The greed of man greeted Zac the second he emerged from Esmeraldaâs spatial pocket. It wasnât dense enough to influence Zac at its current density. If anything, it lent a helping hand. Their enemies thought they could use the moonlight to expose hidden threats, but both Esmeralda and Idiche had ways to elude their senses. With that false sense of security and Zac acting as a decoy, they would be less likely to notice a problem.
Zac was confident that Idiche would live up to her promise so long as she reached the Hall of Abundance, though not for the reasons she believed. He had faith in the gathering winds rather than in her personal capabilities. It had become increasingly obvious to Zac and Esmeralda that the power slumbering within the Vice Guild Leader of the Explorerâs Guild wasnât a random soul sliver reincarnated into an Outer Disciple.
Idiche should be the next generationâs Sevona.
As Esmeralda said, letting Idiche take the Divine Core would lead to the resurrection of an ancient goddess. Zac had agonized over whether this was a good or bad thing since first suspecting Idicheâs true identity. Would her awakening play into the goals of the invaders? A newly ascended goddess might not be in control of her power, and the process could create an opening for the other side.
Seeing the powerful entityâs urgent attempts to intercept their approach left Zac leaning toward the belief that this was not the case. Furthermore, Idiche might be the Mercurial Courtâs hidden weapon against the otherworlders. Zac even suspected her second identity was the reason why the Eighth Elder had taken Idiche as a disciple in the first place.
A talent of the outer courts would be considered a Heavenâs Chosen wherever they went, standing head and shoulders above any random Peak Hegemon of the Empire. At the same time, her abilities werenât at the level that should draw the attention of a figure like Elder Istazh. The ten strongest cultivators of the Mercurial Court had to be extraordinary Autarchs.
And yet, Elder Istazh had taken such keen interest, even outfitting Idiche with priceless artifacts. The secret discipleship was the elder councilâs way of influencing the course of events without breaking whatever restrictions kept them in check. Letting Idiche absorb the Divine Core would end the hunt early and undo the islandâs seal, all while foiling the enemyâs plans.
Zacâs instincts told him there was an even deeper plot at play. Esmeraldaâs comment when they stepped into the lodge kept ringing in his ears. Sevonaâs divinity held trace energies similar to those of the Eternal Guardians. Or rather, it held traces of the Stellar Wanderers, one of the Ancient Arcanaâthe very same Ancient Arcana whose Dao-transcending nature acted as the foundation for the Omnipresence Chamber.
The invaders wanted Sevonaâs divinity to ensure they were the ones to survive when the dream ended. The Mercurial Court probably wanted Sevona to reinforce the weakening barriers between the Omnipresence Chamberâs timelines. Zac had been swept up in an existential struggle for survival. Winning meant extraordinary rewards. Directly gaining access to the
[Second Singularity]
wasnât out of the question.
Of course, that was provided he survived the next hurdle.
âThere he is. The prodigal son,â Kaltosa Lu smiled as Zac stepped into the war-torn lobby.
His arrival was met with mixed reactions. The remaining invaders tensed upon seeing another threat step into the ring while the newly arrived Monarch bristled in anger. Traces of Zacâs Abyssal Death were still all over the lobby. It was impossible to miss Zacâs involvement in the deaths of his companions. The Monarch only held himself back because of Descartes calmly standing to his side. The Monarch wouldnât move until his leader conveyed his intentions.
âYou could have given me a heads-up, you know?â Kaltosa Lu sighed as if there were no one else there. âYou almost cut me in two just now.â
âHow was I supposed to know youâd hidden yourself inside his body? In fact, how are you even here?â Zac countered while drawing closer.
The Elementalâs words were an unwelcome reminder heâd been given a front-row seat to Zacâs hidden abilities. He couldnât help that more and more people knew about his ability to control Void Energy, but very few truly understood what that meant. The ability to instantly activate skills with
[Force of the Void]
, and that doing so would bypass most barriers, was one of his most tightly guarded secrets.
That was something Zac only exposed when going in for the kill. You could say heâd lowered his guard to deal with these figments of the past because heâd never have expected a fellow trial taker to be hiding right next to him. Consequently, Kaltosa Lu knew about
[Force of the Void]
, which would come back to bite him in the ass one way or another.
The Elemental had already managed to expose most of Zacâs abilities while hunting him for days on end. Figuring out a plan against the scheming Elemental simply wasnât possible. Since that was the case, Zac would have to go in the opposite direction. Heâd throw the hunt on its head and ruin everyoneâs schemes. From there, he would seize victory in the chaos.
âIf thereâs a will, thereâs a way. Thatâs just as true for life as it is for love. And with fateâs rising tide, the needed performers will be swept into the heart of the storm. WeâllâHEY!â Kaltosa Lu exclaimed with genuine surprise when Zac turned into a blur.
