Mark glanced at their surroundings. The moment the leader noticed them, the remaining Corrupted humans turned their full attention to their group.

Of course, they were heavily outnumbered, even though Sam had wounded several of them.

Their faces showed no sympathy or outrage for what she had done. They watched each other with passive expressions, even though their bodies were coiled, ready to act if need be.

Jonathan took a voluntary step forward and shook his head.

"I don't think there's much to talk about. From the looks of the operation you have going here, you're capturing people for whatever reason. That writes you off as a monster in my book."

The leader shrugged.

"I don't believe I could have gotten around that name, but answer me this: If you died a soldier's death and woke up in a world where your kind were just a handful in number, wouldn't you do anything to survive? Including lifting pathetically unevolved creatures out of their squalor?"

Jason clenched his fist and glanced at Jonathan for the signal.

Jonathan never gave one, but he looked pissed.

"So that's why you want them? I thought only Grace could turn," Sam said, her voice hinting at surprise.

The leader's face twitched, and he looked at Sam.

"You mean that incompetent woman driven by hatred? Luckily, I wasn't created by her; I'm all natural. And yes, to answer your question, there are a couple of ways to fix the human condition other than her."

Sam pressed her lips together and glanced at Mark from the corner of her eye.

He still had a construct up, but at her look, he began pumping more energy into the spell. Mark didn't see this talk going anywhere good, so he began to prepare for a fight.

Jonathan tried once more.

"So you are capturing people to make more. Why not just live your lives? Even if the Corruption took over, why are you choosing to do this?"

Mark glanced at Jonathan. They all knew well what Corruption did to the mind. Its malevolence permeated everything it touched, and after a certain point, even the mind broke.

Jonathan's question hinted at something else though—their overall goal.

From what they had guessed, the city was already in their sights, but to what end? Did they just want to spread their influence as far as possible? If that was the case, then Mark saw no reason to continue this line of questioning.

The leader shook his head.

"You're attributing too much credit to emotion. Survival is important, but our wiring is fundamentally different. Trust and care for one's fellow man don't factor in. What does is this incessant voice at the back of my head. Spread. Consume," he said as he scratched the back of his head viciously.

"The only time I get any peace is when I'm working towards that goal. Like right now," his voice dropped off dangerously, causing everyone to go on guard.

Mark had been keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, and because of this, he saw the shifting Corruption under their feet. The ground they were on began to swell, and Mark shouted.

"Scatter!"

Everyone went in opposite directions because the construct suddenly warped. He'd been sending power to the construct but had not expected an attack from below, so it was the weakest portion of the shield.

When the concussive sound shook the cavern they were in, it broke through Mark's construct and sent him flying backward.

Everyone else tucked and rolled.

Sam warded off the flames with her own, but they were suddenly at a disadvantage.

Mark drifted up into the air, and without letting his spell go, he began to repair the hole.

Unfortunately, none of them had been prepared for the sudden attack, and the hollow scream from above quickly made it apparent this man had been setting this up the whole time he'd been distracting them.

Ghasts dove from the ceiling and crashed into Mark's construct, but the moment they hit, they detonated with enormous force.

Mark ground his teeth to keep the spell stable as more arrived.

Screeches came from the corridor they had just entered from, meaning their escape route was cut off.

Fortunately, no one panicked. All three front liners got up from their rolls and moved to engage the approaching Corrupted humans.

They formed a triangle around Sam as she began to cast several small embers around herself.

Mark's attention was split between the hostages and his own shield.

The Ghasts continued to suicide against his screen, and each created a decent amount of force.

He noticed that they exploded on contact, so Mark began creating lesser constructs and sending them out at the last possible second. The moment they made contact, the creatures detonated and destroyed the lesser construct with ease, but it only cost Mark a handful of mana.

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No sooner had he solved one problem when he felt firearms smattering against his sphere.

Mark hadn't expected this, but a spear of stone joined the fray, followed by a bolt of Corruption.

The wave of attacks came from all around, and Mark could see half of the Corrupted humans had broken off and were providing ranged support.

Mark glanced down at the hostages and growled as he pulled them toward himself. The moment he had them, he glanced over to Jonathan and saw he was unwilling to move from Sam's side.

Mark searched for the leader, but he'd disappeared in the chaos. Moving his construct overhead of Sam, she didn't need any hinting; she flew straight up towards him.

Several bullets were aimed at her, but they ignited against her mantle of flame. The moment she was clear and inside the sphere, she freed Jonathan up to hunt for the leader. He suddenly took off in one direction, but Mark just hoped he knew where he was going.

With both Sam and the hostages in the construct now, more attacks were arriving from all directions. To make matters worse, the Corrupted were arriving in force now, and if he was not mistaken, Mark saw even more Corrupted humans amongst their ranks.

