A day Earlier, In the Heart of the Abyssal Trench:

The corrupted meteor RAGED. Black fibrous tendrils slammed into rock walls, breaking stone, and shattering the earth around it. Glistening strips of flesh wept bloody tears into the water and the monsters it controlled shivered and looked away. Those with some small part of their mind remaining at least.

A final bout of destruction and then the corruption released the anger it held. Wrath would not be productive in this situation. Instead, it engaged a cold slithering intelligence and considered the current situation. It spliced off a portion of its mind and inspected the troops. Twenty-seven corrupted dungeon cores laid in the depths of the trench, all vomiting out the legions of monsters it used for combat.

The creatures stood idly, rotting skin and muscle flaking into the water. Some had decayed so badly that they were merely bones; purely animated by mana and hate. Others floated; their bodies buoyed by the gasses contained within. Once more, the meteor tried to reach out and contact its greater self. While it certainly wasn’t winning the war, help would always be useful. As it attempted to request aid, the mana packet it used for communication slammed against the walls of the incursion zone. It rebounded and disbursed, blocked by the incursion zone implemented by the [system]. Just like all the times before.

Regret briefly welled within the meteor. Its analytic mind examined the emotion and then discarded it as useless. After all, corruption would win in the end. It was only a matter of time. As a bleeding tendril gently caressed the prized dungeon cores, the meteor decided to review the progression of its plans for the last few months. Somehow, a bit of corruption had managed to infect a dungeon core behind the front lines of the trench. The meteor didn’t know where it had come from, but the piece quickly synced to the local consciousness and began to take control of the dungeon. The plan from there was to build up an army and then hammer the enemy on two fronts. It wasn’t quite sure of how that plan had failed; only being aware of the divine intervention and the subsequent annihilation of its influence. But there was one thing it was sure of. Its plan had failed…

And that stupid crab had something to do with it.

Rage grew once more and in a petty bout of spite, the meteor directed one of the dungeon cores to produce a series of crabs. The meteor didn’t even waste the mana to corrupt them. With a dim *pop* ten small crustaceans appeared in the depths of the trench. As they blearily examined their surroundings, an insectile horror leered from the dark. Claws slowly emerged from the glistening floor and then tenderly closed upon the small creatures. Before the crabs could realize the danger, the claws struck; tearing them into bloody pieces. For a good hour the meteor entertained itself, creating a forest of impaled crustaceans.

As its rage lessened, the meteor grew bored and decided to return to its previous analytic work.

So, the plan to strike the enemy on two fronts had failed. The corruption then sent a single fish, barely a minnow, through the war zone of the trench. The fish had navigated to the Kelp Forest and was able to find and corrupt the guardian within. From there, it was able to send a message to a previously corrupted sleeper agent within the city. A false work order here, a few bribes there and the agent had managed to adjust the mana-circuits the city used for teleportation. All in pursuit of the tertiary objective of destroying the crab. After all, the crustacean was an unknown factor, it needed to be destroyed. With the circuits changed, the idea was for the crab to teleport within the Kelp Forest and be killed. The meteor could then mobilize the Kelp Forest as a sufficient distraction. While the city was dealing with that, a main offensive would be launched from the trench to break past the defensive lines.

Then the crab managed to escape.

Now, the corrupted guardian laid broken and defeated on the floor of the kelp forest; trampled and forgotten. A portion of the meteor’s awareness was still attached to the rotting plant matter. As it recalled that part of itself, it made sure to assimilate the structure of the creature. For all of the guardian’s faults, it was a useful model. Worthy of being recreated later.

As the meteor pondered its next course of action, it found itself discarding option after option. Every plan it had tried in the last 1750 years had been stopped in one way or another. An irrational surge of anger rose in the meteor’s heart. Millions of rotting creatures yelled and gurgled into the frothing water.

So diversionary tactics had failed?

Fine.

Orders rippled amidst the lightless deep, hulking monstrosities opened their eyes from slumber. Undead legions marshalled and magic bristled in the dark. The meteor had not launched a main offensive in a couple of generations, just constant waves of probing attacks. Large offensives had always failed before, and there was a risk of being too vulnerable, opening itself to a deadly counterattack. As the corruption considered its plan, it decided to hedge its bet. Half of its forces would head above, attacking the front lines. A quarter would remain to protect the meteor, and the last part of its troops?

Well…

It had been almost 1600 years since it tried to dig for the core of the planet.

It was time to try again.