The Void was cold. Its freezing chill dug into Damien’s skins like the claws of a harpy as he and Sylph formed upon the dry grass of a bleak field. Worse than the pain was the feeling of belonging that profused Damien as soon as the Void took form around them. Sylph’s hand tightened around Damien’s.

“Are you okay?” Damien asked, tearing himself away from his thoughts. “Is the lack of Ether too much?”

“No. I can deal with it,” Sylph said, shaking her head. “It’s just… wrong. Do you know what I mean?”

Damien was silent. He had – at one point. Now, the Void’s cold grasp just felt natural. The dull gray hues that covered the land around them and the dead grass prickling against their feet felt like home.

“It’s fake,” Damien said, following Sylph’s gaze to the grass. “The Void creatures made it, I think. Nothing here is the same as it was on Earth. Just us, and that’s not really saying much at all.”

“Couldn’t they have tried to make it look a little more welcoming?”

“I think that would require enough creativity to appreciate art. The Void is sorely lacking in that.”

Sylph flexed her hands and shifted from foot to foot in an attempt to get the blood flowing in her body. “The faster we deal with the Seed, the better. Do you know where it is?”

Damien nodded. Even as he raised his hand to reach for his staff, he found it already in his hand. Cold energy crackled against his palm, bucking in its eagerness to be used. It was easier to access here than it had been on the Mortal Plane. Much easier.

The broken runes sprung to his fingertips, nearly of their own volition. They rotated around him in the air as he finished drawing the circles, then shattered into thousands of pieces as the spell released. A slender black line blinked into existence in the air before them, trailing off into the field. It hung in the air like a strand of limp yarn, just barley held up on either end.

“It’s close,” Damien said. “I don’t know what the Seed can do. Be careful.”

“I’ve been training for longer than you have and I can take quite a few more blows than you,” Sylph said with a wry smile as they set off, following the line. “I should be the one telling you that.”

Damien’s shadow lengthened and Henry rose up behind him, already in his Full Manifestation. Sylph missed a step but easily made up for it.

“I thought we were under attack,” Sylph muttered. “That form is terrifying.”

“Thank you,” Henry said. “I worked very hard on it. It’s very important to crush the life out of the Corruption with style.”

Damien just grunted. The Void prickled against his skin like he was covered in ants, but the feeling stopped the instant he turned his attention toward it. He tightened his grip around the staff. As they continued through the seemingly endless field, the black line leading them started to grow tauter.

“We’re getting closer,” Damien said, running a finger along the spell. Tiny tingles of Void magic arced off where he touched it. “Be ready to fight at a moment’s notice. The Seed might be hiding.”

Sylph nodded and her scythes slid free of her back. Her eyes swept over the clearing as they walked, searching for the smallest signs of movement.

There was nothing. The Void looked hauntingly silent. The fields of endless dead grass stretched on beyond where the eye could see, perfectly uniform and unchanging. Air hung dead still, even though the prickling cold felt like a sharp wind.

Damien took the still moment to open the bag that Delph had given him. He undid the bindings and reached into it, pulling out a leatherbound book. Vague memories stirred in his head and he flipped the book open, leafing through it.

Every single page was blank, save for one. It depicted a brutal looking black axe, currents of black energy running around its head like a miniature storm.

“The axe Delph used against Second,” Damien muttered. “Would you look at that. Sylph, how good are you with an axe?”

“Not very,” Sylph replied. “I’ve got some practice with them, but I prefer weapons that I can amplify with my speed. Axes are unwieldy.”

“What about you, Henry?”

“Probably better than you.”

“Agreed on that,” Damien said. He tossed the book to Henry, who caught it with two razor-sharp fingers. Somehow, that didn’t cut the book into dozens of tiny little shreds. “Second was pretty scared of the axe in that. Do you know how to pull it out?”

Henry scoffed. “It’s just an artifact, even if it’s a strong one. Do you really think I wouldn’t know how to use it? It’s better to leave it sheathed for now, though. Weapons like this don’t like being drawn if you don’t use them.”

“They’ve got personalities?” Sylph asked. “Mine didn’t.”

