The grass, shrubs, and large trees—even the dried grass thatched onto the roofs of the simple huts nearby—were not spared. The Withering turned everything within its range into a sickly, dull yellow-green, while only the grotesque branches and tumors formed from Withering Crystallization bloomed with a lurid red within this diseased domain.
This was the fusion of forbidden knowledge and the Irminsul, the product forged by the union of the Abyss and the Ley Lines, radiating an unmistakable aura warning the living to stay away.
"Tsk…"
Victor Wang had originally thought the Withering would be similar to the Abyssal black mist or Dark Mud—harmless to him and even capable of granting an enhancement. But the moment he cautiously approached, the result was his life force slipping away…
The power of the Withering was no longer merely Abyssal power, but a mutated, twisted force of decay. Such power was unsuitable for any creature of flesh and blood to approach, which was why the region was inhabited only by Fungi, Ruin Guards, Rifthounds, and purely elemental beings.
Among them, the Ruin-series foes completely disregarded the identity of Hilichurls, having been stripped of all control by the Withering and transformed into Withering Fanatics, guarding the Withering with single-minded devotion.
Sensing Victor Wang's hostility, the Ruin Guard before him rotated its single eye toward him, and in the flicker of its light, locked onto him. A barrage of uncompromising homing rockets swept in.
"Fine, then I won't hold back either!"
Although he had intended to use the Withering as a place to practice his swordsmanship, a bulky iron lump like a Ruin Guard—with its only weak point being the energy core in its eye—was nearly impossible to deal with without long-range attacks. So, Victor Wang had no choice but to employ elemental power to shatter its core.
Once the Ruin Guard ceased operation, Victor Wang withdrew his elemental power, using only enough to counter the Withering's drain, and charged toward the Fungi and Rifthounds with the sword in his hand.
Even while using only his sword, small Fungi, small Rifthounds, and Slimes of all sizes could no longer pose a threat to Victor Wang. Only the large Fungi and large Rifthounds were still capable of engaging him fiercely for a time. After efficiently clearing this patch of Withering, he tirelessly tracked down the next one.
Not long afterward, two figures approached from afar.
"Withering… Withering… That's strange, I remember there being a patch of Withering here…" The memories in her mind and the markers on the map both indicated this fact, and Rana couldn't help scratching her head.
"..."
"Senior Tighnari… I'm sorry, I made you come all this way for nothing."
"No. Look at this Ruin Guard—there was just a battle here. Perhaps someone has already dealt with this Withering."
"That does seem to be the case… Ah! Then we may have missed a Vision holder willing to fight the Withering!"
"I'm afraid it was merely because the Withering was blocking their path. There really aren't many Vision holders willing to become Forest Rangers and reside long-term in the rainforest, while ordinary people cannot deal with the Withering at all. Sigh…"
Letting out a sigh, Tighnari reminded her once more: "Recently, the number of Withering zones around Vimara Village has been unusual. If another one appears near a road or settlement, be sure to notify me immediately."
For the people of Sumeru, the fact that the Withering could never be fully eradicated was common knowledge. Forest Rangers understood this even more—after one was cleared, another would eventually appear. All they could do was arrange them by priority and handle them based on the urgency of their locations.
But for villains seeking to exploit the Withering, things were the opposite: the more remote a Withering zone, the more invaluable a tool it became.
Thus, Victor Wang's decision was to draw upon the same spirit he used when cleansing The Chasm—he would sweep through all the Withering zones surrounding Vimara Village, clearing them once a day. After all, using Vimara Village as the center, the surrounding day's journey wasn't any larger in scope than The Chasm, nor was its terrain more complex.
After three days of such purging, Victor Wang noticed that the reproduction rate of the Withering around Vimara Village was becoming downright absurd.
The patches of Withering he diligently cleared through an entire day would in just one night revive completely. If they only grew quickly, that would be one thing—but they had begun growing into hidden nooks and crannies. If not for the faint trace of Abyssal aura the Withering carried, he wouldn't have found them at all.
Because the children of Vimara Village usually didn't go out at night—and nighttime was precisely when adults kept the closest watch—Victor Wang normally clocked out in the evenings, went to the Grand Bazaar to rest his body and mind, then exhausted his spiritual strength before returning to the inn for a good night's sleep.
But this situation finally pushed him to the limit. On the fourth night, he did not return to Sumeru City. Instead, he quietly hid in the small forest outside Vimara Village, determined to see what was happening.
And then he saw several groups of Fatui, taking advantage of the night to place some sort of mechanical boxes around the area surrounding Vimara Village—especially in places where mushrooms or medicinal herbs grew…
Inside those mechanical boxes were strange nuclei exuding a red glow. Once the mechanism was released, these red cores would immediately take root in the soil, drain nutrients from the area, and grow into Withering Tumors. They were artificial Withering seeds!
This was the handiwork of The Doctor.
Those without childlike innocence could not see the Aranara, and the reason behind the events in Vimara Village was precisely that simple.
The Doctor, the Fatui, and the Eremites—these schemers could not see the Aranara at all. Even Rana, a kind-hearted person who had been able to see the Aranara as a child, could no longer see them after growing up.
Yet The Doctor wished to capture the Aranara and study the connection between them, dreams, and the Withering. The weaponization of dreams and the Withering was one of his research subjects.
Thus, the Fatui sought to lure the few children of Vimara Village who could still see the Aranara into dangerous places, hoping that the Aranara would intervene, allowing them to determine their locations through the children and capture them. Their methods were exceedingly despicable.
However, since these Fatui delighted in using such methods to create Withering, Victor Wang had no qualms about continuing this cycle of destruction and creation with them. It wouldn't change the overall situation anyway. In fact, if the Fatui simply continued foolishly planting Withering like this, it would be the best outcome…
If it came to a direct confrontation, the matter in Vimara Village likely wouldn't affect Sumeru City much. In the original course of events, Alfonso died, the plan failed, and The Doctor never appeared.
Even so, one couldn't make assumptions. After all, if something went wrong, he wouldn't be the first to suffer—Vimara Village would bear the consequences. Victor Wang did not want to experience again the feeling of doing good only to drag others into danger.
Based on that, he never showed himself in Vimara Village. As he monitored the Fatui with his winds, he didn't make a move even till the end, and quietly departed.
Cleansing the Dendro element… and returning to being human—that was his primary goal in coming to Sumeru.
Securing the aid of a god was no simple task. He needed to make the Dendro Archon notice him, and for that, he had to accomplish as much as possible.
Power—he still needed power. He had never felt such urgency before.
Sumeru was his final destination where he could slip between the cracks. The entire main storyline of Sumeru was indeed like walking a tightrope, but it had been crossed. Once he reached Fontaine, neither Furina nor he himself could allow events to proceed as scheduled anymore.
===BREAK===
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