He'd seen enough, and the group were at a point where they were distracted.
Claws wrapped tight around the dagger, Erviel rose to his feet; lavender eyes glinting alongside the flower-themed stone at his chest. While blanketed by his cloak, the lilac glow faintly shimmered through the black cloth.
Stepping out from behind the pillar, the violet-scaled figure trailed his claws along the side of his maw. The friction alone resulted in a discordant squeaking that easily broke the concentration of the cult leader and its brethren, if the fearful gasps and turning heads were any indication.
"Who dares disrupt such grand a tribute in gratitude towards our progenitor?"
The cultist leader withdrew his mask-carrying hand from atop the cocoon, voice low and gravelly as if he'd not spoken in ages. Whilst his eyes, and by extension, his followers, could not be glimpsed due to their faces being obscured, it wasn't difficult to pinpoint their clear frustration through body language alone.
"Save it." Erviel scoffed, raising the rose-themed dagger; gem once matching his vibrant eyes having dulled to a colorless black. "You don't deserve to have your question answered."
Not seeking to spare the group a bravado of ideological banter, with startling accuracy the dagger flew from his claws and plunged straight into the eye-like design of the leader's mask; the suddenness of the action coupled with the flood of pain leaving him a writhing mess at the foot of the plinth, to his cohorts' horror.
Losing the dagger was trivial as a pulse of Corruptive energy served to lengthen Erviel's right arm into a jagged axe-like blade, one that tore through a good quarter of the cultists who'd remained rooted to the floor against better judgement. Black blood splattered across his reptilian-esque face and dark cloak, doing little to obscure his vision as his scales simply absorbed the Corrupted life essence; though the same couldn't be said for the stone underfoot.
The eight remaining cultists who had been lucky enough not to be in range of his axe-arm hastily donned their black robes once more, dark tomes withdrawn in a show of defense. He couldn't help but find it amusing at how in-sync their movements were alongside similar appearances, not that visual choreography would aid them.
An army of outstretched palms facing him, the pages of the black tomes within the cultists' grasps fluttered wildly as glimmering runic circles formed into existence, torrent of magical chains snaring out in a shallow attempt to bind him.
Lavender eyes flashing, Erviel grunted as he delivered a hefty stomp to the floor; grin crossing his maw as the Corruptive fluids of the masked cultists' slain brethren rose into the air to solidify into an impenetrable wall of blackness. The motion having been near-instant, the ethereal chains sent about clattered to the floor and dispersed uselessly; casters given not a second to recover as their enigmatic attacker delivered a punch to the thick barrier.
Through his will and the force of the action, the Corruptive shield loosened in density and regained fluidity once more; appearing to collapse inward before exploding outwards in a crescent-shaped blade of darkness, tearing torso from waist and leaving even more of a mess in its wake, black blood practically indistinguishable from the essence ejaculated by the males moments earlier.
Slime-drenched ground squelching beneath his feet, Erviel strutted to the plinth in apathy; maw curling into a scowl upon glimpsing the absolutely pathetic form of the cult leader whose face he impaled seconds ago behind it. To his credit, he had to complement such resilience to survive such a blow.
Or at least, that's what he would have done had he actually cared.
After prying the dagger from his weakened grip, the lavender-eyed creature drove his foot into the masked leader's stomach; indifferent to the muffled cry serving as a reply. Another kick served to send the whimpering cultist careening off the small pedestal and into the large puddle of his slain brethren's fluids, tendrils surging forth to bind his arms and legs and prevent any attempt at escape.
While seeking to interrogate this makeshift cult leader, Erviel's gaze drifted to the mass right before him atop the plinth; the cocoon. Black exterior accented with vermilion patterns, the faint crimson glow from within had dulled considerably alongside the squirming. He could no longer make out any obvious attributes aside from the vaguely humanoid figure he'd glimpsed earlier. It may as well have already drowned or died of claustrophobia.
Regardless, the more he waited the more he was allowing the being inside to incubate into some Corrupted beast, if it already wasn't.
Setting the rose dagger off to the side, Erviel willed his claws to extend into a jagged spear-like shape. Starting at the foot of the cocoon, he gently pressed inwards; piercing through the soft layer of hardened Corruption before slicing through the rest.
A geyser of black sludge erupted from the gash inflicted, droplets staining the obelisk behind him and pooling at the floor in a hypnotic display. With the outflow eventually reduced to a small torrent, the bright crimson glow that followed forced Erviel to retreat a step; arms raising to shield his eyes.
Almost as soon as he had, Erviel found an immense pressure around his throat; lavender eyes widening as he found himself dangling inches off the ground. All at once, his gaze locked with a pair of hellish eyes the color of blood; clashing heavily with the darkness around them.
The freed being's grip clenched tighter, forcing another breath out of his maw; unable to break its grip no matter how hard he kicked or attempted to claw at its digits. His attempts to will the ocean of Corruption at the floor proved useless, as though his own power was being completely nullified.
A low growl rumbled forth from the crimson-eyed being's throat, however, a growl that shifted to an ear-splitting roar as a bright lavender-colored glow surged forth from beneath his cloak; the radiance originating from the flower-like stone dangling at his chest.
A scream and Erviel found himself flung through the air, narrowly catching himself on a nearby pillar; practically crumpling to the sludge-coated floor as he reached the ground.
Shaking the ringing from his ears, his eyes snapped to the being that he'd freed from the cocoon; dark gaze focused firmly on him.