“The strong ones do,” Henry replied. “Artifacts aren’t forged from nothing. Most of them are made from the body of a powerful monster – or human, in some cases. I’ll happily spend some time looking into what this one is made from once we deal with our target.”

They fell silent once more. With every step they took following the thread, it grew tauter until it was a perfectly straight line. It came to a stop above a patch of the field that looked nearly identical to every other part of it, except for two bunches of grass that were flattened. The grass around the flat spots flared outward, as if something was pushing it back. If the line hadn’t been running right through the area, Damien would have completely missed it.

Sylph blurred, launching toward the displaced grass. A loud bang split the dead silence and she was launched backward, slamming into the grass and rolling several feet before springing back to her feet.

Gaunt gray limbs bloomed from nothingness. A long, slow wheeze rustled through the clearing as the Seed slowly shifted into vision. The monster’s emaciated form towered over Damien, the skin on its face – if it could even be called that – stretched tight around the open orifices that marked its eyes and mouth.

Damien thrust his staff forward, sending a bolt of pure Void magic into the monster’s chest. The magic surged, moving so eagerly that he had to restrict himself. They needed the Seed dead, but letting that much Void magic into his body seemed like a very poor idea.

It let out a whistling wail, staggering back as the spell burned through its body and shot out the back, leaving a dripping green hole behind.

As quickly as the wound had formed, it started to seal shut. Damien’s eyes widened and he Warp Stepped back. An instant later, a huge, deformed hand slammed into the ground, crushing the grass and ripping apart false dirt.

Damien extended his senses, searching for the Seed’s connection to whatever it was using to heal itself. To his bafflement, he found nothing. The wound sealed itself shut and another low wheeze rattled the tall creature’s body.

Sylph flashed toward it, her scythes carving across the monster’s chest as her wind armor increased her speed even further. She moved so quickly that Damien couldn’t even follow her, but cuts bloomed like flowers across the monster’s body.

Each one sealed itself shut an instant after Sylph’s blade created it. It whipped a hand through the air and Sylph threw herself back, vaulting to avoid a grab and sliding to a stop beside Damien.

“It’s not connected to the Ether. How is it healing?” Damien asked.

“It isn’t? I feel a connection.”

“Allow me,” Henry said. He reached into the book, his long hand sinking into its pages. He drew it forth, pulling the wicked black axe free from within it. Henry’s face split apart in a deadly grin and his wings snapped open.

He launched himself forward, bringing the weapon hurtling toward the Seed. It lurched away, raising a hand defensively. A disk of green light bloomed between it and Henry, and the axe rebounded off it with a resounding clang.

“It can use magic?” Damien asked, aghast. He leveled his staff and formed a Void-enhanced gravity sphere. A massive black sphere spiraled outward beside the Seed, broken runes encircling it like halos.

It detonated with a silent hiss, taking the bottom half of the monster and a huge chunk of the ground along with it. Even as the Seed started to fall, its ravaged torso and limbs regrew at an incredible rate, reforming completely before it could even hit the ground.

The Seed raised a hand. Each of its fingers was the wrong length, as if they’d been taken from different monsters and stitched together. A sphere of green light started to gather at its palm, pulsating with sickly energy.

Henry flashed forward, raining blows down upon the Corrupted monster with the axe. Every time, just before the weapon connected, a flickering shield appeared to block the strike.

“This isn’t possible,” Damien said. “Sylph, what do you see? What’s its connection?”

“Corruption. It’s drawing energy from more Corruption!”

“How is that possible?”

A loud wail split the clearing as one of Henry’s attacks broke through the monster’s defenses and scored across its chest. It staggered back, forcing Henry back with a blast of energy. The thin cut wasn’t serious, but it didn’t seal over.

The Seed’s face trembled, and its head jerked from side to side unnaturally. Then, slowly, it turned to look straight at Damien. The hole that made up its mouth twisted and warped, growing thinner and pressing itself together.

“Damien Vale,” it whispered in a whistling voice. “We see you.”

“Shatter.”

Black lines erupted from Damien’s staff, binding around the Seed. They detonated, splitting the air with a rending screech. The Seed’s body segmented, falling apart into tiny chunks.

