Mark cursed as he caught Jonathan, wrapping him in a cocoon of Prana. The room fell eerily silent, broken only by the shuddering groans of the wall amber and Sam's ragged breaths.

"Mark, how is he?" Sam asked, her voice strained as she glanced his way.

Mark could see she was almost out of Mana after that last spell and Mark glanced around.

The chamber stretched around them like the heart of a geode, jagged ice crystals lining every surface. Even the ants that scuttled through the frost had been transformed, their forms warped into glittering clusters of crystal.

Nothing stirred in the tunnel except for the five of them.

Jonathan's breaths came in uneven gasps, his dilated eyes flickering wildly as his gaze darted about the shimmering expanse.

Mark had his energy working double time to assess the damage but Jonathan was fighting him.

When he tried to move his will to heal Jonathan, his mind reacted defensively and pushed Mark and his Prana out.

Snapping his fingers in front of Jonathan, Mark tried to get his attention.

"Jonathan listen to me, you need to let me in."

Attempting a link was the last thing Jonathan's mind needed right now, even if it would help Mark reassure the guy that he was there to help.

Mark's Prana crept in and he tied it off as a [Regenerate], but it was a patch job and without Jonathan's cooperation it was difficult to see the extent of the damage.

Jason grunted behind them and shouted.

"Guys! They're breaking through. We need to go!"

Wesley glanced back at the wall of crumbling resin and then deeper into the mine itself.

"Where do you expect us to go?" he shouted.

Jonathan groaned and thrashed, causing Mark to almost drop him.

"Everyone, relax. We need to keep moving. Retreat isn't an option anymore, but maybe hiding is. I'll find us a place to lay low we just need to keep moving." Mark growled.

Sam was already beside Mark but there was no hint of her usual lively demeanor. Sweat poured down her brow as she tried to calm Jonathan with shaking hands.

Jason and Wesly nodded to Mark and they got ready to move as another wave of amber came rushing from Jason, repairing the cracks.

"Let me take him," Wesley said, indicating to Jonathan, but Mark shook his head.

"Keep your hands free in case you need to fight. We don't know what's up ahead. Let's go!"

The four of them rushed down the tunnel, the wall of resin buying them some time.

Mark kept up a steady stream of Prana entering Jonathan, while he reined his construct in tightly. As soon as they left the area covered in ice, Mark sent his consciousness into the earth again, searching the tunnel ahead.

It was one long corridor that left little room to hide, but they continued forward. All too soon more Corrupted began to show up, which Jason and Wesley took care of.

Sam's provided suppressive fire, but he could see she was nearing her limit. If they could just manage to get a twenty-minute break, she would be mostly recovered, but the Corrupted seemed dead set on chasing them to the end.

Eventually, it became impossible to advance any further and Jason yelled when he felt the wall break.

Sam moved to the front while Jason and Wesly rushed to cover their rear.

"Guys, normally I'm all game for a hard fight but this might be impossible. We should run." Wesley said his voice firm.

Jason growled beside him.

"You're supposed to be from NAS, I never took you for a coward. No, we are not going home empty-handed."

Wesley crushed an ant with the sharp point of his shield.

"You stupid soldier. There's a difference between cowardice and self-preservation! I'm almost out of Aura."

"So then use your sword! What is all you good for being a shield?!" Jason shot back as he cleaved through three ants at once.

Mark took a couple of steps back towards the wall. There was a gap there they could step into but it did nothing to hide them.

Pressing his construct against the wall lowered the incoming attacks, but reduced their amount of fighting space.

Sam was using [Meditation] but it wasn't enough to keep ups with the constant steam of threats.

Mark glanced at both front and ground his teeth. He couldn't even move the earth out of the way so they could run.

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That's when his back bumped into the stone - It's surface slick with black algae. There was one more card that Mark could play, but he hated using it here.

Taking a breath, Mark sent his construct into the wall and cordoned off a piece of the corrupted stone for himself. Then placing Jonathan on the ground he stepped back into the writhing algae.

"Everyone, stop attacking fall back to me!"

Sam glanced back just in time. Her eyes widened, and her breath hitched. She stumbled toward Mark, her hand extending out in a desperate attempt to get to him.

"Mark, don't!"

Mark stared at her stoically and sent a reassuring look. He had a much better handle on things now. He would be able to control the flow.

The moment his left hand sunk into the within plant matter, he cast [Draw Corruption].

Black spread up his arm like ink and Mark began to draw the nauseating energy in through his resistance.

Familiar pain slammed into him, but unlike last time its barbs seemed to search for new ways to torment him. Wracking Mark's body, mind, and soul with a type of pain that one could never quite get used to.

He would have hunched over in agony if it weren't for the strands of algae that had bonded to his arm and tied him in place.

The Corruption in the surrounding stone surged into Mark's core, which, moments later, began channeling purified energy toward his other cores.

The interwoven mass of energy screamed in defiance as Mark unraveled it bit by bit, drinking deeply from its chaotic flow.

Prana and Mana flooded his heart and mind, surging into his construct and fortifying its strength.

