Getting Close

Author's Note: Unedited Chapter

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Gustav reactivated his golden body form in time causing a radiant light to envelop him.

The hand that had lunged at him, burned upon contact, forcing the shadowy hand to shrink away. Gustav's darkened flesh also returned to its natural state, but Gustav could feel the lingering effects of the encounter.

"What was that thing?" he wondered once more.

Gustav had destroyed it before and yet it returned so he wasn't sure it was gone for good even after getting rid of it again.

His instincts proved correct when he was attacked again, this time by multiple shadowy hands emerging from the ground. They moved with eerie coordination, each one trying to latch onto him and spread their corruption.

Gustav unleashing a powerful burst of energy that disintegrated the hands. But even as they fell apart, they began to reform, their dark essence refusing to be vanquished.