See, the thing about hive minds is, when one individual discovers you, they all do. A veritable wave of focus snapped towards their location - darkened faces presenting no expression. Their lack of emotion didn’t detract from their presence, if anything it was much more potent in their absence. Marcus estimated their number at being equal, or perhaps a little less than what his group eliminated in the earlier funneling exploit.

Without a spare moment for paying attention to the details – points slammed into his Crystalline Bones path and free attributes were evenly distrusted between his three primary statistics; at the halfway point of the path something occurred, but that’d be for Marcus to check later - for now the Blighted were almost upon them.

Silent as death, waves ruin rushed their weakened members. Marcus to his credit, retained almost full mana - a byproduct of much higher regeneration rates. Continuing to hold his trump cards in reserve only led into scenarios where people around him began to die needlessly. Sad that he couldn’t hide it until later, Marcus activated his summons’ Pyroclastic Core.

Heat had continually exuded from its body since birth, but that same internal fire began to burn with new intensity. Rather than glowing brighter as Marcus would’ve expected, a deep blackness spread over its body radiating outwards from the core in its chest. The core itself compacted, what once looked like a miniature solar system collapsed into itself, leaving only a pulsating orb in its place. Strangely enough that orb released a call, all too alike to the one he’d heard from the beginning of Integration. Faltering for but a moment he answered – the expected images didn’t appear leaving him confused; all the while the transformation continued uninterrupted.

Dynamic snapping sounds followed in the wake of the spreading black. Obsidian plates transformed from mundane armor into something new entirely; Jagged edges developed streamlined curves, leaving behind a mirror-like material Marcus couldn’t identify. The last portion to experience change was its weapon, starting with darkness completely smothering out any remaining light that it once held. While not lengthening whatsoever, the edges sharpened and an exceptionally difficult to see haze enveloped the blade; he couldn’t tell why, but that haze just set off alarm bells in his mind. Finished, the wild berserker was no more, left in its place stood a knight.

To everyone’s surprise the creature looked over it’s shoulder and spoke, “Not bad child for a first attempt. You’ve been extremely lucky thus far - you don’t understand with what powers you’re toying with, not all those who answer your calls will be as…amicable as I,“ turning away from Marcus and towards the Blight, “Although at least you aren’t wasting my time with trivial matters - prepare to witness the might of the myriad planes!”

Incedis Valanche, Pyretic Forerunner - Level. 61 | Type: Artificial Mana Construct/ Ensouled Golem | Originating from a transitory plane of magma, Incedis Valanche has been temporarily ensouled after answering a pull from beyond. Vastly limited by an artificial body, Incedis can only exert minimal power compared to its true self. Each planar traveler is unique, but all share a common capability – death merely returns them home unharmed; of course, their temporary shell is lost in the process. What in the hell did I do? I can’t think of anything else other than when I heard that call…If Incedis isn’t lying I really need to be more prudent. The old quote by Nietzsche seemed to apply here, especially the latter half, “Whoever fights with monsters should see to it that he does not become a monster in the process. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.”

Meanwhile, Incedis didn’t wait for those behind himself to snap out of their stupor. Jumping much higher than his body ought to be capable of, he smashed into the thick clot of Blighted rushing his summoner. Devastating shockwaves laced with flame exploded from the point of impact, evaporating those unlucky enough to be too close. Ineffectual counterattacks rained upon his body, sending sparks into the air but sliding off improved armor one and all.

Pulling greedily on his connection with that foolish boy, Incedis fueled his swords’ reaction; a pale mimicry of his real one, but passable for now. Insubstantial vapor roiled outwards, superheated gas forcibly evacuating any oxygen held within the foul Blighted lung’s on contact; from afar, Marcus saw real panic appear on their opponents faces for the very first time. 30 seconds.

Not being able to breath was but the first move. While the foes around him began to drop from asphyxiation, Incedis raised his sword and at its apex brought it slamming down - atomizing everything touched; including many Hastati’s with their reinforced bodies. The ground Marcus had found indestructible rippled from the blow, sending most survivors prone – within only one minute his summon had inexplicably obliterated over half of all Blighted present, alas their commander decided to now reveal itself.

