The faint hum of the ruined gate faded into the distance as they followed the city wall around the inner rim of the moat. After nearly half an hour of walking, they stopped…
They stood before a massive root, far larger than the last.
It stretched from the forest, dipped down, then resurfaced to reach over the moat and crash into the city wall. The 'impact' had shattered the enchanted stone walls and embedded itself in the structure like a bridge, crossing over, passing the party, and opening a way forward.
This was their way in.
How convenient…
After a moment to pause and take in the massive existence, the order was given.
The soldiers approached hesitantly.
They had seen the roots and their ability to attack too many times during their journey. Whether it was the small roots that stretched through the ground like mycelium snakes, the large roots that dug through the ground like sand worms, the massive roots that tore entire buildings down, or the colossal roots, like the one before them, which created their own landscape by merely existing, all of them had their own ways to attack. In addition to their ability to consume and parasitize, they were also extremely dangerous to just be around, because they produced skin-melting heat and spiritual vibrations that could shake the mind and body.
Elena studied it for a long time before deciding to use it to cross.
"This will do," she said loudly to the group.
She raised her hand, and everyone began to climb, regardless of their reservations.
Hooks, ropes, blades, magic and artifacts, they used anything to gain a foothold on the rippling surface of the tree roots. The rough surface trembled under their weight, its inner light glowing stronger with every step, almost in a way that seemed to be turning its attention.
There was a pause.
Uneasiness settled in the air…
Time passed.
-
After a long and careful ascent, Elena and the others reached the top. She turned back to see the bridge in the distance, vanishing behind fog and shadows. Then she looked forward. The root arched over the moat, stretching directly into Oriest.
"Careful," she said, calling to those behind.
They crossed.
The army followed, crossing slowly over the barked bridge. Beneath their boots, the surface of the root rippled and pulsed, with light faintly crawling through its veins. It was as if they were walking across something that was breathing beneath their feet, interrupted by each step. From time to time, the massive trunk would spout small vine-like buds that seemed to be checking the surroundings. They were blind-spiritless things that only checked for vibrations, but they were indeed looking for 'prey'.
Fortunately, these small protrusions never did anything.
When they finally stepped down and reached the other side, they found themselves inside the city.
* * *
Oriest greeted them with silence…
The streets were abandoned, wide and fractured, broken into countless large fragments that rested unstably across the city's failing foundation. If one didn't know better, they would assume the city had been struck by an enormous earthquake.
The surrounding city was filled with broken buildings and stagnant pools.
Black dust stained the stone, while black water filled the streets.
The air was tinted black, almost allowing the shape of the wind to manifest.
The buildings leaned against one another at uneven angles. Their surfaces were covered in inscriptions that trembled under the accumulating black light of corruption. Some glowed faintly, while others hissed and trembled, their runic channels bleeding black light that vanished before it touched the ground.
What was worse, the spiritual energy was continuously thickening, not with purity, no, with a dense aura that seemed to carry the will to 'change', to corrupt, and those exposed would feel their skin tingle and their teeth itch, filling their soles with growing pains.
After entering the city, the United Army moved slowly through the shattered ruins, advancing with extreme caution. They found the main road easily enough; it was hard to miss…
The central street was enormous, wide enough for twelve carriages to ride side by side.
Unfortunately—
Like the rest of the city, it was completely destroyed. The once-smooth road was broken into massive jagged slabs that jutted upwards at strange angles. It appeared to have suffered from the strain of many creatures exceeding its capacity. Threaded through the shattered stone was intertwining roots that seemed to almost stitch the road together. The gaps between each broken Island were filled with stagnant pools of black water, like a miniature archipelago contained within the road.
Elena walked in the front.
Her green eyes scanned the fog-choked alleyways as she moved. From time to time, her eyes would flicker gold, not from any ability, but the mere act of using her spiritual energy to amplify her vision.
The air was thick and distorted, slowly becoming heavy, making it hard to move, like one was underwater. It clung to the skin and weighed on one's breath, invading the body.
Behind her, the forces of the United Army fanned out.
Each faction worked in its own way as they advanced, checking corners and broken alleys, collapsed buildings and abandoned structures. They were quick and direct, displaying the increased efficiency of the elites.
The Mercenary Alliance split into small teams, silver swords and shields, soaring birds, violet magic, frost and bone, and countless warriors all spread out, searching for survivors. The Stoneback Tribe marched with heavy, thudding steps, leading the war, and guarding against the unknown. The Silvercrest Knights carried floating orbs of white light that flickered with light and lightning, letting them drift through the mist to illuminate blind spots and shattered crevices in the dark haze. The Runecoin Medics stayed in the back, marking their path with faintly glowing runes to ensure a way back, as well as tagging the places they had already searched. Even the Sea Forge Engineers took notes as they went, sketching symbols into metal-bound books while muttering about 'structural damage' and 'possible improvements' to the city.
After a brief sweep, they pressed on…
-
Deeper into the city—
The further they went, the more suffocating the sensation that shrouded the city became.
Many of those who entered the city were locals of the western region, and a large portion of them had been citizens of Oriest itself. Because of that, their feelings were naturally far heavier than those who had come from abroad. This feeling of loss affected the Mercenary Alliance the most.
Walking in the group—
Pillia's hair ruffled slightly as she looked around.