Mark blocked the Ghasts and the ranged attacks as best he could, but at the rate, things were going, it was about to get a lot worse. "We need to get out of here. I'm triggering the waystone," he said to Sam.

She nodded but searched for Jonathan. "It's not going to be enough to get all of us out of here," she said calmly.

Mark knew that, but they were surrounded right now. The Corrupted had them exactly where they wanted them. "Then what? Dig?"

Sam shook her head. "Keep the waystone charging. I'm going to use that…"

Mark's eyes narrowed, but it was hard to argue with her in the current situation. "Fine, but grab hold of me and don't let go," Mark said.

Sam glanced at Mark and snorted, taking hold of him by the bicep.

When she closed her eyes, there was a shift in her Mana starting at her forehead. A powerful wave of energy ushered in the change. Sam's form shifted to that of an exploding galaxy with countless twinkling stars.

When she opened her eyes again, they were two pools of light carrying a distant gaze. "I've worked out our trajectory. Mark, find Jonathan. I'm beginning the spell," she said in a monotone voice.

Mark strained against the tide of attacks as he searched their surroundings.

Jason and Wesley had hunkered down under a wall of resin as attacks streamed toward them. They were pinned down, and the moment they stuck their heads out, they were pelted with spells and gunfire.

Mark looked around and saw Jonathan fighting in the distance against something, but there was too much in his way to make out what was going on. Groaning, Mark pulled all the remaining Prana and Mana from his [Animated Mind] and created two constructs. He pinned them down on the two below them and shouted, "Clear me a path and get back as soon as you can!"

Jason didn't need an excuse. The moment the spell surrounded him, he charged into the line of Corrupted.

There were Titans here by this stage, but Jason cleaved through them and into the two dozen or so Corrupted that guarded the Corrupted humans. Mark noticed they were more than willing to give their lives if it was in defense of the "Humans."

He began gathering his Mana to release the light radiation spell that Sam had shown him, but her arm squeezed his. "Conserve your Mana. We will need it."

Mark glanced over at the fighting and saw Jason had cleared a path of retreat, and Wesley held the rest back.

Now that they could get a better look, Jonathan was chasing after the leader, but his subordinates made it incredibly hard to get to him. Namely, the fact that they exploded on contact. Jonathan bore the brunt of each attack, but it was more than just that. The ground, ceiling, and even the walls seemed to be on his side as he detonated the Corruption with a wave of his hand.

This meant that no matter what Jonathan did, he couldn't close the distance before another attack came. Mark could see he was getting frustrated and started to throw a ranged attack. Unfortunately, the masses of surrounding Corrupted rose to block his Aura blades.

Jonathan then stopped in the middle of the fight and looked down at his blade. He glanced back at Mark and Sam with a dangerous look. "Not you too—don't, you idiot. He can control the stuff," Mark muttered.

But before Mark could even take a step toward him, Jonathan's form began to grow.

Mark cursed and shouted, "Jason, now!"

The soldier reacted by lifting his large blade overhead and slamming it down with a wave of resin following suit.

The liquid crystallized as it separated, freezing in the shape of a parting wave that reached all the way to Jonathan.

The man's transformation had already finished, and he exploded after the leader. His speed was more than double what it had been a second ago, and so was his strength as he pushed the Titan aside.

He got his hand around the leader's front shirt and would have ended him if it weren't for the shield of sickly yellow energy the man put up at the last second.

The force warped the sphere and launched him into the chamber wall. The stone was unable to withstand the force and shattered into fine powder, blocking their view. Jonathan was about to go after him when Mark screamed. "Jon! You have less than ten seconds, and we're leaving!"

Jonathan glanced at them from behind the chitin-like helm, and for a second, Mark thought he'd turn to finish the job. But then he ran toward them, and Mark sighed in relief.

Using the highway Jason had created for him, he arrived next to them in no time.

The Corrupted shied away from him, but Mark wasn't sure if it was fear or something else. When Jonathan got to them, there were less than five seconds, and Mark pulled everyone into the construct. "Sam!" he growled as she began a countdown. "5…"

A small white ember ignited in her palm. "4…"

The leader extracted himself from the wall and locked eyes with Jonathan. "3…"

Mark connected them all with a link. "2…"

The waystone began to give off light as cords fell around them, latching onto the five of them but not the hostages. "1…"

Cords extended from Sam and latched onto everyone in the construct.

The world turned into silvery light, but not before Mark watched Sam let go of the ember.

It drifted down like a floating piece of ash, and the moment it touched the ground, the enormous amount of energy stored within was released. The detonation would have vaporized them had the waystone not whisked them all away.

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