Atop the floating crystal at the center of the cavern, a creature of nightmares gazed towards Incedis, fury practically palpable rolled from its body. Hundreds of stunted limbs clung to their moorings, while bloated purple flesh loosely hung from its body - gravity weighing heavily on the massive creature's stature. Mismatched eyes, mouths, and other feature dotted its form, no rhyme or reason to their placement; thick as an old oak, and 12 meters long the commander was a site to behold.

Marcus was first to notice, followed shortly thereafter by Incedius - that massive amounts of mana began to gather towards the creature. With time to spare bought by his summon, Marcus fired off an inspection.

Sub-Commander Eretyl, Blighted Seer | Level. 97 | Type: Abomination /Gastropod | Local Blighted leadership with direct control of all other Blight variants within several kilometers. Eretyl is a bringer of plague and poison and uses each to both destroy or convert nearby natives. Despite her size, she focuses primarily on spellcasting for disposing of direct threats. As a result of her original species, she enjoys astounding durability, and physical prowess.

Eretyl finished whatever she’d been preparing, a veritable avalanche of thick off-green gas was generated which immediately started filling the cavern at an unnatural pace. Incedius was practically invincible versus Blighted rank and file, but the caustic fumes started visibly eating away at his stony exterior. Marcus started throwing Scorching Rays towards the beast, aiming to dislodge it by removing as many limbs as possible.

The thing screeched as spells contacted its flesh. Following his lead, Greg stepped forward and fired off an iridescent bolt that traveled much slower than Marcus’s spells, but Eretyl reacted much more severely when it ripped into her body. Around that bolts point of connection, no damage was done per-se – instead of say burning it, the localized skin looked healthier than ever. Healthy appeared to be relative, as the Sub-Commander desperately clawed at the affected area, so much so that it was dislodged itself, and came crashing down.

A loud wumph signaled her fall and Incedis moved to capitalize on the now in range foe. Marcus assisted in clear a path. Using stone now exposed by his summons attacks Tendrils of Earth entangled those looking to harry Incedis’s advance. The spell now spanned over a much larger area than it had before, and even some of the weaker Blighted were eliminated in its vice-like hold. Aside from Marcus and Greg, everyone else simply held their position, fighting fervently to keep any foes off their casters. Adrian stood out far more than anyone else, well perhaps other than Incedis. He’d somehow acquired the ability to keep his shield in its expanded state active for much longer than before. Looking at his movements the shield wasn’t as powerful when used this way but for extended engagement was much more viable.

Satisfied that their line would hold, Marcus now turned to assist Incedis with what was turning out to be a challenging brawl. Stepping into the gas wouldn’t possible, so the only support he could provide came from maintaining his Pyroclastic Core ability, along with additional mana for staving off the acid even now eating into everything. One and a half minutes.

Incedis was having the most fun he’d had in a very long time. Not many people pulled elementals from other planes and infused them into constructs. Typically, individuals who practice summoning either do so at much higher levels, or in the presence of countermeasures for safety. The System provided little information to him as to how exactly he ended up here, what had been provided left him, a being around for untold years, aghast.

Just how did that human bumble into this, using a basic ability shouldn’t have facilitated my transfer. All I’ve been told is that some inexperienced summoner, ‘heard’, whatever that means, a call, which he answered… I’ve never heard of something so decidedly stupid in my life. Although, I’m not going to complain, it’s been an eon since I’ve been able to let loose; perhaps I should leave him with a tiny bit of help - maybe the idiot doesn’t end up dead and will manage to free me… yes, yes I think I will.

The thoughts flashed over his mind in an instant, a decision made that would alter the fates of countless others.

