The wound had torn clean through Karot's chest, severing his spine—a blow that would have destroyed even a puppet. And yet… the corpse did not fall.
Instead, Karot's head snapped upward with a jarring, unnatural sharpness. His vacant eyes glowed brighter with a surge of demonic soul force. His hands, still moving, clamped tightly onto Asuru's arm—and began to squeeze with deadly strength.
A cold wave of horror crashed over Asuru, the ice-draconic Vorometallicae. A sense of absolute dread seized his heart as he felt something deeply unnatural unfolding before him. That feeling was swiftly validated as the runic formation etched into Karot's corpse began to glow ominously. Waves of corrupted demonic energy surged through the markings like black lightning.
Before Asuru could react, Karot's corpse began to mutate.
