Outside the island.

Their persistence and sacrifice finally paid off. The lightningstrength had reduced with each attack, and the tear on the barrier had gotten bigger and bigger with each attack.

The storm wasn’t one to give up early. Waves rose like walls as if trying to crash into them, pushing back the boats.

"Hold it steady, " Caius shouted, gripping his glowing sword tightly as another wave rose above them accompanied by a strike of lightning.

"We are not going to break through at this rate," someone shouted.

"Just hold on steady," Yander’s calm voice broke through the roars of the storm.

The two had managed to convince everyone to follow their leads. Light elements were rare and that had been their biggest bargaining chip.

Manipulators formed an arc around the storm, each gathering aether for their one last desperate attempt.

A whole day had gone by with little to no success but the tear had given them a little hope.

"Don’t give up," Yanders calm soothing voice continued, " as you have seen there are already those who have managed to enter... if we give up now..."

She let the words hang in the air.

A sharp crack echoed through the air. For a brief moment, light dazzled the storm wall then the tear expanded large enough to give them a clear glimpse of the island.

"Now," Yander pointed to the already repairing tear, through the gap... go."

No one hesitated. They all went through the narrow opening as the storm turned to them, lines of lightning shooting towards them.

Not all of them were lucky enough to pass through the space. The unlucky ones were shredded and some didn’t even make it to the opening.

Calm came instantly the moment they passed through the barrier, a breeze passing over them, a contrast to the raging winds at the barrier.

Around fifty had managed to make it through.

"What is this place," someone whispered.

They stood at the same place the previous two had stood, curious gazes running over the barren land.

"This is not what was expected, " someone whispered.

Whispers of agreement followed.

"Look," Yander’s voice cut came," beyond, there are three more land masses."

Everyone followed her gaze, squinting slightly.

"We should start heading there," Solaris quiet voice came from the back.

"What if there are monsters inside?" A nervous voice said.

"Then you shouldn’t have come."

Finding the teleportation circle was easy enough, it still sparked with aether from its previous use.

The moment the light from the circle shimmered down, the last group stepped on the jagged rocks.

None of them could hide their surprise.

"What in the world, " someone said," is this ruin just a barren land!"

His voice echoed back to them, unnaturally.

"Be quiet, we..."

The words came to a quiet huff as whatever was inside the island started to reveal itself.

Standing across the uneven stone terrain watching them.

"Corrupted, " one of them said, his voice tightening.

Yander’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"No," she quietly replied, uneasiness creeping in," look closer."

That was when most noticed the difference.

"They’re not like...."

"Weapons up," a voice cut through, a leader of a pirate crew commanded his crew.

Others followed his in step. They stepped into the stone forest.

The first clash was immediate and nothing like they had expected.

"They’re using elements..."

"Watch the flank..."

A blade of wind sliced through the air, forcing some of them to duck just in time but not everyone was lucky. Blood spluttered on the unsuspecting but no one had time to care.

"Calm down.. don’t panic," Yander’s voice could be heard over the common.

"Don’t separate. "

A beastkin lunged forward, its body half eaten but still powerful, claws tearing into the ground as it closed the distance.

It moved too fast, faster than any corrupted should have been capable of.

Light came down, cutting off its pathway.

The impact from its momentum sent Caius skidding against the uneven terrain.

"This isn’t normal," someone murmured.

It was true, elemental corrupted were extremely hard to come by.

At the back, away from any group, unaffected by the chaos stood Solaris observing the fight quietly.

"...No ," Solaris spoke grimly to his guards," it isn’t. "

The fight continued. Led by destiny’s beloved, as they all cut through the crowd of never-ending corruption.

"What is the world is happening, " someone shouted in despair.

"I shouldn’t have come here "

"There is no treasure, only moon crystals that’s not going to help us"

"Who wants to go back...?"

"Wait," someone said suddenly, glancing before them at a gently scooping land.

"In front of us, they don’t seem to be moving forward. "

Another excited squil came from a female beastkin pointing into the horizon.

"A bridge."

They followed her finger. Under the blinding light was a bridge, though not fully visible they could see it.

A smile formed on Yander’s lips. She turned to the group, her gaze filled with confidence.

"We push through," she said, tightening her grip on her sleeves, "there’s something ahead. Don’t lose hope."

And so they did, push by push as the corrupted overwhelmed them. Down the gentle sloping lands until they came to the bridge.

The bridge in front of them looked well-maintained, made with stones built together and large enough to hold four people concurrently.

Unlike Atheline’s this one had railings to hold onto.

"Look, they aren’t following anymore."

"This is good.," someone whispered, " my core had been straining too much."

They didn’t hurriedly step onto the bridge, experience had taught them otherwise.

Yander glanced at the opposite island her gaze narrowed as she tried to see what it might be but she got nothing.

"Should we just go, " someone said, voice small from the group.

"Let’s rest, we’ve been running around on that island for who knows how long... anyone hungry, " a rough voice said, clearly a pirate.

Mummers of agreement came as some of them took seats on the protruding rocks.

"What do you think happened to the first two?

"Probably dead," a confident voice came, from the corner," no one would have been able to pass through those... look how many there are and we didn’t find any bodies from the corrupt."

"Ptff... they probably got overwhelmed...."

"They didn’t die," Caius said, gazing between the other islands.

No one took his words seriously.

At that moment, a loud boom broke through the air.

Everyone stood at attention.

"The top island!" Someone shouted.

"Why is it falling apart!"