This was a disaster.

The mages tried to cast flares but failed, all attempts snuffed out through one means or another. Flying too close to the canopy had them swatted by the extruding limbs of flesh. Keeping them close to the group caused them to sputter out from splashes of blood, and anywhere in between was destroyed by the monstrosities we now fought, leaping towards them like cats to string

It was an unreasonable situation. Our destination was deep into the darkness, so we had no choice to go deep. The flares are bright and could light our way for dozens of feet in either direction, so they were a safe bet. How could we have known that the Corruption knew that too?

It was intelligent and prepared, like a predator, and it had its teeth around our necks.

Screams of fear and dying rang out from around me as my muzzle flashes lit up the darkness beyond the feeble torchlight. Each blast illuminated the unholy abominations of flesh that rushed us in endless droves. Both of my shaking hands were holding Peacemakers as I shot and reloaded as fast as I could, prioritizing targets who got through the defensive line. Despite my unnatural speed, I couldn't get them all.

Hound was center of the formation, barely defending himself with a thin sword I've never seen on him. He wasn't all that good with it, and was clearly out of his comfort zone. Amelie certainly wasn't, each swing of her sword carving paths through the malformed creatures. The guardsmen tried and failed to keep a formation, while the adventurers danced within the chaos, individual pairings and teams sticking together through it all.

I think I understood what the Corruption was. I recognized many of the creatures, or what they used to be. A bastardization of the local wildlife, boars, deer, and even smaller critters, like rabbits and foxes. All wrong, with bulbous growths and teeth where there shouldn't be. I even recognized some of the monsters from the early waves, though modified even further from their already twisted forms.

It was the same kind of creature as what the Chaira fought off, only more advanced. Perhaps it was the very same, and all I had seen before was the local variety.

"We must push on!" yelled Amelie, and she was right, despite her bravado. Retreating now would only put our backs against the wall. Destroying the sourcewas our only chance, assuming that it worked anything like the Carrier before. There's only one problem.

Nobody knew which direction we were going. We had no reference, as our path in had closed long ago. Luckily, Hound proved his worth.

He pointed towards my left. "That way! I can feel it's influence!" he yelled, his ever-so-present poise eroding as the reality of the situation crushed him.

I grabbed Alejandro's shoulder and gestured towards the front of the group. He made an odd whistle, which I could only assume was a signal, and the rest of the team broke off and followed.

I ran, barreling past still-fighting people, squeezing shots and reloads off when I could. I reached hound and yelled in his ear. "We need you to lead the way!"

His grip on his sword tightened. "I might be a tad in over my head, Buck. I'm not much of a fighter."

I almost dragged him with me. "Move or die!"

To his credit, he quickly got his shit together and came with us. We ran to the front of the group, where the battle was thickest. We've already lost over a dozen members in total, and plenty more had weeping wounds. The metallic smell of blood mixed with the scent of raw meat, while gore blended with the dirt and leaves. I reached Amelie, who was unharmed, though her silver armor had gotten a fresh coat of paint.

"Amelie! Cover the rear! We'll clear a path!" I ordered, as if it was natural.

She took a moment to check the situation and immediately understood what I was getting at. She didn't acknowledge me as she turned around, fighting her way to the rear of the group. As much as I didn't like her, she thrived in a fight, and I was glad she was here.

"Luo Liang! With me!" she yelled, and I saw Luo Liang dance out of the encirclement, blood spraying everywhere but on himself. His apprentice was close behind, though not so clean as he was. She wielded a sword much like his own, and was doing the same as he was, only worse. He said nothing for once, grim determination on his face as he reached the rear at the same time as Amelie.

And just like that, we were moving at a steady pace. The Chimeras kept a tight grouping as we carved a path through the creatures. I was burning through my revolvers reserves, so I switched to my rifle, accompanied by occasional blasts from my Walker when they did me the favor of grouping up too tight. Hound was barely seeing any action, focused on navigating. He was holding his head in one hand, eyes squinted in pain. Whatever he was doing probably wasn't all that easy either.

As the creatures rushed us, seemingly neverending, I realized why the Corruption was named as it was. All of the creatures had odd growths where their brains should be, much like the bandits from the ambush. It wasn't too hard to put together the implications of what exactly it was that I was fighting.

Moving corpses, twisted and bent into effective killing machines.

The Chimeras worked together in perfect sync, Alejandro putting himself between his teammates and the enemy, while Tess and Ahge destroyed them. Sophie was casting what seemed to be healing spells, though she couldn't keep up with the wounded. She was sweating, worse than the fighters on her team. She wouldn't last much longer.