Happy that he’d been provided a modicum of assistance from the others, Incedis strode forward, driving his blade deep into Eretyl’s midsection. Blood and offal spilled out from the wound, but the monster appeared to scoff at its attacks. A wave of limbs batted Incedis away, sending the Forerunner tumbling along the floor for a short distance. Cracks spread throughout his armor, leaking a bright substance sharing many qualities with magma, he'd already been dealt more damage by that one blow than everything else previously. His timer ticked down much too quickly for him to single handedly end this abomination.

Mentally, he prodded towards his summoner following their intrinsic link, “Maintain this ability for as long as you can. You and the others NEED to evacuate this cave. While I’m not the original holder of this construct, I know that when it goes critical being anywhere near this place with reduce you into nothingness.”

Incedis noticed Marcus stare intently towards the crystal near the ceiling, “If you know what that crystal is, you must also realize just who built it. Have faith in their legacy, not that your faith matters - that crystal will survive even if this entire cavern collapses in upon itself. “

Marcus was surprised by the method of communication, but he’d already seen enough these past days to simply brush it off as the new normal. Quickly signaled his allies, they began their slow, fighting retreat towards the exit. The mana flowing into Incedis exploded upwards rapidly as the summon’s ability timer cross over the two-minute mark. For every step taken another increase in cost came, additionally, a noticeable strain on his fleeting willpower came along with that price.

Before long they’d managed to make their way completely outside, the once blocked exit open – likely undone to allow outside reinforcements to enter. Those same reinforcements, in addition to those they’d fought at the beginning, assuredly had entered the main cavern through another side passage.

After they’d entered the original building, most of the Blighted turned around - ceasing their pursuit to rush back in an effort to aid their master; Marcus wished he could’ve watched what was happening below. With more than a little regret, he and everyone else put as much distance as possible between themselves and the building.

Incedis hacked away at his foe. Each strike removing chunks of twisted flesh and drawing torrents of sickly liquid. He’d tried suffocating the ‘commander’ as he’d done before but had found the effect minimal at best. Every moment his summoner preserved their connection, and with it, incoming mana, the better for what was soon to come. A crescendo of sound began within seconds of the ability being overdrawn - continuously becoming louder by the second. Cracks that once would’ve been small now reveled the molten core within his shell. That core had once maintained the original construct, but not its only function was to destroy.

He wondered how a new planet managed to be so unfortunate to have to deal with something like this so soon after Integration; the System itself informed him that only four of their day cycles had passed so far - a number much too low in his option.

Severed limbs, and even at one point, a head regrew with a tenacity that made no practical sense. No matter how many times Incedis ripped this thing apart, any damage inflicted regenerated before any kind of decisive blow could be landed. Cursing the limited effectiveness of this shell, all he could accomplish and hope for, was that his self-destruction was adequate.

Weakened armor maintained its defense versus the chaff around, but did little for blows originating from Eretyl, who even up to this point said nothing. He felt that rather than not being able to speak, the freak didn’t see a point in doing so. Sub-commander Eretyl continued producing additional acidic fog, its other disease based magics already having been proven ineffective against a construct of mana and stone. Seeing that his end was nigh, Incedis recklessly applied pressure, doing damagem but of course nothing permanent.

Clawed limbs ripped into his body, flinging away shards of stone that dissipated back into mana in the air. Finally, Eretyl dug deep enough and reached to remove his core, a move that if the creature had known better, would’ve never tried.

Eretyl finally spoke, its hands clasped firmly around what it thought was victory, a vindictive smile blossomed across her face, “I win. Filth like you, aren’t worth my time. You’ve set us back, but once The Blight is whole once again, I’ll personally hunt down that maggot who pulls your strings. The anticipation of flaying the skin from his pathetic bones excites me beyond measure.”

Responding in a language that thus far only Marcus had understood, “I’ve seen more than my share of egotistical species and factions, but even after my extremely short time here, I’ve decided that you fools simply deserve extinction.”

Eretyl clearly didn’t understand what Incedis said, but laughing conveyed the same emotion for most species, even a laugh coming from a man made of stone. Confusion was the last thing Eretyl felt, her existence blotted out in cataclysmic fire.