Chapter 464 Corrupting Gaze

The thorns and vines fired straight for Keng as his Light burned through the darkness. He had gotten into the Curse's Realm just as easily as he did before, but this time he had some new spells up his sleeve.

'These are spells listed in the Curse Tomes I scoured,' the writing started. 'Due to the nature of how our magic work, any beings that have the ability to manipulate similar/exact magic within the same group, share a collection of spells. The Saviors are no exception when it comes to this. Do your best to learn these, Savior. If you can get a feeling for how these spells feel, you'll be able to manipulate them freely. Each spell has been written down to be used as a guide. Dear Savior, can you master our many spells to fight against the Darkness?'

Thorns fired as vines rushed towards Keng. Keng flicked his wrist, continuing to move forward as gravity pushed the corruption away from him.

"Little Light, Little Light! Why do you run away?" The Dryad's sing-song voice called out. "Little Light, Little Light! Why do you go away? Come to me, come to me!"

'This place is half-baked.' Keng observed. The vines and thorns may have reacted to his presence, but not all of them were attacking him. The corruption was thicker, but something wasn't right. Keng dodged right, watching as a small group of vines and thorns washed over the spot he was at. Thorns and vines rocketed up to him in an instant, forcing Keng to block. 'Altered God Weapon Art: Orb of Pure Light.' Silver water and corrupted vines and thorns slammed into each other. Keng glided backwards, landing onto the ground. He quickly expanded his Light, rocketing the silver water in every direction as he spun on his heel and continued running.

"Where's the entrance?" Keng whispered. He looked left and right. Darkness went as far as his eye could see. Purple flames of energy flickered all around him. They were all too weak to be the place where the Dryad would reside. "What is it doing this time?"

"Little Light, Little Light, did you know?" The sing-song voice of the Dryad pierced through the noise. The vines and thorns moved past Keng forcing him to turn to watch as it created the shape of a humanoid woman. "After that boy Cursed me, things have gotten complicated. I found such a great energy source and now I'm trapped in this damn tree!" The vines and thorns exploded, revealing a pale purple skinned woman. Her upper-body was human while her lower half was a large collection of vines and thorns, resembling a snake.

"My form isn't even complete, yet!" The Dryad-snake shrieked. Her form continued to grow to be well over eight feet tall. Her thorny vine snake body curled at the end as she kept her upper-body above his. She definitely thought herself higher than Keng. "I could've made a complete recovery sooner if that Druid Priestess didn't sever my other high-value food source!"

Purple energy shimmered all around her. Fires spread all around them, creating a large circle. The Dryad-snake wanted him dead.

[Notice: Cursed Dryad is trying to dim your Light.]

"So you want me now?" Keng smirked. The Cursed Dryad tilted her head.

"You're barely a third of what they are! I'll squash your Light and become more resistant to your petty ways!" The Cursed Dryad's eyes started to grow bright purple as Keng twirled his weapons. The right dagger grew back into the sword as Keng's form shimmered brighter.

"Radiant Twin Sun." Three words was all it took for his form to completely change. The robe-like aura suddenly shifted and pulled closer together, mimicking his leather armor. It wrapped around his body, shimmering in Silver as his swords washed over with silver and gold runic script. Keng could feel the aura armor's power and it probably wasn't even close to being perfect.

'None of these new spells are going to be perfect.' Keng told himself. He tightened his grip on his swords. 'But it should pose some sort of threat to a Curse… Mark 2.' A silver displacement mark appeared at his feet. Keng darted right as the Cursed Dryad-snake turned to follow him.

"Corrupting Gaze!" The Cursed Dryad shouted. A bright flash of purple energy erupted from the Cursed Dryad's eyes.

"Displacement Mark 2." Keng blinked backwards, dodging the purple light as it washed over the entire area he was just in. Keng moved straight for the Dryad, swinging Hydrosphere at her. "Piercing Light!" The Cursed Dryad erupted in screams a searing burn flew across her body. The Dryad pulled back, dodging the second attack as Keng continued to swing at her.

