The moment Isaac stepped foot into the forest, he knew something was unnatural about it.
The Eclipse Legion had successfully managed to create an opening among the onslaught of monsters for Isaac to enter through. Now Isaac must do his part.
Oddly enough, there weren't as many monsters for Isaac to slay. It seemed that they were focusing their efforts on the borders. The trek through the forest was almost comfortable if it weren't for the unsavory environment and occasional monster.
Isaac’s flowing black hair glowed against the shade of the Obani forest. As he walked, the thorny grass withered against his pure aura. Despite the threat to their existence, the trees refused to let the sunlight touch the ground. Without fresh air flowing in, all Isaac smelled was the avid stench of corruption. The taste of rotten air wormed its way into his mouth. As dead silence surrounded him, the only thing Isaac heard was his breathing, the clanking of his armor and the sound of debris being crushed below his feet. None of these were helpful when tracking a monster. And yet, his face remained unchanged throughout the whole trek.
It was a simple job:
Kill the monster.
Isaac paused as he scanned his environment. The forest was about five miles wide, and yet, he had been walking in a straight line for what seemed like hours. The forest didn’t want him to find their master.
Isaac knelt and lowered his hand. As soon as he placed his hand on the ground, he sent a pulse of purity into the ground around him. All the demonic grass around him within 25 yards disintegrated upon contact with his magic. Logic dictated that his target had the power to regenerate all the corrupted grass and plant life closest to it. And so, as soon as the demonic grass started growing back from a specific spot, he would head in that general direction.
He destroyed the corrupted grass around him several times with his magic; each time, he found himself in an area with less sunlight than the last. He was getting closer.
Dead twigs snapped against his armored boots as he approached what seemed to be the ruins of the Obani village. Right next to it was a tree fit for the giants that grew taller than the others. The tree seemed to be as wide as the king’s castle and as tall as the heavens. Its pitch-black bark continued to absorb light as it neared Isaac’s radiant person. This was his target.
As Isaac walked through the desolate ruins, he couldn't help but notice that the architecture was completely interwoven with pitch black vines , relocating debri in all the wrong places. The place was less like a former village and more like a twisted hell scape.
As Isaac approached the tree, he noticed more plant-like creatures coming out from behind the wreckage. But unlike the bipedal plants or the animals infected by plant-like parasites he saw on the way here, these creatures were more human-shaped.
It seemed that these creatures were all formally human, though it’ll probably be inaccurate to call them human. Not any more. The monsters looked like they were once human, but now they were mutated beyond definition. Their skin had huge bulges all around them; and they smelled like freshly grown plants. Isaac can tell that the plant-like matter was incompatible with their human remains. In addition, even though they have mouths, none of them made a sound. It’s as if their vocal cords were no longer vocal cords. It doesn’t look like their legs were no longer shaped correctly to move naturally. Some of them are laid on the ground unable to get back up. Some of them look more plant than human at this point. One of them no longer had eyes. In each eye’s place where a venus flytrap's maw.
Eerily enough, they don’t attack Isaac. They just stared as he approached the tree.
Leaving the transformed villagers to the Eclipse Platoon when they eventually get here, Isaac continued onwards.
However, when he made it clear that his destination was gigantic tree in front of him, the former villagers sprung into action. The ones with venus flytraps for hands grabbed hold of Isaac’s arms and legs as the acid from their maws was already melting away him armor. The ones that could walk either grabbed or leaned against his body and started... pushing him away from the tree?
Before he can process the current situation, the more violent ones sprung into action. One of them was a giant of a beast who had tree trunks for arms, legs and torso. They made good use large limbs of theirs as it kicked Isaac along with the venus flytrap monsters attached to him into a nearby wall.
Isaac was given no time to get his bearings however as the flower monsters happened to be in the area where he landed and they wasted no time spraying a poison pollen on him.
On instinct, Isaac quickly chanted a spell and suddenly the entire area was filled by the blinding light of his magic of purity.
When Isaac regained his vision, he was disappointed to see that the monsters are still there. The blast only served to stun the monsters and disintegrate the poisonous pollen before it could do any real damage.
With grim determination, Isaac unsheathed his sort and began to chant another spell. Once the spell was finished, his sword glowed with blinding vigor.
Isaac hacked and slice with no end in sight. He started by beheading the poisonous flowers. The venus flytrap monster where a little more durable but doable with a well place slice and energy ball into their holes.
The tree monster was the most troublesome. Isaac screamed as he jumped onto it’s torso and plunged his sword into it’s trunk.
It was a long battle against a village full of enemies, but through tactics and just plain luck, the ruins became silent once again.
Isaac panted as the monster’s blood and his own blood soaked his body. His armor was completely ruined by the venus flytrap’s acid. All he has now is the straps on his back.
He must prepare for more dangerous threats lurking further in.
Isaac kneeled down in front of one of the beheaded poisonous flowers. He pulled out one of his spare canteens and plunged it into the poisonous flower’s head. Once he is satisfied that he got enough poison in his canteen, she put the lid back on and shook it up. The poison stained the outside of his canteen with the color of purple. When he was done, he placed the purple stained canteen back onto his belt. If she for some reason looses his sword, this would be his last line of defense.
