Published at 31st of December 2025 8:47 am

Chapter 1375: Corruption

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Adam’s grip around the Staff of Calamity tightened, and he quickly got into a fighting stance.

Earlier, he had assumed that since even basic plant life couldn’t grow in this strange terrain, living beings could also not flourish here.

But he was clearly wrong.

Just now, he sensed a creature rushing towards him. Perhaps it was drawn to him by the sound, or perhaps something else.

But the most alarming thing about this was, if there was one creature, it was likely that there were countless more!

Why did I expect things to play out so easily? Have they ever?

He gritted his teeth, his heart pounding in fright as he waited for the creature to close the distance.

And soon, Adam was able to clearly make out the creature’s features.

It stood upright, but nothing about it was human. Its body was stretched too tall, its limbs too long, bending at angles that shouldn’t have been possible. Beneath its thin, pallid skin, something seemed to writhe unnaturally.

Tendons? Or perhaps, tendrils? Or maybe... both? Whatever they were, they constantly shifted under its skin.

Its face was the worst of all. It had no eyes, only hollowed out flesh where they should have been. It seemed like this creature had violently clawed its eyes out for some reason.

Moreover, its mouth opened sideways, filled with rows of needle-thin teeth. When it moved, the air around it seemed to ripple, as though reality itself struggled to contain its presence.

The way it rushed towards Adam caused him to shudder for some strange reason. It was as if this creature couldn’t stand his existence. It radiated pure hostility and malice towards him.

Once Adam strangled the dread uncontrollably growing in his heart, he realized that this creature, who was only a dozen or so meters away from him, was merely at the Mana Liquefaction Rank.

Realizing that, he couldn’t help but frown. He thought to himself in puzzlement, It’s so weak, yet how can it radiate such dread? A spell? An innate ability? Or... something else?

He didn’t have much time to think. The creature was already upon him. It lunged at him and swiped one of its hands that ended in claws.

Adam effortlessly sidestepped and evaded the clumsy attack. With a frown still etched on his face, he swung the staff and...

Bam!

The creature’s upper body exploded into blood, fragments of bones, and... maggots.

Despite its upper body reduced to paste, the creature still continued to writhe and shudder. Adam subconsciously took a few steps back and observed from a distance.

What are those things?

The insides of the creature were similar to the human anatomy, but there were some stark differences. For one, the blood was pitch black, filled with a chaotic element. Moreover, maggots that radiated an unholy aura squirmed inside its body, desperate to survive.

Adam watched the creature—or what remained of it—struggle for several more minutes before finally falling still.

However, Adam still didn’t dare approach it carelessly.

The curious part of him wanted to study the body of this abnormal creature, but the cautious part of him prevented him from getting anywhere near it.

At this moment, he was immensely grateful that the ravings of the Faceless Mask had lessened inside his mind, or he would have begun experimenting on the creature’s corpse, all the while laughing like a madman.

Adam focused a part of the Sphere of Resonance to study the corpse, while the rest of it was constantly scanning his surroundings, looking out for any immediate trouble.

Those maggots, he wondered.

They aren’t exactly maggots. They’re more like... very small, independent tendrils. They seem so alien and unnatural.

Just what are these things?

He recalled the journal of Aldo Wagner, and how the man had found a terrifying abomination residing in the heart of the Dark Valley.

The frown on Adam’s face deepened, and he thought, The founder didn’t describe that abomination in much detail, only that its characteristics included tentacles and countless eyes.

And this creature in front of me, its body was infested with tendrils. Could it be a product of that abomination? An offspring, perhaps?

Or someone who has been corrupted by it?

The more Adam studied the creature, the more he started to think that this... thing used to be a human. Or an elf, perhaps. After all, the two shared a similar anatomy with only slight differences.

If this is the case, then this creature... no, this person... could he have really been corrupted by that abomination?

But this person didn’t have any eyes...

Suddenly, his face darkened. He recalled that this person had hollowed out flesh where his eyes should have been, like it had desperately clawed its eyes out. There were deep claw marks around the sockets.

More and more details from the founder’s journals resurfaced in Adam’s mind.

If I recall correctly, Aldo Wagner seemed to have lost his mind after he witnessed the terrifying abomination.

This corpse in front of me... could it be that he, too, shared a similar fate as the founder? Is that the reason why he clawed his eyes out?

If this is what corruption from that abomination looks like, then could the same thing have happened to the founder as well?

Is that how Aldo Wagner died? From the corruption?

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed that he wasn’t far from the truth. But at the same time, he had no way of confirming it.

Eyes... voices...

Adam continued his line of thought, his hand involuntarily reaching out towards his own eyes—or rather, the lack thereof.

His fingers brushed against the silk blindfold, and he couldn’t help but murmur, "Don’t tell me..."

For the first time, he felt grateful for having lost his eyes!

His senses washed over the corpse more intently this time, and he thought, Is this the fate of all those who have cast their gaze upon that abomination?

To become corrupted and turn into these... sinister entities?

The founder had lost his sanity over time. Could all those people who had come to the Dark Valley in search of riches have been driven mad by the corruption as well?

But more importantly, these strange, unfamiliar voices that I’m hearing now, do they originate from the abomination in the heart of this forbidden zone?

A frightening possibility emerged in his mind.

If this is really the case, and the fact that the ravings of the Faceless Mask can clash with those sinister voices and still hold them at a stalemate, then...

Adam’s thoughts were interrupted when he sensed movement at the edge of his Sphere of Resonance.

And this time...

There were many more creatures coming to attack him!

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