Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2101, Section 2073: Crimson Spread
The illusory and enormous flower buds were so vibrant and luscious that they seemed to have taken the entire base of the square in front of the Gate of God as their own.

After a brief pause, the closed flower buds suddenly burst open!
The orange-red petals were as beautiful and moving as ribbons of silk floating in the air.

Beyond the illusory flowers, a scarlet, ominous mist, like pollen drifting outwards as the petals unfold, spreads outwards.

If before, Mesmer unleashed his serpentine nature, and the Mesmer Fire that exploded spread across the sky like a blot out the sun, then these seemingly ethereal and frivolous crimson mists truly changed everything around them!
Centered around the spiral tower with blooming flowers, the entire cemetery plain seemed to change color in an instant.

The withered yellow grassland was replaced by a filthy scarlet.

"crunch~"

The sickening squeezing sounds came from all directions.

Some terrifying scarlet fungi, insects, and insect eggs appeared out of nowhere, occupying any crevice they could find.

The fleshy parts of the fungus, resembling umbrellas or small tents, pressed against each other, forcing the gaps between the buildings to widen as the fungus filled them, and creating dangerous squeaking sounds between the building materials.

In an instant, it seemed as if everything on the entire cemetery plain was growing wildly!
—It grew wildly and abnormally! And it grew in a morbid way!

The towering, holy, and icy spiral tower, the pinnacle of the Horned Civilization's technology, remained unchanged even after being sealed in the shadows for countless years and unsealed.

The powerful beings within this tower are still capable of directly engaging in battle with the well-prepared Holy War Army!
Royal magic of the Kalia family, the prayer of the fire of Mesmer, powerful war ash, the horned spirit summoning spell... it seems that no power can affect the main body of this tower.

It appears to be an impregnable fortress, much like the walls of Rodel.

Messermo sealed it away by a clever trick.

But now, because the aftershocks of the battle in the God's Gate Plaza in the previous few dozen seconds had completely destroyed the town of Tower beneath its feet, and the ground had been shaved down by tens of meters, the spiral tower, which was now suspended in the sky and fixed to the spatial structure, was now suspended in the sky.

It no longer possesses the cruel and sacred feeling unique to the Horned People's civilization; instead, it now resembles a giant bacterial culture tube.

It was originally a cylindrical spiral tower, but now the cracks in the stones everywhere are covered with scarlet fungi and large patches of mold.

Even from a great distance, you can see the enormous fungal umbrellas growing from the spiral tower.

The large trees on the Spire Tower have now been eroded by fungi, creating hollow cavities from which large numbers of decaying butterflies emerge.

The distorted and corrupt vitality somehow appears to be a vibrant scene.

Centered on the Spiral Tower, the power of [Crimson Corruption] emanating from Malenia rapidly expanded outwards.

But as Michaela said before: Shadowlands was once the center of the Borderlands, harboring terrifying powerful figures, secrets, and strength.

The crimson decay transformed the once barren, yellowish cemetery plains as rapidly as if it were a coloring game.

However, while the crimson color quickly covered the entire plain and began to extend southward, it failed to encroach upon the azure coastline with its dark blue flowers.

Crimson decay is the decaying process in which a living organism returns everything it has to the world during its death.

However, the Azure Coast was originally dominated by pure death power, and the injured dragons that stayed there for a long time adapted and became spirit fire dragons, comprehending the power of spirit fire.

Scarlet decay cannot erode death.

As the crimson decay spread southwestward, there were initially no major setbacks.

But as the crimson color approached the jagged, spiked mountain, a dragon's roar suddenly erupted from the ever-thundering mountain!
With just this one dragon roar, the thunder that filled the sky was suppressed!
Even controlling thunder!
With a loud bang, a burst of lightning flashed! A bolt of lightning, red and yellow like a flame, struck the direction in which the crimson decay was spreading.

Those thunderbolts were so thick and so powerful!

The swirling, twisting lightning, as thick as mountains, moved between the dark clouds and the ground, causing any mountain in its path to light up instantly, before the next instant the entire mountain turned into collapsing lava!

A raging bolt of lightning swept across, leaving behind a river of lava.

The crimson corruption is insurmountable.

To the east of the cemetery plain lies the Aila River, a natural river.

In ancient legends, the Flowing Swordsman was able to seal away the essence of Crimson Corruption as an external deity with his swordsmanship. The Shadowlands, being the only great river, could naturally also hinder the spread of the power of Crimson Corruption.

After all, running water never stagnates.

