The Destroyer: Charred Path First Attack and Rescue
The Destroyer: The Toxin Monitor
The fumes spreading from the Rift have already made the surrounding land a wasteland. At camp, Brentan presses for action, while Warlic admits they do not yet know how to defend themselves. Shadowfall is on its way back, and the Hero argues that its forces will make them stronger. Then the forest falls silent. Birds flee the Rift, green light bursts from it, and a gigantic creature emerges, pouring bile over the land. Warlic has never seen its like. The smaller Rift creatures call it Extriki, the destroyer, and scatter when it approaches.
Following that creature means following its poison. Lim's Personal Toxin Monitor offers a way to judge exposure: when the meter turns black, the Hero must return so Warlic and Twilly can purge the toxin. The device also carries a communications channel, allowing Lim to guide the Hero farther along the Charred Path. It is an alarm and a means of contact, rather than protection from the fumes themselves.
There is a problem before the expedition can begin. Lim's monitors have not been registering toxin levels correctly. He needs purified xenon from the Dwakels at the Crashsite and a miniature pressure chamber while he works on a repair. With those supplies recovered, he sends the Hero out with a monitor to clear noxious fumes and toxic bile, then checks its readings against the exposure. His verdict is cautious: the device is still imperfect, but he thinks it will do.
The next work is rescue. Extriki's toxin has sickened the forest creatures, and Lim asks the Hero to save those who can still be helped. The flying Ragewings are to be knocked unconscious, rather than killed. Six other forest creatures also need rescuing. Throughout the work, Lim repeats the warning to return when the meter turns black. The damaged forest was once part of Guru Forest; what Chaos left behind is now being consumed by another disaster.
Farther along the path, toxic treeants and fallen trees block the troops' advance. Lim directs the Hero to clear them, then reports a harsher problem: some of the infected wildlife is already beyond saving. Those animals must be put out of their misery, and tissue from infected hares collected for research. Lim hopes the samples might help create an inoculation for creatures that can still recover. The hope has not yet become a cure.
The Hero burns blackened foliage and takes down plague spreaders to slow the contamination. The work helps the land but leaves its rescuer ill. Lim calls the Hero back for detox, and Twilly purifies the group. Warlic says they should have returned sooner; Lim recognizes that the monitor needs further adjustments. Twilly urges rest and warns that even his healing cannot help someone who dies out in the poisoned lands. Their first attempt to work safely has exposed how little margin they have.
The Destroyer: The Attack That Could Not Hold
Brentan refuses to wait. Extriki is moving toward Greenguard Forest, and he fears it will arrive before Shadowfall does. Warlic wants everyone rested and the allied forces together before they attack. Brentan argues that leadership means risking himself for his people, and the Hero agrees: if the destruction reaches Battleon, delay may cost them everything. Warlic gives in, but makes the danger of failure plain.
His plan needs more magic than he can supply alone. The Hero returns to the Rift camp to rally four mages and gather eight mana bombs from its chests. Another obstacle has also reached the Charred Path: Wisteria, strengthened by the toxin and damaging the surviving plants and animals. With Toxic Wisteria defeated, the party moves to confront Extriki. Their purpose is to stop it, but approaching the creature is only the beginning of the attempt.
The Hero's first crossbow shot misses. Extriki answers with bile, which Warlic blocks with a shield. Sora to Hoshi and Neveya cast magical nets while the others fire more arrows, struggling with their aim. The restraints begin to fail. Warlic tries another spell, but must keep protecting the party from the poison as Extriki breaks free. He cannot abandon the barrier again without letting the fumes kill them. As the monster moves away and the attack unravels, Brentan spots Shadowfall flying in from the west.
The next scene finds the survivors in Shadowfall's throne room. Warlic's barrier has kept them mostly dry, and the Hero thanks Gravelyn for the rescue. She says a later arrival might have meant their deaths. Brentan and the Hero defend the choice to attack as an attempt to keep the monster from Battleon. Victoria understands their fear but considers the decision wrong. Arguing now will not help them prepare for another encounter.
They need a weakness. Gravelyn proposes capturing a smaller Rift creature intelligent enough to talk and learning what it fears. Her report afterward gives the failed expedition a limited result: Extriki has been considerably weakened and slowed, buying Battleon time. It is still alive and still heading toward Greenguard. Artix and Cysero are preparing there, while the alliance has no outside support it can presently count on. The rescue has preserved the defenders, not ended the threat.
On the Charred Path after the confrontation, the mage Ulyorn offers a bleak measure of the cost. He says the toxins are overwhelming him and that he has only enough strength to send the Hero back to camp. He tells the Hero not to try to save him. His words express surrender to the poison; they do not show a successful rescue or establish the exact moment of his death. The attack has left more than a pursuing monster behind it.