'Slaughter them'
'Bathe in their blood'
'Feast on their flesh'
"Become the truest version of yourself"
A simple mantra. That's what she had thought they were—words meant to be nothing more than seductive whispers. But those whispers held deeper meaning; they revealed to her what she could not see. And even then, she still couldn't see the truth.
A laugh broke through the forest's silence, deprecating in nature and nothing like the demoness's. A natural reaction to one's short-sightedness, what else could you do after discovering that the truth had been handed right to you, but you didn't even realise it?
For the first time in her new life, the surrounding air didn't reek of blood and slaughter. The oppressive hold that it once had on those weaker than her was gone; it was like the mad beast of a woman had disappeared. But she was still there, standing before the mangled corpse of her draconic foe with a deep look on her face.
A look devoid of madness.
Almost.
Behind those thoughtful eyes, hidden away from the world, lingered a familiar presence. It clung to the edges of her expression, ever-present yet invisible to those who did not know where to look. However, it was different.
No longer did it uncontrollably expand and consume all in sight, for home had at last been found. Now it remained still, ever so often writhing in the very madness that it was. Waiting for its mistress to let it out into the world and do what it did best.
Breed chaos and destruction.
But until its time came, it would simply wait.
And Faye knew it would wait; her control over it was absolute. The morality that it relentlessly tried to destroy was finally gone. It had done its duty.
Now, she had to do hers.
Turning her attention back to the corpse before her, she wasted no time in tearing off a chunky piece of flesh and shoving it into her mouth. Her foe may have died, but the corruption that lingered in what remained of him continued to exacerbate his decay.
It would only be a matter of time before there would be nothing left for the demoness to devour, and with the power that she had gained, she knew she had to make the most of this meal.
Raising her free arms towards the corpse, she attempted to control the corruption, her hands tensing as she poured all her focus into the task. However, the most she could do was slow its rate of spread. Even with her position as the Apostle of Corruption, her control over her Lord's power was still weak, though in comparison to the others, it was much stronger.
Normally, she would be overcome with regret and shame for not refining her control over her Lord's blessing, but the current situation demanded urgency. Not to say she didn't feel the regret and the shame, she certainly did. But she also felt the power growing within her with every bite, with every piece of flesh she consumed.
And that prompted her to devour with even more fervour, determined to gain as much power as she could. Soon, all that was left of Lazaro was a few decaying scraps. Scraps that Faye threw into her maw without hesitation, for even the tiniest scrap of flesh meant an increase in her strength, no matter how small.
As she threw the final piece of the lizardman into her mouth, a burst of energy flowed through her body, strengthening her already powerful body to a whole new level. Along with this sudden gain in power was a special ability, one that was already showing its effects as the demoness grabbed her head while gritting her teeth. A chaotic mess of memories began to flow through her brain, a jumble of scenes from Lazaro's life, but she couldn't make sense of anything.
They were all fragmented, or maybe that was simply how they appeared to her. She didn't know. That didn't mean Faye gained nothing from this unintelligible clutter of memories. A few scenes stuck out, likely memories that the lizardman considered important, and they didn't paint a good picture for the future of her Lord's faith.
The demoness jumped back from the scene of the battle and turned away from the enemy settlement, rushing toward her own. What had she seen that worried her to such a degree?
The Apostle of Roaring Storms.
A being clad in thick cerulean scales that shimmered with a lustre of impenetrability. Claws sharp enough to cut through the thickest of flesh with the littlest of effort, and giant bat-like wings which granted it dominion over the skies. A wild mane of hair, a shade of blue many times lighter than its scales, flowed to the middle of its back, whilst two thin horns grew out from its forehead. Its face was constantly twisted with a bloodlust that would give the demoness a challenge, which contrasted with the regality swirling in the depths of its reptilian eyes.
A Storm Dragon.
One with a completely pure bloodline, unlike the lizardman Faye had crushed and devoured moments earlier. It would make sense for her to worry about the future, but the wild grin on her face radiated anything but worry. With her recent gain from shedding the shackles of her morality, Faye knew it was only a matter of time before she closed the gap between them. The dragon would also serve as the perfect meal to fuel the growth of her power. But what did she gain that allowed her to do such a thing?
Like all humans, Faye had all five of the standard Nodes, and even with her ascension into the Apostle of Corruption, those Nodes remained in her body. This changed with her recent gain of clarity. All the Nodes in her body fused into one.
The Gluttony Node.
Unlike your standard Nodes, this particular Node can only be enhanced through the consumption of flesh, with the flesh of stronger beings granting a greater enhancement. Consumption also increases the power of the wielder of the Gluttony Node, and upon reaching a stage of the Node, the wielder receives a massive boost in strength as well as an ability.
With Faye reaching the first stage by devouring Lazaro, she received Memory Feast. As the name suggests, the demoness can now feast upon the memories of her prey, though the ability requires a lot of practice to properly absorb the memories, as Faye's inexperience has shown so far.
All the Apostle of Corruption had to do now was devour as much as she could and reach the second stage as soon as possible in the hopes that it could bridge the gap between her and the enemy apostle.
Looking back in the direction of the Roaring Storms settlement, the demoness had a single thought on her mind as she raced away.
'You too shall fall to Corruption'
****************************************************************************
The edges of the purple lands ebbed forward, seeping into the greens of the forests, slowly pulling in more lands into the hands of the Corrupted. A pair of eyes, the same colour as the land, watched the gradual transformation of the forest, the emotions within still as if the sight before them was expected. And it was.
The expansion of the borders of the corrupted land meant that other totems had been activated. The followers of Corruption had won their battles and brought more into the folds of their faith.
Their Lord's influence was increasing. The edges of his lips curled upwards as Thrag allowed a small smile to appear on his otherwise unmoved expression; things were going as planned.
His smile grew further as he thought back to Rak's new creation, which would propel the overall might of their faith to a whole new level and push their plans forward. And this was only the first of many creations that the blacksmith would forge; this was just the start of Rak's path. Thrag could only imagine the weapons, armours and artefacts he would create in the future, each one would contribute to their triumph over their future enemies. And this was only the effects of Rak's future contributions. The First Priest had his own path to follow, one that would open many doors in the future for both his people and himself.
He could feel it. Deep within the blood that flowed through his veins, something called out to him, but these calls were reduced to nothing but faint murmurs that he was unable to decipher. This was not the first time the priest had heard these murmurs, long before Corruption had graced his village, when he was but a shaman.
Back then, they were nothing but sounds in his mind that he attributed to his affinity with the divine. However, after receiving the Lord of Corruption's blessing along with the rest of his people, the sounds became slightly clearer, and that was when he realised. They weren't just sounds. Thrag knew what he needed to hear the words of this voice within him.
Power.
Evolution.
'I've got a long path ahead of me'
The thought made him sigh before he looked up towards the sky whilst focusing on the presence he had formed a connection with.
'Guide me, O Lord of Corruption'
'Guide us, O Lord of Corruption'