The path to Zora's Domain took them southeast, descending from the frozen heights of Hebra into the jagged, flooded canyons of Lanayru. Tulin flew overhead as their aerial scout, while Vola re-joined Link on the ground, her scimitar drawn as they navigated the crumbling stone bridges.The closer they got to the domain, the more unnatural the waters became. The clean, rushing rivers of the Zora had turned into a thick, black morass. A heavy, poisonous purple sludge—pure Malice—clogged the waterfalls, making the entire valley smell of rot and stagnant iron.When they finally climbed the grand crystalline bridge leading into the heart of Zora's Domain, the sight broke their hearts.The beautiful, elegant shell-like architectures of the palace were half-submerged in the toxic sludge. The majestic statue of Mipha in the center square was cracked, weeping black grease instead of water. There were no Zora swimming in the pools. The entire population was trapped on the high, upper balconies, looking down in absolute despair."It's the Knight..." a voice echoed from above.King Dorephan, towering but visibly exhausted, leaned heavily over the throne room railing. Beside him stood Prince Sidon, his brilliant red scales dulled by the ash-choked air. Sidon didn't have his usual blinding smile; his yellow eyes were shadowed with grief."Link," Sidon called out, his voice hoarse. "You're alive... but you come at our darkest hour. The Princess's corruption has choked our reservoir. Worse still..." Sidon pointed toward the massive East Reservoir Lake.Towering over the flooded valley was the elephantine titan, Divine Beast Vah Ruta. It wasn't spraying clean water to cool the land. Instead, its trunk was raised high into the dark sky, pumping endless, torrential waves of Malice Rain directly into the clouds. The acidic rain was dissolving the mountainsides and slowly drowning the domain in corruption."The second Malice anchor is embedded deep inside Ruta's core," Sidon explained, gripping his silver trident. "But the beast is generating a massive whirlpool of pure corruption around itself. No one can swim through it, and any arrow we fire is dissolved by the acidic mist before it hits the target."Link looked down at his right arm. The golden Sheikah runes hummed, vibrating with the Gale Energy he had just ripped from Vah Medoh."We don't need to swim, Prince Sidon," Link said, the Master Sword gleaming on his back. "We're going to drop in from above."Tulin landed on the railing, checking his bow. "The wind is heavy with toxic rain, Link, but with my gale magic and your new power, I can create a localized updraft to launch us over the whirlpool. We just need a way to disable the Malice cryo-batteries on Ruta's back before we can land on its deck."Sidon’s eyes ignited with a spark of his old ferocity. "If you can pierce the sky, Hero, then I will take to the toxic waters! I will use my trident to draw the beast's fire from below, giving you the opening you need!"
Link looked up at the toxic, swirling storm clouds. "We drop from above," he said, his voice firm. "Tulin, let's take the sky. Sidon, draw its attention from the water!""Right behind you, my friend!" Sidon roared, diving fearlessly into the black, churning morass below with his silver trident raised.With a surge of the Gale Energy embedded in his golden arm, Link launched upward alongside Tulin, piercing right through the acidic mist. High above the elephantine machine, the freezing air bit at them, but Link looked down, aiming his bow. As they plummeted toward the deck, he unleashed a volley of shock arrows, shattering the Malice cryo-batteries on Vah Ruta's back in a sequence of blinding blue explosions.They hit the slick, metallic top deck of the Divine Beast just as the elephant's trunk let out a deafening, mechanical roar. Link didn't waste a second, racing straight through the central hatch into the flooded, cavernous interior of the machine.The inside of Vah Ruta was a dark, submerged nightmare. The ancient azure lights were drowned beneath deep, pulsing pools of purple Malice.Suddenly, the water in the center of the chamber began to boil violently. A massive, grotesque form materialized from the corruption, hoisting itself out of the black sludge. It was Waterblight Ganon, the scourge that had once haunted these halls, but the dark Princess's magic had mutated it further. Its giant, glowing red eye burned with a vengeful fire, and in its massive hand, it brandished a colossal, rusted spear dripping with lethal, acidic Malice.The phantom screeched, thrusting its massive spear forward. A localized wave of corrupted water exploded outward, threatening to drown Link and Tulin in pure toxicity.
