Max felt his own stats surge. His attack power multiplied. His MP regeneration became a torrent. His very presence within the dome became oppressive.
The Titan recovered from its shock and swung its massive fist at Max.
Max didn't dodge. He stepped forward, Voidreaver raised, and met the attack head-on.
His blade connected with the Titan's stone-metal fist, and the legendary sword sheared through it.
CRITICAL HIT! -8,947 HP!
The Titan's hand severed, dissolving into particles. It roared in pain and fury.
Max smiled. "My turn."
He activated Voidreaver's Abyssal Edge ability.
[ABYSSAL EDGE – ACTIVATED]
[Next 3 attacks ignore all armor and deal pure damage]
[ENHANCED: Next 18 attacks ignore all armor] (6x duration)
Max became a blur of motion. Shadow Step had no cooldown within his domain.
He appeared behind the Titan, struck twice.
-4,923 HP! (Pure damage)
-5,234 HP! (Pure damage)
Teleported to its left, struck three times.
-4,856 HP!
-5,012 HP!
-4,789 HP!
The shadow slaves attacked from the front, their enhanced claws tearing through the Titan's defense like paper. Each strike dealt nearly a thousand damage, their attack speed tripled by the domain's power.
-934 HP! (Slave #1)
-987 HP! (Slave #1)
-912 HP! (Slave #2)
-956 HP! (Slave #2)
Night joined the assault, its massive enhanced blade cleaving chunks of stone-metal from the Titan's body with each swing.
-1,845 HP! (Night)
-1,923 HP! (Night – Critical!)
The Titan's health dropped catastrophically fast: 45,000... 38,000... 30,000... 25,000...
[CORRUPTION: 33 → 38/100]
Continuous corruption gain from sustained combat
[WARNING: Entering Stage 2 Corruption Effects]
The pain intensified. Max felt like his skin was crawling with invisible insects.
And the voices started.
Whispers at first, coming from everywhere and nowhere. Then louder. Clearer.
"Join us."
"Come to the void."
"You belong with us."
"Let go. Surrender. Become."
Shadows at the edge of his vision began to move independently, reaching toward him with ethereal hands. But when Max turned to look directly at them, they would freeze, pretending to be normal shadows.
He shook his head violently, trying to clear it. The Titan was at 20,000 HP. Halfway dead. He had to focus.
The creature, sensing its doom, activated some kind of berserker mode. Its body glowed red, and its attack power doubled.
[IRONCLAD TITAN – ENRAGED]
It swept both arms—one remaining, other severed—in a massive arc.
One shadow slave was caught by the attack and obliterated.
[SHADOW SLAVE #1: DESTROYED]
[DETONATION: 1,500 AOE DAMAGE] (5x enhanced)
The explosion staggered the Titan, dealing massive damage at point-blank range.
-1,500 HP!
Max barely noticed. He was fighting on two fronts now—the physical battle against the Titan, and the mental battle against the corruption eating at his mind.
[CORRUPTION: 38 → 43/100]
The world tilted.
For a moment—just a split second—Max saw himself from outside his body. Saw his avatar moving inhumanely, eyes glowing demonic red.
He looked like a monster wearing the shape of a person.
Then perspective snapped back, and he was in his body again, but the image lingered. Is that what I'm becoming?
The whispers grew louder, more insistent.
"Yes. This is what you are."
"Stop fighting it."
"Embrace us."
Max gritted his teeth and pressed the attack. He unleashed everything and activated his Whispering Crown's special ability.
[WHISPER OF MADNESS – ACTIVATED]
[Target loses 50 sanity]
[ENHANCED: (5x effect)
The Titan screamed in terror as its mind shattered. Its movements became erratic, panicked, striking at enemies that weren't there.
Night and the remaining shadow slave pressed the advantage, their blades and claws finding every weak point while the Titan flailed uselessly.
[CORRUPTION: 43 → 48/100]
[WARNING: Approaching Stage 3 Corruption Effects]
The Titan swung wildly and caught the second shadow slave with a lucky hit.
[SHADOW SLAVE #2: DESTROYED]
[DETONATION: 1,500 AOE DAMAGE]
Another massive explosion. The Titan staggered, its health less than 10,000 now.
[CORRUPTION: 48 → 52/100]
[STAGE 3 CORRUPTION EFFECTS ACTIVE]
[SEVERE HALLUCINATIONS BEGINNING]
[REALITY PERCEPTION CRITICALLY COMPROMISED]
**
The world shattered.
One moment Max was in the canyon, fighting the Titan.
The next, he was in his childhood home.
But something was wrong with it. The walls breathed like lungs. The wallpaper peeled away in strips that looked like flayed skin, revealing pulsing meat underneath. The ceiling dripped something thick and black that hissed when it hit the floor.
His father sat across from him at their old kitchen table, looking exactly as he had before the cancer.
"You've done well, son," his father said, and when he spoke, Max could see corners of his mouth stretched past where they should end, splitting the skin of his cheeks
"Dad—"
"You've become strong." His father's eyes were proud, loving. Then they began to weep. Not tears but thick, black liquid that oozed down his cheeks like tar. "You've protected our family."
The fluid dripped onto the table, and where it landed, the wood rotted instantly.
Max tried to speak, but his tongue felt wrong in his mouth.
"But you can be stronger still." His father's smile twisted, the split in his cheeks tearing wider. His eyes went completely black and now his voice voice was layered with a dozen others, echoing inhumanely.
"Let the corruption take you. Let go of weakness. Embrace what you're becoming."
His father's hand reached across the table, and Max saw it was rotting as it moved.
Max stumbled backward, and his chair didn't just fall—it melted, dissolving into shadow. The kitchen walls began to crack, reality splintering like broken glass, each shard reflecting a different memories.
"Come to us, son. Join the void. You belong here."
The kitchen dissolved.
Max gasped and was back in the canyon, but reality was fracturing around him. The stone walls rippled like water. The moons above split into dozens, then hundreds, all of them staring down at him like eyes.