Chapter 95 The Black Veins
The shower in our apartment was hot, but it couldn't wash away the cold.
I scrubbed my skin until it was raw, trying to get the phantom sensation of the sewer sludge off me. The water swirled down the drain, clear and clean, but in my mind, it was black. Thick, oily, and alive.
When I left the room, I put a towel around my body, but Ryker had already put on his clothes. He sat on the edge of the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands. He was staring at the lead box on the nightstand—the box that held the Void Heart.
He had not opened the box yet. He simply stood there and stared at the box while he waited to see it move.
Ryker spoke in a quiet voice without raising his gaze to meet my eyes. The moment I heard him speaking his name, I turned and walked toward him to sit down beside him.
His muscles were tight, coiled like springs. I asked about the Void Heart. Ryker explained that he had experienced a pull when we saw the root in the tunnel. He explained to Elara that he had experienced recognition of something he saw from far away.
He turned to look at me, his golden eyes shadowed with a new kind of fear. The root he found had two components that made it unique according to his whisper to me. The element he discovered was actually his own blood that had had its magical powers taken away from it when he was Hollow.
We buried it, I confirmed with strong determination, yet I felt a wave of dread. The tunnel has been destroyed because we sealed all its entrances. The tunnel has vanished from existence.
Ryker walked to the window after he questioned whether the object existed. He looked out at the glowing city. The band-aid treatment we applied failed to stop our need for medical treatment.
A loud ringing sound from the communications device stopped our conversation. The person at the other end of the line was Kael.
Kael's voice had an urgent tone that made him sound different from his usual scientific way of speaking. He demanded that both Elara and Ryker come to the lab with him while he brought Baron and Ivy to witness the unbelievable event that was about to occur.
The Lab
We arrived at Kael's underground laboratory ten minutes later to witness the group standing together around the containment unit. The team had retrieved a black sludge sample from the sewer which they placed inside the glass containment box. The container held black sludge which showed active movement throughout the space. The creature moved up the glass walls of the container as if it was an insect that needed to escape. The creature created sizzling sounds when it touched the glass surface which resulted in faint etching marks that appeared on the surface.
Vane declared that the creature had an aggressive nature while he leaned in to observe the situation. The creature has started to consume the glass. The phenomenon exists because glass material lacks organic composition according to him.
Kael started to explain that the creature had eaten all of the space that glass occupied through his console controlling operations. Kael displayed an enlarged visual representation of the system on the primary display.
The visual display looked like a series of black lightning bolts that had created a jagged network. Kael ran all the tests he possessed which caused his face to become pale in the light of the display. The event did not involve virus transmission. The event did not involve fungus contamination. The corrupted state of mana became known as 'The Rot' which later developed into scientific terminology as anti-magic according to him.
Ivy did not want to go anywhere near the sample because she stood at the farthest distance from it while her body held her vines tightly against herself. The phenomenon developed root structures which resulted in spider creation according to her observation.
Kael explained that the system functions through the ability to copy living entities. The system exists because it needs to consume existing materials. The process takes existing magical structures which function like your garden roots and our pipe water. The process then goes through a transformation process that changes existing materials into void materials.
Baron, the Wolf Alpha, crossed his arms. The scientist felt discomfort while present in the research area which was occupied by both science and magic.
The situation describes a poisonous material according to him. The method exists to eliminate the poisonous material through incineration. The process requires us to locate the source of the hazardous material while we proceed to destroy it through incineration. Fire has the capability to remove all substances.
The process requires multiple steps according to Ryker. The person stared at the black sludge with intense focus. The substance will create smoke when it undergoes combustion according to the person. The tunnel agreed with this statement. The smoke will bring about similar dangers as the original substance. People will undergo changes after they breathe it.
Kael was in the middle of completing the sentence when he explained about the changes that will occur. The first image appeared after he pressed a key. The second image showed the blood sample from the boy who had drunk the tainted water.
The red blood cells became targets for attackers. The tiny black specks began to latch onto the cells which caused them to change from their original color to grey. Grey color was their first stage of color change.
Kael explained the process of infection to people through his soft voice. The energy killed the host after it consumed their vital force. The boy isn't dead yet because he is transforming into a different being. He is transforming into a being from the Hollow.
The room went silent. The room went silent. Ryker looked at his hands-the hands that had once wielded the Void to save the city.
Ryker took responsibility for the event according to him. His voice showed no feelings when he spoke those words he expressed in a soft tone. I opened the door. The Void Heart allowed me to erase the Avatar, and I created a bridge through which darkness could enter.
He saved the world according to me while I stood between him and his guilt. The event happened because you were not aware of what would happen next.
Ignorance is not a defense according to Ryker. The result of my actions led to me inviting enemies to our territory.
