Chapter 99: The Desperate Fork, the Mark of the Rotting Claw, and the Dawn Beneath the Earth

Cold mud rose past his ankles, and each step felt like struggling through thick tar. Copperbeard’s single eye burned crimson, his vision blurring and swaying from agony and blood loss. Warm fluid continuously seeped from the cloth-stuffed socket of his left eye, each heartbeat bringing a tearing, splitting pain. The wounds on his back and chest reopened under violent motion, soaking his tattered clothes with purplish-black pus mixed with blood, reeking of rotting flesh and rust.

Like a wounded ancient mammoth, he bore Lin Mo’s charred body on his left shoulder, Xiang Lingna’s cold, tiny form on his right, and his massive mechanical arm clamped tightly around the unconscious Wrench. The weight of all three nearly crushed his broken frame. Starlight crystals on Lin Mo’s chest emitted a faint milky glow, the only beacon in the darkness, barely repelling the hissing insect cries and decaying stench drawing ever closer behind.

A tide of purplish-black worms surged like leeches clinging to bone, chasing through the pipe behind him. Drawn by the blood and pus dripping from Copperbeard, they accelerated, their sharp hisses coalescing into a wave of death that echoed deafeningly through the enclosed tunnel.

At last, Copperbeard staggered forward with heavy steps, reaching the entrance of the branch pipe blasted open by the explosion. The entrance was half-buried under collapsed rubble, barely wide enough for one person to crawl through. The deep opening exhaled a colder, damper air, vanishing into utter darkness.

No time to hesitate!

Copperbeard first shoved Xiang Lingna carefully through the entrance. Then the unconscious Wrench—his twisted arm cracked faintly as he dragged it, but Wrench felt nothing. Copperbeard’s heart ached, but he had no time. Finally, he shoved Lin Mo in with all his strength.

Just as he prepared to crawl in himself—

Hssss—

A purplish-black worm, thick as an arm and impossibly fast, shot from the front of the swarm like a poisoned arrow, crossing meters in an instant, its circular mouth lined with tiny serrated teeth sinking into Copperbeard’s wounded left leg!

Copperbeard yanked his leg back sharply!

Riiip!

The worm’s mouth grazed his calf, tearing off a large chunk of his pant leg soaked with flesh and blood. Agony flared—he grunted, and his massive mechanical arm swung backward in a brutal strike!

Splat!

The worm was crushed into pulp!

But more worms had already swarmed to his feet, scrambling frantically up his pants, their sharp mouths gnawing through boots and skin!

“Get off!” Copperbeard roared like a beast, his mechanical arm sweeping wildly around his legs like a broom, crushing dozens of worms. Thick, stinking purplish-black fluid splattered across his body.

Seizing this brief respite, he bent low and plunged headfirst into the narrow branch pipe entrance!

As soon as he entered, he slammed his massive mechanical arm and body against the opening, sealing it shut!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Countless worms slammed against the rubble and his mechanical arm outside, their sharp mouths gnawing furiously at rock and metal, producing ear-piercing screeches. The slimy wriggling of their bodies pressed through the cracks, making Copperbeard’s stomach churn.

“Ugh…” He braced himself, each impact sending searing pain through his already shattered body. The mechanical arm groaned under unbearable pressure, its armor plates sizzling as the worms’ acidic fluids corroded them.

Temporarily blocked.

Copperbeard gasped violently, his single eye struggling to adjust to absolute darkness. This was a narrower pipe, less than two meters in diameter, its floor likewise coated in thick mud. He groped around, pushing Xiang Lingna, Lin Mo, and Wrench deeper into the tunnel, away from the entrance.

The hissing and frantic impacts at the entrance continued, like the clamor of hell. Copperbeard leaned against the cold, damp pipe wall, feeling the agony in every wound and the bone-deep exhaustion. The chill of excessive blood loss spread through him; his consciousness began to blur.

He unconsciously touched the hollow socket of his left eye—the sticky warmth reminded him of the cost. Was it worth it? To fight this hard for companions he’d known so briefly? The dwarf’s stubbornness and oath of protection held him up, but his body’s limits loomed before him.

Then—

Hum!

A faint but jarring pulse emanated from Lin Mo’s direction!

Not the soft glow of the starlight crystals—but something cold, slimy, familiar: a wave of greed and brutality!

Copperbeard’s mechanical eye (his last remaining eye) snapped toward it!

There, lying in the mud, Lin Mo’s right arm—the dark purple mark previously suppressed by the starlight crystals—was now thrashing wildly! The milky film of starlight energy covering it was visibly thinning, dimming—as if something within was violently striking and devouring the starlight power!