While the Aura leaked out into the space.

Sam reached the spot, her breath hitching as she took in the scene. She clenched her hands into fists at her sides, her gaze darting nervously between Mark and the chaos unfolding around him.

Then to his surprise she initiated a [Telepaic link] and connected with Mark, grinding her teeth as she was looped into the process.

Mana spilled over from Mark into her, refilling her reserves, while all the Corruption in the construct began to die. The Algae dried and withered until all that was connecting Mark to the wall was a small strand of brittle leather.

"What in the fuck is going on?!"

Mark was dimly aware Jason spoke but didn't have the strength to answer. He just kept the strands of energy in check until he could feel Sam was full.

At the same time, he began diverting Mana to [Light control] and creating a large ball of light in the center of the tunnel. Mark was about to ramp it up, but Sam slowed his hand and showed him a new way.

His eyes widened through the pain, he wasn't sure how he hadn't thought of this yet but Mark began to shift the Mana into a smaller ball of light. Raising it through the spectrum.

A pulse of radiant light shimmered in the air before them. The orb he'd conjured was not like ordinary fire—it was a blinding wash of piercing, violet-blue light, shimmering with the deadly power of ultraviolet radiation. The spell crackled as it surged forward, its energy sharp and cold, reaching into the depths of the tunnel. It was no mere glow; it was a force, a flash of invisible poison laced in with an intensity that could shatter cells and unravel life.

The ants scurried toward the shield, their large bodies barely able to comprehend the danger before it hit. In an instant, the air was thick with a burning ozone scent as the UV light punctured their fragile exoskeletons. A low hiss filled the air as the radiation penetrated their tiny frames, searing their flesh with the power of the sun. The light bathed them in a cruel, icy fire, a silent killer that took no prisoners.

As the beams of UV washed over the swarm, the ants' bodies began to react in agonizing silence. Legs twitched in spasms, their sensitive exoskeletons buckling under the intense, invisible energy. It wasn't fire, but it was worse—a deep, suffocating heat that seeped into their very cells. The surface of their bodies began to darken and crackle with a fine, almost imperceptible sizzle.

A few ants were the first to fall, their exoskeletons fracturing as their soft tissue cooked from the inside out. The air thickened with the scent of burning chitin, and a few moments later, a faint but unmistakable smell of roasting flesh lingered. The rest of the swarm scrambled, but it was too late. Their internal systems, unprepared for such a lethal onslaught, collapsed under the pressure, and they dropped, cooked alive, the radiation having turned their insides into a slow, agonizing furnace.

Mark could feel his construct had not managed to block all of the radiation so he pulled it from everyone there before closing his connection to the remaining Corruption. At worst everyone would have a powerful sunburn, but that was a cheap price to pay for a couple of seconds of breathing room.

When the connection closed Mark let out a ragged breath, his cores chocked full of energy, but his body was battered and bruised from the process.

Even the core in his abdomen throbbed with a dull aching pain.

"What in the hell was that? If you had that kind of power left we should have used it to escape" Jason said an edge of aggression in his voice.

Mark took a breath to steady himself and shook his head.

"That technique takes a lot out of me. Now I've filled my reserves and if you use [Meditation] in here you should recover at twice your normal speed. With things as they are right now, I'm going to try and heal Jon, but then we should advance and try and kill whatever is holding this place together."

Wesley stared at Mark and then the clean stone wall behind him with wide eyes

"Mark, what just happened? The Corruption is…did you…"

Mark shrugged his shoulders.

"Look, I'm not able to say, all I can tell you is that Sam and I are ready to advance. Now you should meditate, we only have a minute or two before the next wave arrives."

Mark tried to get up but his body screamed at him for trying something as demanding as standing, so he leaned back against the wall.

Sam picked up Jonathan who was barely conscious and sat down beside him.

"You didn't have to do that."

Mark shot Sam a look that told her exactly what he thought before trying to take a look at Jonathan again.

The man was still awake, if only just, but he hadn't spoken a word since the mental attack. It looked as though he were suffering from a fever, but at the same time, there was a distant look in his eyes, like he wasn't registering anything around them.

Mark tried to move his will in again but was blocked once more. It felt like he was pressing up against a flimsy mirror of Aura, and that's when Mark realized it was the skill in place.

He was being kept out of Jonathan's mind by a defensive skill. He didn't want to push it out of the way or he would risk hurting the guy more.

Mark glanced around at everyone and picked Jonathan up again.

"We need to go, I'll do everything I can, but we need to achieve our objective and get the hell out of here."

Sam seemed to agree and when everyone was ready they advanced deeper into the tunnel. The path was long and winding and while there were many paths splitting off the main one, none of them were ever large enough to accommodate humans.

Things finally changed when there was a sharp decline leading to a large underwater chamber.

There were very clear ripples in the water from things moving down there but it was hard to make out any of the shapes.

"I don't want to waste energy on a room that large. We should try to clear this with what we have remaining."

They all looked and one another and got closer to the edge. Mark grew his construct so that they would have more space to fight and like they were stepping into a Kraken's jaws, they sunk into the dark water below.

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