Kenji moved quickly, a dark blur. His Shadowfang sliced through the twisted, blighted tendrils rising from the cracked pavement.
He didn't feel the sting of the toxins or the frantic throb of the Corruption Influence meter in his System.
It now glowed a constant, angry red. He felt only the grim determination to survive.
"We need to move. Fast. This immediate area is too hot. Find a place. Any place. Secure, defendable. Now."
He grunted as he pushed past a mutated thrall. It slammed into him, its glowing eyes full of mindless aggression.
Kaito had a noticeable limp, but he moved swiftly. His eyes scanned the damaged city around him.
He was breathing heavily, his face streaked with grime and despair.
"This used to be the café district! Now it's a giant slime pit! Watch that ooze – my scanner says it's acidic! We need to find something solid, something unblighted, and fast."
"My tech isn't getting a signal, so I'm searching for the best spot."
His voice was sharp and quick, hiding the deep fear of watching his home burn away.
He stumbled and caught himself on a bent street lamp. The metal creaked under his weight.
Elara's face was pale, and her Lumina light shone like a desperate beacon. She rushed toward a crumbling building after hearing a faint, urgent cough.
She saw an old woman huddled in the debris. The woman trembled, her face clear of the blight but marked by fear.
Elara's light flared, pushing back the encroaching shadows.
"So many lost… but some are still fighting! We cannot abandon them! My light… it feels like it can soothe their terror, even if it can't cleanse the blight from their skin. We must guide them to safety!"
Her voice was filled with a raw, empathetic urgency that fueled her actions.
They pushed through the old market district. It was once lively, but now it looked like a nightmare.
Organic growth pulsed around them, and buildings were falling apart.
The air in some 'Blighted Zones' was thick and acidic. It burned their lungs, making them hold their breath or sprint through quickly. Kenji felt sick.
The blight around him made his Heart of the Eclipse throb. It pulsed with a strange energy, a terrifying vibration that made his skin crawl.
He had to keep it contained. He had to.
"This way! I'm picking up some stable structural integrity readings!"
Kaito yelled and pointed at a huge, bunker-like building buried under a pile of solid blight.
"Old Central Bank Vault! Reinforced concrete, blast doors! Might be our best bet!"
They rushed at the giant creature. They fought the endless wave of corrupted thralls crawling from every shadow. Kenji moved quickly.
His Shadowfang was a blur of dark steel, slicing through the twisted shapes. He felt a terrifying surge of power. The raw, destructive force of the Heart of the Eclipse wanted to be set free.
It yearned to obliterate everything in its way. He resisted, a silent battle raging within him.
He was the cure, not the disease. He needed control. He had to be precise.
He used Shadow Step to move and flank a group of thralls. Then, he quickly took them out, saving his internal energy.
They reached the imposing, partially buried entrance of the Central Bank Vault.
The massive steel doors were warped, encrusted with a thin layer of blight, but mostly intact. A faint hum vibrated from within.
"There's power in here! And a faint energy signature!"
Kaito exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with a desperate hope. He quickly started tapping a control panel next to the door. Its circuits were half-eaten by blight.
"If I can bypass the main lock, reroute power from the emergency generators…"
As Kaito worked, a chilling growl echoed from within the vault. A massive, four-legged creature burst through a weak spot in the upper wall.
It was covered in tough blight and sharp spikes, sending debris down on them. It was a Blight-Hound, a more vicious, primal corrupted beast. It snarled, its multi-faceted eyes fixed on them.
"Got company!"
Kenji roared, pushing Elara and the elderly woman behind him.
"Get those doors open, Kaito! I'll hold it off!"
He faced the Blight-Hound's charge directly. Shadowfang clashed with its blighted claws, letting out a metallic shriek.
The creature was fast, strong, and relentless.
Kenji fought carefully. His movements were precise as he saved his internal energy.
He kept an eye on the screaming Corruption Influence meter. He targeted the weak spots in its joints to cripple it.
He avoided using a full-power blast that could lead to an internal meltdown.
Elara, meanwhile, used her Lumina light not just to protect, but to distract.
She fired pulses of light at the Blight-Hound's eyes. This blinded it for a moment, disrupting its attacks. Kenji seized these crucial openings.
"Keep pushing, Kenji! Kaito, almost there!"
"Almost… almost got it!" Kaito grunted, sparking wires dancing around his hands.
With a final, desperate twist, he jammed a live cable into a circuit. The massive blast doors shuddered, then slowly, agonizingly, began to grind open.
"Inside! Now!" Kenji yelled and pushed the Blight-Hound back with a desperate Void Blast.
This wild surge of power sent the creature reeling. However, it also hit his Corruption Influence meter, turning it a solid, unblinking red.
He guided Elara and the elderly woman through the slowly opening doors. With a fierce snarl, he struck one of the Blight-Hound's legs, crippling it.
Then, he jumped through the narrow gap just as the doors slammed shut behind him with a loud clang.
They were inside. The air was stale, but breathable. The large main hall of the vault was dark.
Still, its strong concrete walls looked mostly clear of the blight.
Kaito hunched over, coughing hard. He finally saw a flickering green light on the main console.
"Barely. We're online. Patchy signal, but it's something. This old power relay is still mostly uncorrupted. Just gotta reinforce these blast doors."
He wiped sweat from his brow, his face streaked with grime and lingering horror.
Elara's steady light guided the elderly woman and other shaken survivors they found in the back offices.
"We're safe here, for now. But the city… it's a living wound. We have to find more survivors."
Her voice, though still weary, held a new, burning resolve.
Kenji surveyed the darkened, reinforced room. The Corruption Influence meter on his System glowed a bright, angry red.
It served as a constant reminder of the risky path he walked. He met Kaito's weary eyes, then Elara's determined ones.
"This isn't over. Not by a long shot. This is just the first step," Kenji said, his voice grim but unwavering.
"We have a base. A sanctuary. Now… we fight back."
He activated Shadowfang. Its dark blade reflected the faint light of the sanctuary. He was ready for the impossible war ahead.
"This was our world. And we're taking it back."