Hound almost collapsed, and I grabbed his shoulder, blowing a hole through a former crocodile with my other hand. "We're close," he said. "You can't miss it."

And he was right. Directly in front of us was a faint red light, obvious in contrast to the darkness. It was pulsating in the same rhythm as the canopy.

The creatures have started to thin noticeably, and the backline was having an easier job of it. Amelie circled back to the front, leaving the rear to Luo Liang and his apprentice. She took stock of the situation and grimaced. Half of her men and a fourth of the adventurers were gone, bodies left to the darkness. She was sporting a fresh cut on her face, and Alejandro's fur was matted with blood. The rest of the Chimeras were untouched, a testament to his skill.

She raised her sword once more. "Follow me! We're putting an end to this!" she yelled, voice hoarse with exertion.

Nobody else said a word, much less cheered. There was nothing but grim resolve as the death march continued on.

A few more grueling minutes, and dozens of bullets later, the light was directly in front of us. We passed the tree line and discovered the source of it.

I could only describe it as a tumor, the size of a mansion. It appeared to be growing from the earth itself. The bulbous mass of flesh pulsated in an ever-steady rhythm, each pulse spreading its influence further and further, as tendrils emerged from the top and spread to the canopy. The low hum had reached a crescendo and felt like a pickaxe to the ears. More creatures emerged from the interior, squeezed out between folds of shifting flesh.

It was easily one of the most disturbing things I've ever witnessed, and I've seen some awful shit in my time.

"You think that might be the nest?" quipped an exhausted Hound.

I didn't need to think too hard about it. My Walker was already in hand, and I was charging an infused shot. The Chimeras had already moved in formation around me, protecting me from the encroaching creatures. "Fuck it up!" yelled Tess. "Hold fast!" growled Alejandro.

It took several seconds before the bullet was ready, and I braced the increasingly weighty steel against my forearm. My companions had no trouble holding off the waves of beasts, and I got my shot off with no trouble.

The air cracked as the shockwave resounded throughout the forest, loud enough to mute the hum, if only for a moment. The force caused dead leaves to spin into the air, and dry wood to creak. Some of the leaves fell into rapidly pooling blood, now too drenched to ever fly again.

The blast blew through the side of the nest, and it rained crimson. The hum came back, louder now, more of a screech of pain, and the severed tendrils flailed like a dying bug. The surrounding creatures shivered, then went limp.

After a few agonizing seconds, so did the nest.

My hand shook from the recoil, despite my strength. The group breathed a collective sigh of relief, but nobody said a word or dropped their guard. The reason was obvious.

The bulbous mass of flesh was still, but the glow still remained. It was coming from inside of the hole I had blown through the nest. And more telling besides...

Was the fact that I didn't get the 'combat over' message.

"Who wants to go in there?" asked Amelie, sword pointed towards the hole.

Luo Liang shook his head. "This old man has become quite proficient in guarding the rear. I would like to continue doing so."

Hound raised his hand. "Hold that thought."

A few more seconds passed, the only noise being the murmuring of Sophie as she cast spell after spell. She was kneeling over a bleeding adventurer, and I knew he was too far gone, intestines spilling out onto the dirt. The girl tried anyway. Tess took her eyes off the entrance and grabbed her shoulder. "Soph...that's eno-"

"Move!" commanded Hound, as he threw himself to the ground. My Walker was already by my hip, and I fanned it.

Three projectiles flew from the entrance, almost as fast as bullets. They were black and shaped like sadistic fishhooks. One flew towards my throat, and I blew it out of the air. The other flew towards Alejandro, and I knocked it off course.

The third flew towards Tess, who was distracted. I was too slow to stop it.

It took her through the stomach and pinned her against a tree.

Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly, trying to find the unspoken words as they died on her lips.

I ignored it. I ignored Sophies's screams, Alejandro's shout of anguish, and Aghe's roar of rage. I ignored all the noises of shock and fear, as I had no time to entertain them. The perpetrators revealed themselves, and that took all of my attention.

Five figures crawled out from the hole in the nest, and I knew immediately what they were. Scraps of bloodied cloth hanged from sinewy flesh, and empty eyes stared back at me. They were humanoid, and walked on malformed legs, blood spilling with every scrape of uneven flesh against rocky dirt. Their bodies were unnaturally lanky, like pure muscle sown into a pale imitation of a human being. Their old hands didn't so much as twitch, as metallic blades split from the center of their palms, running all the way up the arm and to the elbow.

They were the scouting party. They were long, long dead.