Rabisargos abruptly halted, his voice low and hoarse with shock and anger: "What are you saying?! He's dying!"
"I know," Nefarian's tone remained calm, "but if you approach rashly, you'll only become the next victim, infected by this corruption."
He slowly took a few steps forward, stopping safely outside the swarm's perimeter, his sharp gaze fixed on the strangely writhing insect shadows.
They were by no means ordinary creatures, but rather infused with some twisted magical power, their flight unnatural, stiff, and frenzied.
"I've seen similar magical imprints..." Nefarian muttered to himself, a red glow faintly visible in the depths of his vertical pupils, "NZoth... these bugs are tainted with NZoth's corrupting power, which transformed them into this state."
Magical energy quietly surged within him, and a small, exploratory arcane pulse was released from his fingertips.
As the energy swept over, the swarm immediately trembled violently.
His response was both a physical buzzing and a vague, chaotic mental noise.
It was like the distant echo of some blasphemous language, or the desperate whispers of something under immense pressure, on the verge of breaking apart in the deep sea.
"No mistake, it's NZoth."
Nefarian's expression completely darkened.
The fluctuations of this power were identical to the foul impurities expelled from his body when he was thoroughly purified in the "Layer of Light" of the Divine Palace!
"What did you say? NZoth?!" Rabisargos's tail lashed out suddenly, striking the ground with a tremor, "Wasn't he sealed away long ago? How could he—"
"It's not his true form," Nefarian interrupted him, his voice even lower, "This is merely a remnant of his power, abandoned here... likely for a considerable amount of time."
He forcibly suppressed the intense curiosity to delve into the root of this corruption, turning his gaze to the dying blue dragon: "However, the immediate priority is to save Andestrasz; he's barely holding on!"
Nefarian suddenly raised his dragon claw, and a wisp of pure, almost dazzling white flame leaped out of thin air, emitting a warm and sacred glow.
This was a bit of "Light" domain power that Ekseltus had imparted to him after purifying him.
After all, Nefarian would have many encounters with the Old Gods in the future, so he had to learn some life-saving skills.
As the holy flame approached, the insect shadows shrieked piercingly, as if encountering a natural enemy, and began to thrash madly.
The light emitted by the flame scorched them, forcing the swarm to retreat.
Seeing the excellent effect, Nefarian no longer hesitated, stepping into the gap created by the retreating swarm and rapidly approaching Andestrasz.
He pressed the wisp of pure holy flame directly onto the blue dragon's chest, the area where the insect swarm was most violently writhing and the corrupt aura was strongest!
Hiss—!
The moment the flame touched the insect membrane, it erupted in a teeth-grinding, sizzling explosion!
The dense, grayish-yellow swarm boiled and twisted violently under the scorching of the holy flame!
They writhed madly, attempting to gather their foul power to resist the purifying light, but they only futilely turned into wisps of scorched, foul-smelling black smoke, quickly dissipating into the polluted air.
Nefarian concentrated fully, striving to maintain the flame's output.
He had not mastered this power of Light for long, and each use consumed a tremendous amount.
"Faster!" Nefarian gritted his teeth, the red glow in his eyes intensifying.
He forcibly mobilized more mana, and as his dragon claw made a grasping motion, several scorching white light needles, condensed from pure holy flame, instantly formed and swiftly plunged into the stubborn, still-writhing core insect nests on Andestrasz's body!
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Each flame needle's penetration brought forth a more viscous, charred black mist, emitting a strong, putrid stench.
The stubborn core insect nests were incinerated one by one, and the corrupting power was rapidly dispelled and purified.
Finally, the last and most stubborn core insect nest attempted to escape its host, but Nefarian, with lightning speed, swung his claw, still covered in residual holy flame, and brutally slammed it onto the cold rock, crushing it to death!
Under the continuous scorching of the holy flame, this last remnant of filth let out a brief whimper and was utterly annihilated without a trace.
Moments later, the rise and fall of Andestrasz's massive chest finally stabilized, his breathing becoming long and steady; though still weak, the fatal threat of suffocation had been averted!
Nefarian immediately withdrew the flame, his body swaying slightly uncontrollably, the fatigue from the exertion clearly discernible.
He was still more proficient in shadow and earth magic; forcibly using the power of Light consumed too much mana.
Just as Rabisargos rushed towards his companion with mixed joy and surprise, Nefarian's peripheral vision keenly caught sight of a stone slab inscribed with text, half-buried in the dust on the ground beside Andestrasz's massive body.
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