Meanwhile, in the throne room.

Lucian gripped his sword tighter as he watched the horrifying scene of the king coming out of his skin.

Literally.

The king’s smile remained unchanged throughout the process, as though tearing apart his own body was completely normal.

Soon enough, his true form surfaced.

Its body was unnaturally thin, almost skeletal, while countless crimson eyes opened across its torso one after another.

Its jaw split wider than humanly possible, and from within,

More hands slowly crawled out.

Lucian felt every instinct in his body scream at him to run and although he wanted to, he couldn’t.

Not because of his fear.

But because he knew that if this thing remained alive, no one would leave this dungeon alive.

So he took in a deep breath and looked at the creature again, his blue eyes, taking on a golden glow as he let out, "How disgusting."

Whether he was referring to the King’s new form or his fear, even he was uncertain, but what he was definitely certain of was that it wouldn’t leave this throne room alive.

The king continued its metamorphosis...or whatever it was currently going through. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The split jaw stretched wider until it reached the sides of its head and the hands emerging from within slowly clawed their way outward like newborn parasites.

Yet despite the horrifying appearance, the creature was still smiling.

But Lucian wasn’t about to just stand and watch it complete its transformation.

The next second,

BOOOOM!!!

He vanished from where he stood, the floor beneath him shattered from sheer force as he crossed the distance instantly and swung his sword downward.

A massive arc of golden light split through the throne room but the creature reacted immediately.

The countless black hands emerging from its body shot forward to intercept the strike, but they were instantly vaporized.

The slash continued through its torso and into the wall behind it.

BOOOOOM!!!

The entire castle trembled violently and outside, several spirit mages looked toward the castle in alarm.

Dust filled the throne room.

Lucian landed several meters away before immediately turning around again.

But he didn’t relax, not even slightly, and his instincts proved correct.

From within the dust, he heard laughter and then the creature slowly stepped forward again, looking completely unharmed.

The severed parts of its body crawled back together like living insects before reconnecting seamlessly.

"You possess light," it muttered with curiosity while looking at Lucian, "true light."

"And it’s not thanks to a spirit," Its countless eyes widened slightly as it said that, "how nostalgic."

Lucian frowned.

Without hesitation, he launched himself forward again, this time faster than before.

Multiple spears of golden hard-light formed behind him before shooting toward the creature like divine spears.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!

The explosions endlessly shook the throne room and in turn, the entire castle as the creature’s limbs were blown apart.

Its torso, limbs, and even legs were blown off, but it was still letting out a gleeful laugh, before its body started crawling together again.

Lucian was about to attack again, but before he could get close enough, something suddenly slammed into him, launching him in the opposite direction.

BOOM!

He was slammed into a wall, creating a crater in it before falling to the floor.

Before he had the chance to recover, the creature had suddenly pinned him to the wall as it slowly walked towards him.

"You see," the creature continued, "this dungeon is what you’d call a containment zone."

The black hands writhing from its body slowly tightened around Lucian’s throat.

"A prison for corruption itself."

Lucian’s pupils narrowed slightly, which the creature soon noticed and nodded.

"Yes," it muttered, "you understand now."

The throne room trembled violently as corrupted mana spread through the air like black mist.

"This place was created long ago by a single man."

"He held the last name, Lightbringer."

Its gaze lingered on Lucian’s glowing sword.

"And he possessed the same power you do."

Lucian gritted his teeth before suddenly releasing another blast of golden energy from his body.

BOOOOM!!!

The hand restraining him was blown apart instantly.

He landed several meters away before immediately raising his sword again.

The creature didn’t stop speaking.

"As expected," it continued with a chuckle, "you people never listen."

Its destroyed arm slowly crawled back together again.

"Long ago, when humans discovered that corruption could not truly be destroyed."

"They also discovered that it consumed, it spread, evolved and there was nothing they could do to stop it."

The creature spread its many arms outward slightly, "so humanity did the only thing it could."

"They sealed it."

Lucian’s expression remained cold, but he listened carefully, whilst looking for an opening to attack.

"This dungeon," the creature continued, "was created around the temple beneath the black sea."

"It was created to slowly siphon the corruption within your world and keep it sealed inside here."

"A clever trick if I do say so myself," the creature continued, with all its eyes on Lucian, "especially given that it was formed right in the middle of....what do you call it? The corrupted lands."

BOOM!

Lucian formed a spear and quickly launched it at the creature, but the attack did nothing, as the king just side-stepped and let it harmlessly pass.

"The only problem was.....humans," it continued speaking, "the body’s group that stumbled upon this place."

"Greedy little things they were, touching what was meant to remain untouched."

"That’s when I saw a chance.... A chance to be set free, so I called out to them."

"And although it took a while."

"Eventually," one of the black hands emerging from its torso tapped against its own chest, "someone listened."

"This body, their leader, discovered the temple and broke off a shard from the seal."

"And the moment even a fragment escaped the seal, everything changed."

"First was the black sea, waters made completely of corruption."

"The beasts and spirits that naturally formed here were next."

"Then the people."

"The irony is amusing, really," it said with an amused laughter.

"Humanity created a prison to protect itself from corruption," its countless eyes narrowed in glee, "only for humans to become the ones imprisoned."