Overpowered Wizard

Chapter 112: B2: C12: Actual Challenge

There was mainly one reason Zarian hadn’t divorced Luciana already. It had nothing to do with their families, at least not for Zarian.

While he had no idea what would happen with his family or Luciana’s family once he divorced her, he didn’t appreciate their elders deciding how to run his love life. He figured he shouldn’t have to be considerate of their grand, ultra outrageous plans in return.

The real reason he held back from divorcing Luciana was because she would dwell in the heartache. Then she would unleash her own version of the Darkrun Apocalypse on Infinita, albeit a smaller one.

Yes, even Zarian’s marriage held an entire universe at the mercy of the Darkruns.

The Funnest Granpapa was probably having a laugh at Zarian’s expense. The bastard.

I’ll divorce Luciana face to face.

Once Zarian reached the natural peak of power in this universe, he would have more than enough leverage to protect all of Infinita from Luciana’s corrupted tears.

For now, he put up with the weird relationship and its implications. He hadn’t talked much with Luciana in the past four months, so he had plenty of time to pretend it wasn’t a big deal.

However, that didn’t mean he’d remained completely out of the loop.

Luciana’s main acolyte at the village had kept him informed of some tidbits. Evil Goddess Shadowfell was committed to what she’d told him on the day of the Darkrun Apocalypse.

She was becoming a more active evil force.

And that was scary for everyone, especially the Star System itself. Luciana could stretch further beyond the parameters set for Star System Gods. Her actions had more long-lasting consequences.

The winter night was clear of clouds above. The many stars and worlds of the Star System glinted in the dark canvas of the systemized universe.

Three moons dominated the night-lit sky – the pale Castle Haunter, the orange Cavern Hellion, and the blue Sea Strider.

Under the moons and stars, Zarian and Ezda stood on the tallest tower on the perimeter of a frozen lake surrounded by fortress hills, dilapidated pathways, snow-laden hedges, and ice-coated statues. The lake would serve as a gift to one of Zarian’s fellow Floridians in Spring, but the corrupted creatures had the area surrounded and threatened.

Spilling their blood here would ruin the lake.

“I’ve never seen them wait before,” Ezda said, letting a hint of nervousness creep through her voice.

Zarian was a little surprised to hear Ezda showing fear. Maybe because he was here instead of anyone else meant Ezda was okay with being vulnerable with him.

No matter what, Zarian wanted to ensure Ezda came out of this okay.

“I know the corruption from Shadowfell Tears gives more power,” Zarian said. “I also know it could drive those who consume the tears crazy and mutate them drastically if they aren’t strong enough. But how they measure the capability of a consumer is beyond me.”

“It doesn’t matter what level you are,” Ezda said. “The Shadowfell Tears care not for levels or stats or abilities. It will bury itself deep in you and test your soul. I’ve seen elders fail to master the Shadowfell Tears. We had to put them all down. That’s the real reason we’ve avoided Castle Grimrock. The warlock seems to have a mastery of the substance.”

Zarian snorted. “Her daughter says otherwise.”

“Which daughter?”

“The only one who matters. Don’t worry about that now. How do you avoid corruption? I won’t be affected.”

“As long as I don’t ingest it or let it fester in my blood, I will not be corrupted. It is also advisable to not stay around large amounts of Shadowfell Tears for too long. Breathe in its fumes for too long and you will be tested and turned corrupted.”

Zarian nodded. There wasn’t much information on Shadowfell and her tears, other than the dangers of its effects.

Luciana was a very new goddess, after all. But so far, there were a few key details everyone knew.

Once someone became fully corrupted, their power would rise sharply at the cost of their growth potential. They would get a new class. Their abilities would change drastically, falling under shadowy themes. They would become unhinged.

So far, Foodie and one other person Zarian knew were the only examples of people able to ingest Shadowfell Tears and come out greater on the other side.

Foodie had benefited the most, becoming legendary at Level 10 with a class that led to huge bursts of growth. Thus, she was the most prized goblin in possibly all the Lesser Worlds.

However, what Zarian was seeing here went further beyond all that he’d learned of corruption. His spectral spiders had gotten close enough for him to Identify some of the corrupted creatures. He didn’t like what he was seeing.

Luciana’s tears or personal designs had twisted the corrupted into aberrant monstrosities. There were only ten of them. But these ten were the most deeply unsettling foes Zarian had seen that weren’t Evil Gods.

