malcolm's shadow form began to unravel. "The prophecy never mentioned this…"
Suspended in the vortex of energy, Raine felt the memories of his past life slipping away, replaced by the pulse of all living things in the forest. In his final lucid moment, he made a desperate gamble—sealing a portion of his consciousness deep within the crystal core, like a patient hiding a dose of medicine inside a false tooth.
When the purified heart beat its first clear pulse, elves across the continent heard the ancient god's sorrowful sigh. Meanwhile, in the cellar of a dilapidated apothecary in the Lower District, a newborn mushroom glowed faintly with emerald light.