Sylph darted forward, but a blast of Corruption magic forced her back as the pieces stitched themselves back together in record time. The Seed took a stumbling step toward them. Damien fired another blast of Void magic into it, but the wound sealed over just as quickly. Even the blow dealt by Delph’s axe had sealed itself.

“It’s draining other Corruption to heal itself,” Sylph said urgently.

“How many?” Damien asked as they backpedaled. He blasted it with spell after spell while Henry rained blows down on it, flitting around the monster. Flashes of green light continued to obstruct him while it completely ignored Damien’s magic.

“I’m not sure,” Sylph muttered. “There are only a few lines, but they’re huge. I – I think it might be all of them. I can’t tap into the energy either. I don’t know what it would do to me.”

“Henry?” Damien yelled. “Thoughts?”

“I can cut the connection,” Henry called back as he brought the axe down toward the Corruption’s head. It struck a green shield with a loud crash, failing to penetrate once more. “But you’re going to need to weaken it. The less power I use in the Void, the better. My energy is known to the other Void Creatures, but yours isn’t.”

“If you haven’t noticed, Sylph and I aren’t having any luck damaging the stupid thing.”

The monster lashed out, catching Henry in the chest and slamming him into the ground. He sank into the shadows, coming out beside Damien and Sylph.

“You need to use more Void in your attacks,” Henry said. “You’re barely touching on it. We’re in the Void, Damien. Use it. That’s what all of the training was for. I can feel this stupid thing pulling in more energy. We need to deal with it immediately, before it blooms.”

Damien grimaced. He drew in a deep breath, trying to connect to the Void around them. The Seed howled and flashed toward him. Sylph shot to stand before Damien. The scythes sprouting from her back doubled in size and whipped upward, blocking the strike before it could hit him.

She groaned, her body arching in pain. Jagged blades pushed out from her elbows and green acid dripped down her back from where the scythes connected to her skin. Her scythes whipped to the side, throwing the Seed’s hand back.

“I’ll help Henry keep it off you until you can hold it down,” Sylph said, a grating note to her voice.

“We know you, Damien Vale,” the Seed mourned, taking a lurching step toward him. Henry fired a blast of violent purple energy into its chest, sending it skidding back. He launched himself at it, bringing the axe in for another blow, but it was blocked by the green shield once more. “We have already become. Why must you make us suffer?”

Damien extended his senses, reaching for the Void around them. It flooded to his fingertips, but he didn’t stop drawing on it. His eyes involuntarily shut, and the sounds of Sylph and Henry’s fight grew dimmer as the roar of the Void filled his ears.

The prickling energy that had been dancing across his skin ever since he’d returned to the Void turned to a dull ache, and that turned to a piercing pain. Damien went to release his pull on the Void, but it refused. The cold energy was moving too quickly now, and it poured into his body like the ocean rushing to fill a bucket. His attempts to block it off were crushed and washed away.

A loud roar echoed through the Void, reaching his ears even through the churning energy filling him. Damien snarled, straining to regain control of his body. The Void thundered within him, resisting his will stubbornly. Something crashed into the ground beside Damien, shaking it violently.

“You. Will. Obey.”

Damien’s eyes snapped open. Void magic erupted around him in a cyclone, dissipating into the air as he yanked his body forcibly under control. The searing covering his skin vanished as the tattoos that he’d drawn with Moon’s ink revealed themselves, crawling across his body.

Sylph stood before Damien, green acid dripping from several massive wounds in her body as they struggled to heal themselves. The ground around him was torn to shreds, but it was still largely unharmed.

Henry didn’t look injured either, but Sylph only had a limited amount of power to use in the Void. Without the ability to drain the Corruption safely, she could only rely on her innate speed and the small amount of Ether she’d brought with her in her core.

The Seed’s head snapped toward Damien, completely ignoring Sylph as her scythes carved a massive X into its chest. The monster’s mouth opened in a loud wail, and its face cracked like an egg.

“Moon,” it wheezed, lurching and stumbling toward him.

“My name,” Damien growled, Void energy crackling around his staff, “is Damien Vale. Obliterate.”