"It's sad," she said in a small voice. "You almost can't tell how lively this place was a few months ago."
It was a shared feeling.
Vellina tightened her grip on her sleeve, her eyes drooping. She didn't speak, but her eyes flickered away from a shattered storefront she clearly recognized.
Tepit exhaled slowly through his nose, his shoulders stiff. He was naturally a very cold and uncaring man, but he somehow seemed to get even colder. "It feels wrong," he muttered in a dry voice.
Hexfill didn't speak.
Perhaps, out of all of them, he was feeling the worst…
This had once been their base of operations, back when the Mercenary Alliance had used the City of Oriest as its stronghold. Contracts had been signed here, victories were celebrated, and losses were endured. It was all to expand their power and further develop this generation of the mercenary alliance, to continue to develop what his family had built, and what he had inherited.
Now, although many of them had avoided the worst, it was a graveyard.
Hexfill couldn't imagine how many were lost.
He didn't need to investigate to know that anyone left behind in the city was already dead.
At least, dead, or worse.
The air itself carried that certainty, wavering with a heavy and undoubting aura, pressing against the heart with every step he took forward.
It was hollow.
Unfortunately, this feeling would soon come to be realized.
* * *
They continued forward, their boots echoing faintly in the unnerving silence. Without the static of the rain, all that remained was the whispers of the wind. As they climbed one level of the terraced-split streets, the glow from their lights suddenly brushed against a strange shape standing motionless in the silent street.
It was an indistinct silhouette.
There was a pause...
As the group slowly approached the figure, one, two, then three, one after another, the shadows appeared in the streets. They were figures, human figures.
At least, they once were…
The line halted.
A sudden chill ran down the spine.
At first glance, they looked like people. Men, women, and even children. They stood where they had been, frozen in place. But when the light reached their skin, when the haze was pushed back, the truth became impossible to ignore.
These were people, real people…
Their bodies had been transformed into a fusion of flesh, stone, and wood. Limbs were twisted at impossible angles, and faces were locked in expressions of pain and fear. Some were half-sunken into walls and floors, their torsos fused with the city, while others had clearly tried to run, only to be transformed mid-escape.
It was the kind of sight that tightened the chest, making breathing feel difficult.
What was worse, some were recognised…
The faint cry of unseen figures echoed from behind.
They were lost to calamity.
Pillia clutched her sleeve, her feathers bristling. "That's… really creepy," she muttered, taking a cautious step closer before quickly pulling back, like a startled bird pecking its food.
Elena said nothing. She lowered her head for a brief moment, as if offering a silent prayer, then turned and continued down the road.
The others followed without question.
Now was not the time…
None of them said it out loud, but they all understood what those statues were.
The footsteps resumed, echoing softly between dead walls, each sound swallowed one by one by the quiet, suffocating breath of the city.
-
They continued their advance toward the heart of the city.
After a long and grueling advance through the city, the army finally scaled past the broken streets and reached what little remained of the city's center.
Before them unfolded an incredibly vast sight.
The central plaza of Oriest sprawled out like a shattered mirror. It stretched nearly two hundred meters across, but the ground had collapsed into uneven layers. What had once been a single open square was now broken into something resembling a series of floating islands. Vast plates of black and gray stone brick at different heights, cracked and separated by deep rifts carved open by the shifting roots beneath the city. Rainwater poured down from the surrounding ruins and pooled within the fractured scars, forming deep black basins of the same unknown substance that filled the city's moat.
The smell was sharp and metallic, with an almost acidic bite.
As the soldiers approached the edge, they quickly realized the black liquid wasn't just black rain.
Elena stepped down from a raised slab of stone and stared into the nearest pool.
"Don't touch it," she said immediately.
The others watched as the black liquid stirred. Something beneath the surface shifted, and the substance sloshed up over the edge of the stone.
Sssssss!
A sharp sizzle split the air as the stone began to dissolve.
Hexfill stepped back, frowning deeply. "What the hell is this…?"
Elena shook her head. "It's Duskwood Dust," she said. "Condensed and mixed with the Black Rain, and the special spiritual energy that the Corrupted World Tree is producing."
Uneasiness rippled through the nearby soldiers.
Everyone knew what Duskwood Dust was capable of, how it corroded the body, and how it twisted flesh and spirit. There weren't many people who didn't have at least one person mutate around them during the initial wave of the calamity. But this was different…
The concentration was so dense that the air above it seemed to warp.
After taking a cautious step forward, one of the Runecoin Medics cautiously dropped a small Crystan Coin into the pool.
The reaction was immediate.
Woosh!
The black fluid surged upwards, wrapped around the stone, and swallowed it whole. The stone's light flickered once, then went out completely.
The medic was horrified.
Elena's voice remained calm. "If you fall in, it'll cling to you. The Duskwood Dust will fuse with your body, sink through your meridians, and eat away at your flesh from the inside. With this concentration, you probably won't even mutate."
A heavy silence followed her words.
The soldiers instinctively pulled back from the edges of the pools.
The faint sound of wind skimming the black surface echoed through the plaza like a wave of whispers. Each movement vanished the moment it appeared, leaving no ripples.
Elena straightened up, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the far side of the plaza.
In the distance, roots the size of towers coiled through the shattered ground, some dipping into the pools, 'drinking' slowly.
She narrowed her eyes, frowned, then walked forward.