Chapter 366: The People Beneath the Corruption

The first corrupted figure lurched toward Luna.

Its movements were stiff and uneven, as though its limbs no longer obeyed its intentions. Black veins spread across its neck and disappeared beneath its torn clothes, while a faint, sickly glow flickered in its eyes.

Luna recognized the embroidered pattern on its sleeve.

"Wait..." Her voice trembled. "I know that clothing."

The figure let out a strained groan and suddenly accelerated.

Arthur moved before Luna could take another step. He caught her arm and pulled her behind him as the corrupted villager swung a clawed hand toward them. The attack struck the ground where Luna had been standing, cracking the stone beneath its fingers.

"Luna, stay behind us!" Arthur ordered.

"But that’s—"

"I know. We’ll find out who they are, but you can’t approach them while they’re attacking."

The villager staggered backward before turning toward Arthur again. Two more figures emerged from the records hall, their bodies covered in the same dark growth. One dragged a leg behind it, while another kept reaching toward the ground as though searching for something it had lost.

Vedas stepped forward, golden energy gathering around his arm.

"Don’t let them surround us. We’ll restrain them without causing unnecessary injuries."

Kong moved to his side. "Understood. I’ll handle the one on the left."

He rushed forward just as the nearest villager lunged. Instead of striking its head, Kong caught its arm and redirected its momentum, forcing it against the side of a broken wall. The impact shook loose several stones, but Kong carefully adjusted his grip to keep the villager from being crushed.

"You’re stronger than you look," he muttered as the figure struggled. "Unfortunately, I can’t let you keep swinging at everyone."

The corrupted villager snarled and tried to bite him.

Kong recoiled. "All right, that’s disgusting!"

He twisted its arm behind its back and pinned it against the wall, using enough force to prevent further attacks without breaking its limbs.

Meanwhile, Vedas intercepted the second attacker. A sweep of golden energy wrapped around its legs, bringing it to the ground before it could reach Luna. When the figure continued struggling, Vedas reinforced the restraint.

"Arthur, these bindings won’t hold indefinitely," he called. "Whatever is affecting them seems to be interfering with their normal reactions."

"Just keep them contained!"

Mithra and Melo moved to protect the remaining members of the group. Mithra struck the ground with her weapon, creating a barrier of displaced stone that blocked the narrow street. Melo darted around the opposite side, her five tails sweeping through the air as she redirected a fourth figure away from Luna.

"Honestly, we come here hoping to find survivors, and the first thing they do is try to tear us apart," Melo remarked.

Mithra glanced at her. "They’re not doing this willingly."

"I know. I’m just expressing my disappointment with our welcome."

"Save your complaints for later!"

Melo smiled briefly before concentrating on the next attacker. She avoided its grasp, caught it off balance, and guided it toward the ground, where Mithra secured its arms.

Sun raised his staff, ready to join the fight, but Arthur stopped him with a gesture.

"Don’t unleash anything destructive. We don’t know how much damage these people can survive."

"I wasn’t planning to burn down the village!" Sun protested. "I can restrain someone without destroying everything around them."

Kong glanced over while holding his struggling opponent. "You say that now."

"Why does nobody trust my abilities?"

"Experience," Vedas answered.

Even in the middle of the confrontation, Sun looked personally wounded.

Athy remained behind Arthur, studying the attackers rather than joining the exchange of jokes. Her gaze followed the dark veins spreading beneath their skin.

"Something is wrong with their energy," she observed. "The corruption isn’t simply covering their bodies. It’s interfering with their movements."

Eden approached cautiously, keeping a safe distance from the restrained villagers. She could sense faint traces of life beneath the unnatural energy, but the signals were inconsistent.

"They’re still alive," she said. "I can feel something beneath the corruption. Their life energy hasn’t disappeared."

Luna stared at the nearest figure.

Its face was partially obscured by blackened growth, but she could still make out the shape of its nose and the scar running along its cheek.

"That man..." she whispered. "He used to repair the village’s tools. I remember seeing him outside his workshop almost every morning."

The villager struggled against Kong’s grip, releasing another distorted groan.

Luna took a hesitant step forward.

"Maybe he recognizes me. If I could just—"

The figure suddenly twisted around and lunged toward her again, forcing Kong to drag it backward.

"Luna!" Arthur caught her shoulder. "Don’t approach them yet!"

She stopped, her face pale.

For a moment, the only sounds were the villagers’ strained breathing and the faint creaking of the ruined buildings.

"I thought..." Luna swallowed. "I thought if I found someone alive, I would know what to do. But I can’t even speak to them."

Arthur softened his grip on her shoulder.

"You don’t know what’s happening inside their minds. Neither do we. Approaching them right now won’t help if the corruption is controlling their actions."

"But they’re my people."

"I know."

Arthur looked directly at her.

"That’s why we’re going to find a way to help them. We just need to understand what we’re dealing with first."

Luna lowered her head, struggling to contain her emotions. She had come here hoping to find survivors, but seeing familiar faces transformed that hope into something much more painful. These weren’t strangers who had been caught in a disaster. They were people she remembered, people who had once lived ordinary lives in the same streets where she had grown up.

Now she couldn’t even tell whether they remembered her.

Eden approached one of the restrained villagers and carefully examined the energy flowing through its body.

"This isn’t the same corruption we encountered in Ronin’s artificial core," she said after a moment.