Now to reach his target.
Once he reached the front of the tree, his mystical sword gleamed against the light-absorbing bark. The Legion captain informed him that the corruption and monsters seems to be coming from this tree. Isaac can definitely feel it. His eye twitched as the only sound that could be heard was from his holy sword easily slicing through the evil tree’s bark. However, the cut was quickly healed within a few short seconds. After raising an eyebrow, Isaac made a few more cuts before the bark could heal itself. The master of the forest was most likely inside.
Nodding in silent respect, Isaac returned his sword to its sheath and then proceeded to hold out his hands and chanted. A few short seconds later, a radiant white ball of purity materialized between him and the tree, illuminating the forest around him. Without much resistance, Isaac managed to generate enough energy into the man-sized sphere within a few short moments. Once the energy ball was an adequate size, Isaac gently pushed it into the tree’s direction. The ball of paladin energy incinerated the dark bark and anything else in its path. By the time the sphere of light left Isaac’s sight, there was a cleanly burned entrance into the hollow of the giant tree.
Isaac summoned another ball of light, this time smaller than the last, and willed it in front of him as he entered the lightless tunnel in the tree.
The tunnel took longer to walk through than Isaac expected, but soon enough, he found himself staring at the light at the end of the tunnel.
He was standing in a gigantic chamber inside the hollow of the tree, filled with sunlight channeled through a gigantic crystal hanging from the ceiling. Within this chamber, there lived a miniature forest full of cheerful woodland animals, such as rabbits, squirrels, wolves and other animals normally seen in a forest going about their business. Isaac breathed in a sigh of relief at the smell of fresh air and the onslaught of youthful sounds. These were the ideal conditions for tracking. This chamber had everything a normal forest should have. But most importantly, it was without an ounce of corruption within it.
However, Isaac knew he needed to press on.
Using the giant light crystal hanging in the center of the chamber, Isaac made his way to the center of the garden. With each step he made, the master he sensed became closer.
After a long walk full of clean air and natural life, Isaac arrived at his destination. In front of him, a small pond with a small piece of land stood in the middle of it. On the center of that island, a sobbing green-skinned child, no older than ten years old, was curled up into a ball. The boy looked like a normal human with the exception of the green naturally plant-like skin and the blue flowers growing from the top of his head. The creature smelled of a healthy meadow. The child stared at him with tears in his eyes. Yet, Isaac can tell that the boy’s actions were deliberate.
Isaac had found the monster.
“You held the forest back from me,” Isaac stated simply. “You knew I was coming.”
The child shakily nodded, “Y-yes.”
In response, a bridge made of plants rose to the surface of the pond, granting Isaac easy access to the child.
The paladin nodded in understanding, “You want to die.”
“Yes.” This time, the child’s response was clearer.
Even though Isaac already knew the answer, his curiosity got the better of him. “Why?” he asked.
The boy continued to cry without a response.
“Why?” Isaac pressed.
After a few minutes, the boy finally responded, “I keep hurting people on the outside, and I can’t stop it.”
“Why?”
“B-because I’m a weed druid. That nice lady turned me into a weed, and now my village is gone!”
Isaac nodded to that. That fit in line with the monster’s description he had been given. A forest druid appeared at a village, and within a few short months, a corrupt forest took the village’s place.
“Who’s this nice lady you mentioned?” Isaac asked.
“S-she said that I could stop the other kids from hurting me and calling me names if I made them happy. She said she could help me do that.”
Isaac remained calm. “Do you know her name?”
The boy furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, “I think she said her name was Fytomorfia.”
“Do you know where she went?” Isaac pressed.
The boy shook his head. “N-no.”
Isaac clenched his fists. “What you just described fit the description of a druid. A druid offered you one of her fruits. And by eating it, you became a druid yourself. That’s how they convert others to their numbers.”
The boy nodded. “Can you turn me back?”
Watching the boy grow even more disheartened at the sight of him shaking his head almost broke Isaac’s mask of indifference. “Once the corruption fully converts you, there is no going back. You are lucky that your mind didn’t change with your body.”
The boy’s tears stopped flowing. “What happens now?”
Isaac walked up to the druid boy and sat down beside him. He then unlatched two canteens from his belt; his personal black leather canteen, and the purple canteen. Isaac handed the boy the purple canteen as he held out his personal canteen in front of himself and the boy as if he was giving a toast of honor. “You may still have your mind now, but the corruption will eventually corrupt that as well. I’ve seen many cases of clarity, and they don’t last forever. You’re the longest case I’ve seen, so for that, I have deep respect. Since you seem to have a clear idea of what is going to happen, I won’t beat around the bush. We’re going to have one last sip of water. Is that okay with you?”
The druid boy nodded. He uncurled from his fetal position and sat up next to the paladin. Both held out their canteens.
Isaac held his canteen leveled with the boy’s. “To a better future for the next generation.”
The boy bravely nodded for the last time. “For my village.”
The two drank from their canteens.
It didn’t take long for the poison to take effect.
Soon the boy took a nap on the paladin’s lap. The moment his eyes closed, the sunlight channeled to the light crystal stopped shining. The chamber was filled with complete darkness and the sounds of animals retreating outside.
The monster had been slain.