[Master, it has been a long time since we arrived in this section. Do you really think taking over this small place can make you achieve your goal?]

'Yeah, I am may not be fit to be a leader, but that does not mean I am just going to sit around while people suffer. It brings back… bitter memories.'

[If it is you, I am sure you can do it, but I should warn you. The grand leader you killed, he had holy power, and that organization does not take their people's lives lightly. How do you think you ended up being sealed in the first place?]

'Haha, scary. I will be careful then. I do not want to meet that guy, not in my current state.'

Section 12 loomed before them, its industrial skyline a jagged mass of twisted metal and steam. Unlike the other sections, which at least maintained a flimsy pretense of order, this place wore its corruption openly. Pipes leaked toxic, multicolored fumes into the dark sky, and the buildings seemed to lean inward, as if conspiring with each other in the gloom.

"Charming place," Yenna remarked, perched on a corroded water tower overlooking the district. Her nose wrinkled at the acrid smell that clung to the air. "Though I suppose it is the perfect place for hiding unauthorized experiments."

Vell stood beside her, his eyes glowing as they processed the chaotic landscape below. The system's warnings flickered constantly in his vision.

[Multiple unauthorized energy signatures detected]

[Warning: Heavy electromagnetic interference]

[Caution: Environmental toxins exceed safe levels]

"The interference is deliberate," he said, watching the chaotic energy patterns swirl through the section. "They are using the industrial pollution to mask their activities."

[Analyzing pattern dispersal]

[Calculating probable source location…]

[Warning: Multiple decoy signatures identified]

"Clever," he murmured, a small smile playing on his lips. "But not clever enough."

They moved through the section like shadows, avoiding the sparse patrols that roamed the streets. Most of them were automated drones, their patterns predictable and easy to avoid. The few human guards they saw moved with the same jerky, unnatural motions as the man in red had, they were puppets dancing to the tune of some unseen strings.

"There," he pointed to a seemingly abandoned warehouse. Unlike the chaos that surrounded it, its energy signature was too ordered, too controlled. "That is our target."

As they approached, his system pinged again.

[Alert: Detecting familiar corruption patterns]

[Match: 87% similarity to Section 7 incident]

[Caution: Enhanced security measures likely]

The warehouse's main entrance was conspicuously unguarded, but nearly invisible energy fields crisscrossed the area, forming a deadly, shimmering net.

Yenna's eyes gleamed in the darkness. "Do you want me to make some noise elsewhere? Draw them out?"

"No," he studied the security grid, his eyes tracing the intricate patterns of the energy fields. "They already know we are here. Do not you feel it?"

The air around them changed subtly, becoming charged with a tense anticipation. In the distance, sirens began to wail, their mournful cry echoing through the industrial wasteland.

[Warning: Multiple hostile signatures converging]

[Detecting neural enhancement patterns]

"They are all corrupted," Yenna noted as dozens of figures emerged from the shadows, their movements eerily coordinated. "Just like our friend in red."

"Not quite," Vell's eyes narrowed. "These are different. They are more refined, you could say… the corruption is almost… elegant."

The first wave rushed them, their enhanced strength sending them flying through the air. But their movements, while powerful, were utterly predictable. Yenna danced between them, her strikes precise and lethal. Vell did not even bother to dodge, letting his defense systems handle their attacks while he calmly analyzed their patterns.

[Processing combat data]

[Neural enhancement signatures logged]

[Notable improvement from previous iterations]

[Hypothesis: Test subjects for advanced corruption methods]

"They are not trying to kill us," he realized, catching one of the attacker's fists in his hand. The corrupted fighter did not even try to pull away, continuing its assault even as its arm shattered in his grip. "They are gathering combat data."

A slow clap echoed from the warehouse entrance. A figure stepped out, a woman in a pristine white coat, her appearance incongruous in the industrial decay that surrounded her. Unlike the others, her movements were perfectly natural, almost graceful.

"Very good," she said, her voice clinically interested. "Though I expected nothing less from a specimen of your caliber."

He turned to face her, letting the broken fighter crumple at his feet. The other corrupted fighters had pulled back, forming a silent, menacing ring around them.

"You have been busy," he said conversationally. "Section 7, the man in red, and now this. All those test subjects, just to perfect your corruption technique?"

She smiled, and something about that expression sent warnings blaring through his system. "Oh, you misunderstand. This is not about perfecting the technique." She gestured at the fallen fighters. "These are just the prototypes. The real project is much more… ambitious."

[Alert: Detecting massive energy surge]

[Warning: Unknown technology activating]

The ground beneath them hummed with power, and circles of light appeared, trapping them in a complex array of symbols. It was a mixture of technology and corrupted mana that even his systems struggled to analyze.

"You see," the woman continued, her smile growing, "we needed to understand how different specimens react to corruption, especially those with… unique modifications." Her eyes locked onto his. "Like yourself."

The array blazed to life, and for the first time in a very long while, Vell felt a rush of anticipation.