Athena’s absence from the expedition meant the initial assessment fell to the group, but Athy leaned closer to observe the dark veins.

"How can you tell?"

"The artificial core imposed its energy upon the World Tree and forced the surrounding circulation to obey it. This corruption feels different. It’s connected to something beneath the village, and the energy keeps returning to the same source."

Eden pointed toward the ground.

"I can feel the connection passing through the roots. The corruption is spreading from below, but it’s also being sustained by the damaged network."

Arthur’s expression grew serious. "So even though the five Mirrors have been restored, this area hasn’t recovered?"

"That’s what it seems like. The main network is functioning again, but the local connection may have been damaged before the restoration. The World Tree can’t properly circulate its energy through this region."

Vedas looked toward the ruined streets. "Then these people may have remained trapped in this state because the corruption never stopped feeding upon them."

"Possibly," Eden replied. "But I don’t know whether restoring the connection will reverse the damage they’ve suffered. We need to find the source before attempting anything."

Melo glanced at the villagers. "If we repair the network, could they recover their memories?"

"I hope so, but we shouldn’t assume that," Eden answered. "We need to understand how deeply the corruption has affected them."

Kong tightened his restraint as his captive began struggling again.

"Then we should find the damaged root before these people break free. I can hold this one for a while, but I’d rather not spend the entire day wrestling with someone who keeps trying to bite me."

"Agreed," Arthur said. "We’ll secure the immediate area, then follow the corrupted energy toward its source."

Luna wiped her eyes and straightened.

"Take me with you. I know the village better than anyone here. There are old paths beneath the northern district, and my grandfather used to investigate the roots around our house."

Arthur studied her expression. "Are you sure you’re ready?"

"No," Luna admitted. "But if there’s a way to save them, I don’t want to stand aside while you do everything for me."

He nodded.

"All right. You’ll lead us, but you stay close to the group. If we encounter anything dangerous, we deal with it together."

"I understand."

The group secured the restrained villagers in a sheltered courtyard, using temporary bindings that could be loosened if their condition worsened. Kong remained reluctant to leave them unattended, so Sun volunteered to watch the entrance while the others investigated.

"Finally," Sun declared. "A responsibility worthy of my exceptional talents."

"You’re guarding a courtyard," Mithra reminded him.

"A strategically important courtyard."

"Just don’t let anyone escape," Kong said. "And don’t eat my provisions while we’re gone."

Sun looked offended. "I would never steal your food!"

Kong stared at him.

Sun hesitated. "Without asking, at least."

Melo laughed as she followed Luna toward the northern district, with Mithra and Vedas close behind. Arthur stayed near Eden, who continued sensing the flow of corrupted energy beneath the ground.

The farther they traveled, the more obvious the damage became. Roots had broken through entire streets, forcing them to climb over fallen walls and navigate narrow passages between collapsed buildings. The black veins beneath the ground grew thicker, converging toward the slope behind Luna’s grandfather’s house.

"There used to be a maintenance path here," Luna explained, pointing toward a narrow gap between two ruined buildings. "My grandfather used it when he wanted to examine the roots without disturbing the village."

Arthur examined the passage. "Can we reach the source through it?"

"I think so. It led toward an old underground structure, although I never went inside. My grandfather always told me it was unsafe."

Vedas gave her a sideways look. "A mysterious underground structure beneath an ancient village. I can already imagine Arthur’s enthusiasm."

Arthur smiled. "I haven’t said anything."

"You don’t need to."

Eden suddenly stopped.

"The energy is stronger here."

They followed her gaze toward a partially collapsed stone staircase hidden beneath a tangle of roots. Dark corruption pulsed between the steps, but faint golden lines remained visible underneath it.

Athy knelt to inspect the exposed stone.

"This structure is older than the surrounding buildings. The village may have been built around it."

Luna stared at the staircase, recognition slowly appearing in her expression.

"My grandfather mentioned an old root chamber in his records. He believed it was connected to the village’s original foundation."

Arthur looked toward the darkness below.

"Then this is probably where we need to go."

They descended carefully, with Vedas taking the lead and Arthur remaining close to Luna. The staircase opened into a small chamber whose walls were covered in ancient markings. Thick roots passed through the ceiling and disappeared into the earth, converging around a damaged stone structure at the center.

The corruption was concentrated here.

Eden felt the unnatural energy immediately. "This is the source. The local connection has been severed, and something is still feeding corruption into the remaining roots."

Before anyone could approach, Luna noticed an inscription carved into the wall beside the central structure.

She moved closer, brushing dust and fragments of stone away with trembling fingers.

The handwriting was familiar.

She had seen it countless times in the margins of her grandfather’s records, in his research notes, and in the letters he had left behind.

"No..." Luna whispered.

Arthur stepped beside her. "What is it?"

Luna traced the inscription, her eyes widening as she recognized the words.

"This is my grandfather’s handwriting."

She read the faded message aloud.

"The local root connection is failing. The corruption is spreading faster than the World Tree can suppress it. If I cannot restore the balance, the village will be lost."

Luna’s hand fell away from the wall.

Her grandfather hadn’t simply researched the Mirrors from a distance. He had discovered the corruption beneath their village and tried to stop it before everything fell apart.

And judging by the damaged roots surrounding them, he had been fighting this disaster long before anyone else understood what was happening.