Thus, after Malenia unleashed her crimson, corrupting power, the area she suddenly eroded was roughly equivalent to a graveyard plain.

A small portion of the cemetery plain lies on the east bank of the Elak River, where the crimson decay cannot pass. However, it has also encroached upon some areas on the western coast of the Shadowlands.

If it weren't for the fact that the Shadowlands were a complex place where various forces and powers were intertwined and normal people had almost disappeared, it would be hard to say how far the crimson corruption that erupted in Malenia would have spread or how many casualties it would have caused.

But even in the Shadowlands, Crimson Corruption is by no means an easy hazard to deal with.

"Light the fire! Light the fire!" Leilana shouted at the top and bottom of the spiral tower! "Everyone! Light the fire, or get close to the fire!"

The Kalia royal family is an old-school power with a long history in the borderlands. They have certainly dealt with the ancient external deity of Crimson Corruption many times and know how to resist this power. Flowing water can suppress corruption, while fire can burn it away.

These are all forces and powers that have been passed down since ancient times. If they didn't have a countermeasure against each other, then a dominant victor should have emerged long ago, instead of only appearing in the last few thousand or tens of thousands of years with a Marika.

Fortunately, all the Holy War soldiers received a share of the Fire of Messermo, which was given to them by Messermo.

Even if they didn't have the ability to preserve the flame for long, they mostly turned it into personal items or prayer spells.

It can be said that although the Holy War Army is the army of the Golden Dynasty, everyone from top to bottom knows how to use the power of fire.

If this happened in a border area, it would be considered 'outrageous'.

The jihadists unleashed their flames atop the spiral tower, which resembled a giant culture tube.

The crimson mist and the decaying butterflies indeed dared not approach them.

Beneath the Spiral Tower, many more soldiers who were not qualified to ascend to this high-level battlefield gathered around the burning Willow Man.

The upper body of the willow-twig man is like a giant, inextinguishable fire pit, constantly spewing out large amounts of flames.

On the contrary, the horned priests and divine bird warriors on the Spiral Tower, who had little knowledge of fire power, were immediately enveloped in crimson mist, and chilling sounds of flesh being squeezed and blood splattering emanated from within their clothes and armor.

At the God's Gate Plaza atop the Spiral Tower, the battle had only lasted a few dozen seconds in the eyes of those below.

But within a few dozen seconds, the changes in this area were so dramatic that they could be described as a complete reversal of heaven and earth!

Everyone's gaze involuntarily rose to look at the enormous top plaza and the huge, illusory petals that couldn't even be contained within the plaza's foundation.

They all knew that the real decisive battle was on there!

And at the Gate of God Plaza.

"Where...where are we going?"

Melina asked haltingly.

She was being held by Messermo, and the winged snakes on the Piercer's body were engulfed in Messermo's fire, which surrounded them and burned away the crimson decay that was trying to invade them.

Melina is not good at fighting, so although several rounds of combat have already passed, and even Messermo has the same alluring pattern on his forehead as her.

However, the piercer is now much more lucid than Melina.

Even so, confusion and weakness would occasionally flash in Messermo's eyes.

Although he was face-to-face with Marlenia when she liberated the Crimson Corruption, his own fire power meant that, aside from the initial damage to his body, he was not harmed.

After the fire of Messermo surged throughout his body, the crimson decay was burned away.

"We must go first."

"It is a clear yet indifferent voice," said Messermo.

In his arms, Melina, who seemed still lost in thought, was startled: "Lan... Lan En? We can't... we can't leave him..."

“We didn’t abandon him,” Messermo explained as he sprinted toward the edge of the square. “If we stay here, we’ll only risk defeat!”

Seemingly to appease his currently delirious sister, Messermo, while carrying Melina and intending to leave immediately, still ran towards the Witcher's direction.

In the instant the three brushed past each other, Melina's dazed eyes saw the Witcher nodding gently at her.

"No, I can't..."

She, however, still seemed dazed and unable to comprehend the situation before her.

Only a faint cry escaped from Messermo's feet as he ran.

Finally, all that remained in the girl's right eye was the Witcher's back, and that back was getting further and further away.

In the end, Melina seemed to have lost all sense of what else she could do.

Driven by some instinct or obsession, a wisp of golden light drifted out from her outstretched hand.

Then, her gaze, which had been fixed on Lan En's back, suddenly rose, and she could only see the sky where the curtain of flames had not yet completely dissipated, and the weightless feeling of her rapidly falling.

To avoid being seduced by Michaela's allure and ruining everything, Messermo, carrying Melina, jumped straight off the edge of the square.

(End of this chapter)