[Critical Alert: System integrity compromised]

[Warning: Foreign code detected]

[Emergency protocols initiating…]

"I will make you mine." She smiled as the corruption entered his mind with ease… too easily, one might say. "I expected more. I guess the boss was scared for nothing. Even you are no match for corruption… Are you really the end of all things? I just find that hard to believe."

Vell exhaled a cloud of black smoke as a smile crept up on his face. Suddenly, the woman felt a chill as a massive amount of mana began to fill the air. "How delicious," he said, absorbing all the mana from the array.

"H-How?" She began taking steps back, her confident smile faltering. 'He is enjoying it? Like it is a part of him? Impossible.'

"I should thank you." Yenna got the chills. She saw a look she had not seen in a long time, a very scary look in Vell's eyes that only came out when he was very pissed. "I have been wondering why this core refuses to take in normal corrupted mana. Thanks to you, I now know I can only take in the purest form of it… How greedy, do not you think so?"

[Uh… master?... Crap.]

The woman's confident smile crumbled as Vell's form began to shift, darkness seeping from his pores like living smoke. The corrupted mana she had pumped into the array was not weakening him, it was being devoured.

"Impossible," she whispered, her clinical detachment finally cracking. "The corruption should be overwhelming your systems, not… not…"

"Feeding them?" His laugh held an edge that made even Yenna take a step back. "You really should have done more research. Though I suppose that is the problem with playing with forces you do not understand."

The array beneath them began to crack, its light dimming as Vell systematically absorbed its power. The woman raised her hand, activating some hidden control panel, but nothing changed.

"More," his voice had taken on a resonant quality, his eyes now pools of swirling darkness. "Give me more of that delicious corruption. Show me everything you have learned about manipulating it."

[Alert: Master's corruption absorption rate exceeding safe levels]

[Warning: Personality shift detected]

[Recommendation: Immediate power reduction]

But he was not listening to his system's warnings anymore. He stepped forward, each footfall leaving crackling traces of corrupted energy in his wake. The woman's puppets rushed to intercept him, but they might as well have been trying to stop a tidal wave with paper boats.

"You wanted to understand how different specimens react to corruption, right?" He reached out, catching one of the enhanced fighters by the throat. Instead of crushing it, he simply… pulled. The corruption within the fighter flowed into him like water finding its level, leaving behind an empty, lifeless husk. "Let me show you."

"Stop!" The woman was backing away now, real fear in her eyes. "You will destabilize the entire-"

"The entire what?" His smile was terrible to behold. "The entire experiment? The entire section? Or perhaps…" his eyes locked onto hers, seeing far too much, "the entire network of corruption you have built across all the sections?"

Her face went pale. "How did you-"

"Because I can taste it," he inhaled deeply, like someone savoring a fine wine. "Every connection, every tendril of corruption you have woven. It is all connected, is it not? One massive web, with you at the center. Or…" his smile widened, "not quite at the center. You are just another node, are you not? Another puppet, dancing to someone else's tune."

Yenna watched from a safe distance, her usual playful demeanor replaced by a cautious observation. 'The last time I saw him like this, it did not end well… for the other guy.'

"Vell," she called out softly, "the corruption levels…"

"Are perfect," he finished, though his voice had gained an echo that should not have been possible. "For the first time since waking in this cursed place, I can finally taste power that resonates with my core. Pure, undiluted corruption."

The woman had backed herself against the warehouse wall. "What… what are you?"

"Right now?" His form was barely humanoid anymore, a mass of shifting darkness shot through with veins of corrupted energy. "I am what happens when you try to corrupt something that has already embraced the darkness."

[Emergency Alert: Corruption saturation approaching critical levels]

[Warning: Master's consciousness becoming unstable]

[Implementing emergency protocols…]

The system's warnings finally seemed to penetrate his euphoria. He paused, shaking his head like someone coming out of a dream, or perhaps a nightmare.

"Ah," he said, his voice slowly returning to normal. "Perhaps I got a bit carried away there."

The woman saw her chance. She slapped her hand against the wall, and a hidden door slid open behind her. But before she could escape, Vell's darkness surged forward, wrapping around her like a cocoon.

"Now, now," his form was solidifying again, though his eyes still swirled with absorbed corruption. "We are not done yet. You still need to tell me about this network of yours, and about who really pulls the strings."

He brought her close, his smile now almost gentle. "And about why you are so interested in me, why you ruined my life. I want to know it all."

[System stabilizing]

[Corruption levels: Regulated but elevated]

[Note: Master seems to be back in control… mostly.]

"After all," he whispered, "it would be a shame to waste all this wonderful corruption you have given me. I might need to burn some of it off… creatively."

The woman's scream was lost in the darkness that engulfed them both, as Yenna watched with a mixture of relief and concern.

"My, my, what do we have here?"

Yenna sharply looked behind her, but a hand connected with her face, sending her flying towards Vell.

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