The Mark of the Rotting Claw! Sensing Lin Mo’s extreme weakness, the massive depletion of starlight energy, and the overwhelming presence of similar decaying energy from the swarm, it had begun its furious counterattack!

[...Hungry... Consume... Starlight...]

[...Release... Annihilate...]

Chaotic, evil fragments of thought slithered like icy snakes along an invisible link, burrowing into Copperbeard’s weary mind!

“No!” Copperbeard’s heart lurched—he struggled to crawl toward Lin Mo.

But it was too late!

Hssss—

The starlight film over Lin Mo’s right arm shattered like a fragile eggshell! The dark purple Mark of the Rotting Claw erupted in blinding, malevolent light! A far purer, far more terrifying wave of decay exploded outward—a silent shockwave slamming into Copperbeard, who stood mere feet away!

Puff—

Copperbeard was struck as if by a hammer. His already shattered body could no longer hold—he vomited a geyser of blood mixed with organ fragments. He crashed hard against the pipe wall behind him, his vision blackening, nearly unconscious. His mechanical arm dropped limply.

With the starlight suppressed, the Mark of the Rotting Claw surged like a beast freed from its cage, greedily sucking in the lingering decay in the air (from the swarm). Purple-black light spread rapidly, creeping upward along Lin Mo’s charred arm. His body convulsed violently; beneath the blackened skin, dark purple veins flickered faintly, and his mouth emitted unconscious, agonized moans.

Worse still, this burst of decayed energy acted like a beacon in the night, instantly provoking the swarm outside!

Creak! Creak! Boom!

The rubble sealing the entrance shattered under the swarm’s relentless assault and acidic corrosion. Countless purplish-black worms poured in like a flood, surging into the narrow branch pipe! The hissing chorus of death filled every inch of space. Their target: the alluring, same-origin Mark of the Rotting Claw—and Lin Mo’s body!

Before him: the uncontrolled Mark devouring Lin Mo. Behind: the deadly swarm flooding in. Copperbeard, gravely wounded and near death. Xiang Lingna and Wrench, unconscious.

Absolute dead end.

Copperbeard stared at the surging swarm and Lin Mo’s body now wreathed in purplish-black mist. His single eye burned with defiance and despair. He struggled to lift his mechanical arm—but could not move even a single finger.

“Is this… the end…” A thought flickered through his fading mind.

Yet, at the very edge of utter despair—

Hum… hum…

A faint, stubborn emerald glow—like dawn piercing through thick rock—flickered to life from within Xiang Lingna’s chest, pressed against Lin Mo’s.

The source: the withered young branch of the World Tree.

At its tip, where the last ember had once flickered, a new, unprecedented emerald aura now pulsed—calm, profound, steady as breath. It gently enveloped Xiang Lingna’s small body, and, as if alive, flowed along her arm pressed against Lin Mo’s, slowly creeping toward his right arm, where the Mark of the Rotting Claw raged.

The emerald aura and the dark purple malevolence collided like fire and water.

Hssss!!

A piercing sound of dissolution rose—not a violent explosion, but silent annihilation and resistance. The dark purple invasion patterns, bathed in emerald light, melted like snow under sunlight, retreating rapidly. The thrashing Mark dimmed instantly, as if doused in ice water, emitting a silent, agonized shriek of rage.

This sudden surge of pure life energy acted like rain, awakening the depths of Lin Mo’s crumbling consciousness. The blue light of the Anchor of Order, bolstered by the faint starlight, surged in tandem with the emerald force, launching a furious counterattack to suppress the runaway Mark.

Starlight (Order), the young branch (Life), the Anchor of Order (Will)—these three forces, through Xiang Lingna’s unconscious connection and Lin Mo’s instinct to survive, resonated briefly—temporarily suppressing the Mark’s explosion.

The surging swarm, upon encountering the spreading aura of pure life and order, shrieked in terror, their forward momentum halting abruptly. The foremost worms even recoiled in fear.

Life, in the face of absolute death, bloomed as the withered branch burned out completely.

Copperbeard stared at this impossible sight—his single eye blazed with the light of salvation. From nowhere, he summoned his last ounce of strength, his mechanical arm heaving his body upright.

“Go! Run!” he rasped, grabbing Wrench’s ankle and dragging him desperately toward the unknown darkness deeper in the pipe.

Lin Mo’s body ceased convulsing, the terrifying purplish-black mist temporarily forced back into the Mark on his arm. Xiang Lingna remained unconscious, but the young branch in her arms pulsed with steady, breathing emerald light, illuminating the path and repelling the approaching swarm.

Escape continued, guided by the fading glow of the burned-out branch, deeper into the dark labyrinth beneath the earth. What awaited them ahead—total annihilation… or a glimmer of dawn?