Blighted Blood

Chapter 5: Blighted Blood

The dark swamps of Darm Tower begin on floor eighteen. It starts as a catacomb area, and Yunica needed to navigate a rising spike mass that acted as walls before she activated them. She did...enough. En route, she had to fight off assassins and poisonous slimes. Those eventually led to charging knights until she fell down a hole. This hole took her to a pool of blood, a common feature in the Blighted Blood. This area is infested with strange crabs that shoot water, an annoying mollusk with homing electrical attacks, and a fungus that breathed dirt on her. After more catacomb jumping, Yunica had to contend with more mages, an explosive expert and an earth bender. The hungry roo tribe traded Yunica a fruit for some new armor.

After fighting off some glowing mages to free a goddess statue, an ominous voice called out to Yunica. She knew it instantly as the man Zava spoke to: Dalles. He's a regal looking man with long hair in a black coat. He was surprised that a girl so young could climb so far. He may have tried to entice Yunica to join the group he called the Darklings. So now they have a name. Yunica would never join them, but backup arrived to guarantee it. Led by Galleon, Roy and Ramona jumped into the room, surrounding the mage with holy knights. Dalles insulted them by questioning how good they really are, seeing as a girl just out of training beat them here. The knights promised to end whatever plans Dalles had, and the three burst into action! All three of them missed, but Dalles teleported to the side. Suddenly, the knights' secret weapon appeared! Cecilia tried to strike him with a powerful magical blast, but a shield stopped it in its tracks.

"Magic from the Black Pearl can never harm its own." Dalles has absorbed demon energy and is now s product of the Ysian artifact. The attack ended in failure, and it gave Dalles a chance to counter. Without even charging an incantation, he cast a spell that affected all the senior holy knights. Everyone but Yunica became petrified. Yunica's anger began to rise, and she thought about rushing in again. Dalles taunted her, reminding her of her battle against Kishgal, and Yunica kept her senses. Dalles spared her because he wanted to send a message. He asked Yunica to tell Feena that he'll take the Black Pearl. It's an obvious message, but he returned to the top of the tower.

Yunica instantly wondered how to break this curse. She returned to the annex to ask Cadena, Feena, and Hugo. They knew the curse was too strong for them to cure, as all petrification spells are. The amount of magic they'd need is impossible with Feena trapped. Dino may have brought something, though.

Dino was at base camp and brought the Dream Idol from the floating Ys. He had a feeling he'd need it. He handed it to us, but it was still low on power. With no further leads, Yunica hoped she'd find something as she kept climbing.

On a balcony near the end of the Blighted Blood, Yunica overheard a conversation between Hugo and the man with claws. The stranger sensed that Hugo had lost respect for the goddesses and tried to get him to cease his plans. Hugo told him off and said it was none of his business. In the end, the stranger walked away, showing a crack in the unity of Ys? Yunica pulled her sword out, but all three people thought that would be unwise. The man walked away, and Yunica spoke to Hugo. He had no idea who that was, but he did have something for us. A mini Black Pearl? Hugo didn't say how he obtained this powerful mimic but said he got it from the Darklings. If we combine that with the Idol, Yunica could free her friends. She returned to Feena, who, despite being in an anti magic field, fused the fake pearl with the idol. As Yunica ran out, she screamed how much she loved Lady Feena. The three remaining people in the room said how infectious her enthusiasm was. Despite lacking magic, she's the one to save them. Feena figured that meant her heart was pure, reminding everyone the Black Pearl creates demons.

Yunica warped back to the statues and rose the Dreaming Idol overhead. The magic was undone!

The knights were still suffering from symptoms, so they had to leave everything to Yunica. They each took turns telling her how powerful she'd become, and it's only been a few hours. Roy, especially. One handed Yunica the key to the boss door, and the trek continued.

Pictimos was an armored mantis. It attacked by throwing saw blades, vertical and horizontal, at Yunica. It also used several types of earth attacks, which it performed by jumping. It could also armor up and slowly charge. At half health, it summoned flies. Yunica tried to stay close, but the bug was too agile and moved around a lot. Ultimately, throwing Fire Phoenixes at it from afar was the best bet. Even on its second wind, she kept the same strategy.

Yunica climbed another set of stairs and came to the Demonic Core. A balcony on the twenty first floor allowed her to see the sun starting to rise over the planet.

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Only four more floors. Two more days? I'm probably gonna abridge Hugo's story, by the way.