Corrupted plants formed a shield, blocking the attacks. Silver flames burned the regenerating shield as the Dryad's wound burned. As much as she tried to heal it, it wouldn't heal. The Dryad fired off thorns, forcing Keng backwards as the purple flames fired at Keng from behind.

"Sphere of Hydran." The flames and water canceled each other out, causing steam and smoke to billow out. "Mark 2. Piercing Light." Keng retracted the sword back into a dagger, throwing it at the Dryad. Plants rose from the ground, grabbing the dagger as it exploded in fiery light.

"Mark 2." Keng blinked forward, grabbing the dagger as the Cursed Dryad threw her head backwards.

"Corrupting Gaze!" Another wave of purple light washed over the area in front of the Dryad. Keng could feel the Radiant armor fighting against the Curse's energy as his eyes began to grow purple veins. Keng flew backwards, landing on the ground as he forced his eyes shut.

"Argh!" Keng forced himself up as he tried to open his eyes. The corrupted energy forced his eyes shut. His ears twitched as the Dryad slithered forward.

"Vengeance Feast!" The Dryad leaped forward, flying straight for Keng as her entire form shimmered in dark purple She flew straight for Keng, slamming in to the ground as Keng narrowly dodged the attack, leaving his weapons behind.

[Blindness has been afflicted onto you.]

p "Did it do anything else?" Keng asked, sliding backwards.

[The Radiant Armor spell has negated all other effects except for Blindness. You have a higher chance of being inflicted more status effects from another Corrupting Gaze if the Cursed Dryad does it, again.]

"Then I guess we'll just have to suck it up. I don't have a way to cure blindness off the bat." Keng sighed. The Dryad shifted, catching Keng's attention.

'What is she gonna do now?' Keng wondered. His ears twitched as his aura began to shimmer. He jumped backwards, dodging an attack. The Dryad cursed as she continued to slash at Keng. Each dodge, released a small gravity blip. Keng could picture the entire area around him. He could feel the thorns and vines, he could feel the fire, he could even feel the Dryad. Thorns fired off somewhere to his right as the Dryad retracted backwards.

'Something's happening.' Keng thought.

"Corrupting Gaze!" The Dryad shouted. Purple energy condensed in her eyes as she lurched forward, releasing the purple light. Thorns rained straight down on Keng. He was in deep shit.

'Mix the spells.' Keng thought. He lifted his hands, gravity bubbling off his finger tips. 'Gravitum: Radiant Push.' Light and gravity bubbled out of his finger tips, erupting in a large bubble. The thorns disintegrated as the Corrupting Gaze's power seemed to push against Keng's mixed spell. The two energies fought against each other, pushing back and forth.

Keng grunted as he fought against the energy. His mind felt like it was going to split into tiny shards as he fought against the Corrupted Gaze. The Cursed Dryad screeched as she continued to force the energy out of her eyes.

"Repulsion." Keng flicked his finger, forcing the Dryad's head upwards as he dashed forward. "Radiant Bolt!" The energy condensed and wrapped around Hydrosphere as he stabbed forward. The sword flew into the Dryad, her entire body lighting up in lines of Light as Keng stabbed the other sword into her chest.

"ARGH!" The Cursed Dryad shrieked. She whipped backwards, slamming her tail straight into the side of Keng as she writhed around. Keng bounced onto the thorny vines, cutting himself as he forced himself to stand.

'Did I get her?' Keng wondered.

[Notice: Unstable Curse Energy is being released. You need to find a way out.]

'Is my first Displacement Mark still active?' Keng asked the AI voice.

[… ….]

[… …]

[Yes, it's still there.]

Keng pushed himself onto his feet, listening to the shrieks of the Curse grow louder.

"You bastard! What are you doing to me?!?" The Dryad shrieked. Curse beams and corrupted plants flew everywhere, slamming into the Realm space. Keng tilted his head right, narrowly dodging the whistling noise of plants as they passed.

'Time to get out.' Keng sighed. 'Displacement Mark 1.' Keng whooshed out of the Cursed Realm, pulling back to his mark. He was farther than he remembered placing it, but the Dryad's shrieks continued to echo even out here.

"Lily!" Keng shouted. His voice was hard to hear but he hoped he was close enough to let Lily know what needed to be done. "Do it!"