At that moment, the lab's red emergency lights began to flash. The siren produced a low rhythmic sound that indicated someone had entered the area without permission.
Ryker demanded a report while he resumed his command position. Commander Jaxon spoke through the speakers who sounded out of breath.
The Northern Gate has a critical problem which needs our immediate attention according to him. The agricultural sector needs our urgent attention according to him.
The agricultural sector needs our urgent attention according to him. Ryker questioned whether a riot situation existed.
Jaxon yelled at him while gunfire could be heard in the background, which caused all of his viewers to understand the situation. The corn has begun its awakening process, yet it has turned into an incorrect state. The corn has started to awaken.
Ryker decided to head toward the location where he would assemble his containment team. Nobody is allowed to leave that area.
He took up his sword. He looked at me, then at Baron and Ivy.
We have reached the final moment according to him. The war has not reached its conclusion. It has simply moved to another battlefield.
The Cornfield
We took the hover-car to the Northern Gate. The air revealed the full extent of the corruption.
The agricultural sector was the pride of the Terrarium—acres of genetically modified corn and wheat that grew overnight, fed by Ivy’s magic. The landscape appeared as a vast ocean of golden and green.
A scar had opened up in the middle of the field.
The irrigation ditch released a black vein that spread outwards. The black water touched every corn plant which mutated instead of dying.
The stalks turned obsidian black. The leaves became sharp like blades. The cobs split open to show their yellow teeth which appeared jagged.
Baron stepped out of the car and whispered, "By the Ancients."
The cornfield was writhing. The cornfield produced a hissing sound.
A squad of Grey Knights was firing flamethrowers into the field, trying to hold back the tide. The stalks that they burned generated two new ones which grew from the ash and became taller and angrier.
Jaxon shouted to "Hold the line!" while he shot his shotgun at a vine which whipped towards him.
Ryker yelled above the flame noise to Ivy. "Can you control it? Can you turn it back?
Ivy advanced through the space while she raised both of her hands. Her eyes shone with a green light. She sent her magical power into the soil for plant connection.
Ivy commanded all existence to "Sleep! Return to the earth!"
The black corn paused. The black corn seemed to hear something.
A ripple went through the field. A deep, guttural laugh sound echoed from the ground which made our bodies tremble.
The black corn attacked.
The soldiers received no attack from it. The creature attacked Ivy's magical powers.
A huge black tendril emerged from the ground to grab Ivy's ankle.
The corruption touched her skin so she screamed "No!"
The object did not burn her. It turned her into something different.
I witnessed with horror as Ivy's arm vines transformed from green to grey and then to black. The flowers in her hair withered and rotted in seconds.
"Cut it off!" Ryker roared.
He moved with blinding speed. He didn't try to untangle her. He swung his Star-Metal sword.
SHINK.
He detached the black root from its attachment point.
Ivy gasped while she fell backward. The black infection stopped spreading on her skin but it left permanent grey scars on her body.
Ryker stood between Ivy and the field. He held his sword out.
The cornfield shrieked. The wind produced a sound that resembled a thousand voices crying out together.
The shapes began to rise up from their positions.
They lifted themselves from the black mud which existed between the corn rows. The creatures appeared as human-like figures constructed from dirt and decomposing plants which black sludge held together. The creatures had no faces but they possessed gaping maws filled with darkness.
"Void Walkers," The voice of Kael whispered through my earpiece. "Elara, get out of there. My sensors are spiking. The field functions as a portal which attempts to draw every sector into the Deadlands.
I said that "We can't leave" while I drew my shock-baton weapon created by Vane.
Ryker looked back at us. His eyes appeared unyielding.
"Baron," Ryker commanded. "Get your wolves to the perimeter. Nothing crosses the road. If it moves, kill it.
Baron shifted into his massive wolf form while he growled "With pleasure. The howl he produced summoned his pack from the city shadows.
"Jaxon," Ryker continued. "Evacuate the civilians. Get them to the Spire.
"What about you, sir? Jaxon asked.
Ryker looked at the army of mud-monsters rising from the field. He examined the black veins which spread through the soil to corrupt the land he had sworn to protect.
He reached into his pocket. He didn't pull out the Void Heart. He pulled out a lighter.
"I will do some gardening" Ryker said.
He ignited his sword. The Star-Metal caught the flame, glowing with a fierce, orange heat.
"Elara," he said to me. "I need wind. A hurricane. Can you give it to me?
I stepped up beside him, the Origin Stone in my chest humming a warning. I ignored it.
"I can give you a tornado" I promised.
Ryker grinned. It was a sharp, dangerous grin. The Alpha who returned wore that grin.
"Good" Ryker said. "Let's burn it all down.