At this critical moment, Vimara Village's Forest Rangers arrived with Iotham, driving Alphonso before them. The Doctor looked at Iotham with great interest. The Mirrormaster casually kicked a fragment of mirror on the ground. At first it drifted without pattern, but its speed grew faster and faster—then it suddenly locked onto Iotham's neck…
It happened too far away for Victor Wang to react in time. Rana, at the front of the Forest Rangers, saw it and her eyes filled with fear and confusion. She tried to leap in front of Iotham, but she was a moment too late. She could only watch helplessly as the mirror skimmed across her fingertips, shooting toward Iotham at terrifying speed.
The Mirrormaster was hidden under his black robe—no expression, no movement. The Doctor curled the corner of his mouth.
In the end, the one who burst forth from the mirror was Kuiyuan, pale as death. Just as the mirror was about to strike Iotham, he snatched it out of the air and flung it aside.
"Don't come any closer… all of you, step back. None of you belong anywhere near this."
Kuiyuan tried to warn the Forest Rangers, but in their fear, everyone was staring at Kavus and Sudabeh—still standing beside The Doctor.
Arana had been speaking to the children nonstop, trying to pull them back to their senses, but they ignored her completely.
Victor Wang felt helpless. The Mirrormaster clearly didn't care whether the children lived or died. He could only use [Starshift] to quietly pull the children—and Arana—back to his side, even if that meant drawing The Doctor's attention…
But the Doctor only smiled indifferently, making no move to stop him. Instead, he flicked a large handful of shining objects toward the beasts.
The Consecrated Horned Crocodile and Consecrated Fanged Beast instantly abandoned their attack on Victor Wang and lunged like ravenous dogs toward the glittering things he had thrown.
Victor Wang's pupils shrank. They were Delusions.
Even when he sent wind blades to destroy the Delusions, the beasts paid no mind. Their immortal bodies absorbed the damage as they devoured the Delusions one by one.
Explosions rippled through their bodies. Flesh split open as grotesque tumors—mixed with bone shards—burst outward. In the span of two breaths, their bodies swelled severalfold. Having eaten too many too quickly, they grew bloated and collapsed to the ground, momentarily unable to move.
"Tsk, tsk. After all that training, you still can't control your appetites. Beasts will be beasts."
Half disappointed, half unsurprised, The Doctor clicked his tongue and tossed something else—a Marana Core the size of a human head.
This time, with the beasts immobilized, Victor Wang unleashed a small Ode to the Wind God—trying to tear the core apart.
"Wind."
One snap of The Doctor's fingers birthed a counter-spiral vortex around the core. Perfectly synchronized with Victor Wang's technique, it shielded the core all the way to the ground.
The moment the Marana Core touched Sumeru's soil, it sank into the earth like a stone falling into water. The ground vibrated rhythmically, a heartbeat pulsing beneath their feet. Decay instantly spread outward, and an enormous Tumor of the Withering ruptured from the earth—far larger than normal—its blood-red roots and branches engulfing the entire battlefield.
The two gigantic beasts and the corpses of the Fatui all dissolved into nutrients for the Tumor. It grew at a monstrous rate, eventually forming a Tumor of the Withering larger than even a Cryo Regisvine.
The Tumor of the Withering raised its head. Every twisted hollow in its trunk, every grotesque blood-red leaf, trembled with eerie delight—as though reveling in its own birth.
"Kavus! Sudabeh!"
Before the tree's attack even landed, Rana's heart-rending scream echoed across the battlefield. She tried to rush toward them, tried to pull the children away, but Kuiyuan held her back.
"I said it already—none of you can go near that thing! Don't throw your lives away!"
Even for him, a ten-meter-tall Tumor of the Withering was not easy prey—especially with the strange masked man who had appeared behind him earlier and nearly killed him in one blow still unaccounted for.
He dragged his bow across the ground, carving a deep trench. "No one crosses this line. You'll be fine. Our leader is strong—and that man is strong too."
The Tumor of the Withering dipped its massive head, staring at Victor Wang like he was a plaything, and dropped a Decay Bomb larger than a person.
Arana had given the children a Ararakalari Barrier to block the Withering's corruption, but the two stood frozen, minds clouded. And truthfully, there was nowhere safe to go…
Victor Wang had no choice but to take the barrage head-on. He raised his shield, absorbed the Decay Bomb, then rushed around the massive trunk—striking its swirling abomination-face again and again to pull all its attacks toward himself.
At that moment, The Doctor and the Mirrormaster finally moved.
The Doctor looked warmly at the children sheltered behind their green barrier, then at the colossal Tumor of the Withering—examining them like experimental specimens. The Mirrormaster, voice low and grim, spoke:
"For attempting to weaponize the Withering… you have committed the one unforgivable crime—blasphemy."
"Blasphemy? Heh. If gods aren't meant to be defiled, then I don't see what purpose they serve me at all."
"You have violated a true taboo."
Understanding the implication, The Doctor dropped his playful expression and spoke more seriously: "Ah. So, it's you. But even that thing you people worship… will never wake again."
The words had barely left his mouth before the previously calm Mirrormaster roared:
"He will awaken! The mirrors have shown me! He will absolutely awaken!!"
The Doctor blinked—then smiled again. "I hate lunatics."
The Mirrormaster repeated, trembling with conviction: "He will return!"
"Heh. I'm not much of a fighter, but with these, I should be able to play with you."
The Doctor casually pulled out a handful of multicolored Delusions—every element represented.
The Mirrormaster acted in earnest. The ground between them froze into a giant mirror in an instant. The Doctor didn't even have time to react—he fell straight into the mirror-space, and the Mirrormaster vanished after him.
Victor Wang, who had hoped to watch their battle, felt slightly disappointed—though the enemy he still faced was trouble enough.
The Tumor of the Withering hurled Decay Bombs without restraint—two hits could shatter the Jade Shield. Tree roots and trunk-hollows fired smaller bombs continuously. It was a full saturation assault, showing no sign of losing energy.
He couldn't let a single Decay Bomb reach the surrounding forest—especially not Vimara Village. Victor Wang circled through the sky, searching for an opening.
Spotting the moment when the Tumor of the Withering sluggishly turned its trunk, he dove through a rain of small Decay Bombs. His sword aura, carrying unstoppable momentum, rammed deep into the trunk. He then expertly threw a full set of Electro/Pyro-infused Erosion Blasts into the cavity.
The Tumor of the Withering exploded violently—its upper and lower halves blasted apart.
But then something terrifying happened.
From the severed surfaces, blood-red and sickly-yellow fibers surged outward, intertwining tightly. In mere moments, the grievous wound knitted itself together completely.
The Tumor of the Withering had healed instantly.
===BREAK===
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