“Ezda,” Zarian said calmly. “We need to run. We can’t fight here.”

The corrupted creatures lunged out from the shadows in the grass. Their lightless gazes burned furiously at the sight of their target, the one married to the goddess who tainted them into abhorrent monsters.

They surrounded the fortress hill from all sides. They had Zarian encircled.

Zarian had them where he wanted them, and he held the high ground.

“Unyielding Barrage,” he said with a finish.

The mini-cubes moved as expected in the vambraces of his gauntlets. The dark starry night rippled and dimmed, responding to his reign as its lord.

Zarian felt a better grasp of his Overwhelming Darkness while it was under One Percent Power. It was less automated. It was more connected to him.

Dark bolts formed above him and rained down in all directions beyond the fortress hill. He lit up the edge of the Blood Prairies with so much thunderous force it sounded like dozens and dozens of ceaseless thunderclaps roaring about.

The bolts struck down the corrupted creatures. They struck down the earth. The roaring barrage shook the area like Zarian was the bringer of earthquakes, a phenomenon that nothing could resist.

Except for the corrupted creatures.

They couldn’t outright resist. But the natural way for Zarian to win didn’t wipe them out instantly.

More dark bolts landed. The booming eruptions and pounding tremors continued. Zarian’s aura could keep this up for a while.

But the vitality of the corrupted creatures proved vastly impressive. They rapidly healed. They trudged forward. Then they suffered another hammering blow and another and another under Zarian’s barrage, only for them to repeat the process and gain ground.

“The vitality of these things is ridiculous,” Zarian said. “Luciana, you’re crazy for doing this. What’s an adventurer to do when they’re not me? Do they at least have weaknesses to offset the massive vitality? Or are you just having fun doing whatever comes to mind? You have to consider the balance on these things, at least.”

Well, thankfully, Zarian had a solution against overt vitality. More importantly, Para could help.

Zarian focused on maintaining the Unyielding Barrage while having another Void Step ready to cast.

Para formed a few arms she unwrapped away from Ezda. Then she selected the grimoire with the spectral chains attached to Zarian’s soul.

Para flipped through the pages. She rubbed her fingers over the text and symbols. Some of her hands formed mouths in the middle of their palms. Then she chanted, “Black Fire.”

Now Zarian’s Unyielding Barrage had black and gray flames coating them. When the flaming dark bolts landed, the Black Fire consumed the corrupted creatures silently. The war of attrition remained on Zarian’s side.

The corrupted creatures chose to fight smarter. A few slipped into the shadows again and reappeared on the same fortress hill Zarian stood on.

One had a man’s face fused with a horse with fanged teeth. The creature’s body was as bloated and tumorous as a sick boar the size of a minibus.

The corrupted man-horse tried to bite off Zarian’s head.

Instead of running, Zarian poured aura into his Willful Might skill and gave the creature one big uppercut.

The creature’s jaw turned into fragments. The head snapped back. All of its bus-size momentum stopped, while its entire body rippled like dropping a stone on the surface of a tranquil lake.

The aged floor beneath Zarian cracked and broke, taking away most of his footing while the corrupted creature he punched tumbled away, still covered in silent gray and black flames.

Zarian fell into a darkened hole. His Unyielding Barrage ended. The corrupted creatures dove into the hill fortress and filled its shattered, bent, and skewed halls with their roars and screams and savage bloodlust.

The Madness Wizard still didn’t cast Void Step. Instead, he hand-signed and chanted, “One Percent Power Unsealed. Dark Fists.”

Then he cast Void Layer on his darkened fists before the first corrupted creature turned the corner on a dilapidated and tilted hallway.

When he punched the corrupted creature, he hit with a weighty piece of Overwhelming Darkness and a layer of the endless void. He also struck with the full weight of his Floridian Mindset, Willful Might, parasite-enhanced body, and aura manipulation for extra boosts.

The entire hill of fortresses shuddered and crumbled down on Zarian, Para, Ezda, and the corrupted. The Madness Wizard kept going as rubble rained down and the tilted floors collapsed from under them. He kept duking it out blow for blow regardless of the environmental destruction.

For the first time in a long time, he had an actual challenge. And they could hit back worth a damn.

They made his heart beat in his chest like the loudest war drums. The blood rushing by his ears sounded like a roaring rapids. The corrupted creatures even made him bleed a little.

He would hate to admit this was a nice gift from his evil weirdo wife.