Four warriors were cut down by Zacâs axe despite being on guard. Zac emerged from a mist of blood, now wielding a justiciarâs cloak and standing three meters tall. Heâd activated three skills at once:
[Inexorable Subjugation]
,
[Arbiter of the Abyss]
, and
[Fatehew]
. The first slowed down the targets the instant his chains were within reach, the second redirected their counters just enough to create an opening. The last one seized the moment and sealed their fates before Descartes or the Monarch could react.
âBastard!â the wounded Monarch roared.
He no longer waited for Descartes' go-ahead, disappearing before Zac could target a second clump of recovering soldiers. The C-grade leader appeared before Zac in the blink of an eye. It wasnât rapid movement but true teleportation. Zac sighed upon confirming his opponent was a Spatial Cultivator, and speed wasnât his only weapon.
Zac felt as though the dimensional fabric had shrunk around him to create a suffocating cage. The spatial prison was powered by the Monarchâs C-grade energy and stabilized by the weight of his Inner World. Kaltosa Lu conjured a series of arrays meant to countermand the effect, but the array disks were torn apart by a swipe of Descartesâ hand. The Elemental found himself stuck in a cautious exchange where two experts looked for gaps in their opponentâs path.
Zac was left to deal with the assault on his own, and the spatial restriction wasnât one that raw power could overcome. Using the Void to break free was premature. Since dodging wouldnât work, he would simply have to endure the strike. It was a decision Zac started to regret the moment a small black ball shot out of the Monarchâs sleeves. đ đŒïŒźêđ±ĐSÌ©
It crackled with barely contained Spatial Energy, though what little it leaked was promptly sucked back inside. The Spatial Cultivator had actually been growing a fake black hole, relying on its energy-hiding characteristics to avoid detection. It resulted in a similar advantage to when Zac relied on
[Force of the Void]
, where he had to deal with a fully charged skill appearing out of nowhere.
The black hole tore through the four chains and the urgently activated
[Profane Proxy]
âs barrier. Zac managed to divert nearly half the force by combining
[Arbiter of the Abyss]
and the pygmy wielding the force-shifting black wind. That left him with a final layer of protection; the breastplate formed by
[Loveâs Bond]
. Its defenses had sharply risen since its upgrade, and Zac believed it capable of resolving most of the remaining threat.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Perhaps arriving at the same conclusion, the Spatial Monarch didnât give Zac the opportunity to find out. Zac cursed when the black hole suddenly disappeared in a small ripple. The next moment, he was wracked with intense agony. The attack had performed a short-range teleportation, narrowly passing Zacâs armor to strike at his guts on the other side. It tore through flesh and viscera, heading straight for his Duplicity Core.
Zac desperately fought back against the spatial collapse headed for his Core.
[Adamance of Eoz]
woke with a defiant roar, turning his energy into an enduring wall. Death, Conflict, and even Life worked in concert with his Hidden Nodes to exhaust the attack. Zac was left with a nasty crater in his stomach, but the attack failed to reach his Duplicity Core.
The scream of danger didnât wane from enduring the attack. It only grew louder. His opponent was hot on his heels, turning into a mesh of figures striking from every direction. It made no difference that each attack only held a fraction of the black holeâs force. They were more than strong enough to cause injuries, thus demanding a proper response.
Zac squeezed out every drop of clarity that the roaring Killing Intent could provide, manipulating the trajectories of countless strikes with the help of
[Arbiter of the Abyss]
. The spectral chain wound around his left arm was poised to strike, but Zac failed to catch so much as the Monarchâs shadow. The few opportunities to strike were hidden traps where the Monarch intentionally exposed a weakness. Thereâd be a spatial chasm or similar barrier to render his attack useless while Zac was left exposed to a lethal counter.
Enduring a few more blows wasnât a problem. However, each hit required him to pay a price, and the suffering wouldnât bring him closer to turning things around. Instead, Zac would be pushed toward an unredeemable situation. Zac was facing a textbook approach of how a speedster dealt with a tank. It was a process of whittling down, dismantling defenses one after another.
Outside help arrived in the form of a chorus of agonized screams. More than half the remaining soldiers fell to their knees, desperately clawing at their throats. Kaltosa Lu had his hands full dealing with Descartesâ forceful charge, but he was not too busy to spread some deadly toxin into his surroundings. Zacâs opponentâs eyes bulged at the scene. He briefly paused, seemingly considering whether he should take out the Elemental before he caused more harm.
The window had appeared. Oblivion and Inexorability fused into an unstoppable force of annihilation. It coursed through Zacâs arm and into
[Deathâs Duality]
, forming a small edge of utter darkness. The blade cut through falsehoods and severed space, even destroying the thought of resistance. The Monarch, distracted by Kaltosa Lu and then affected by
[Extinction Event]
, had slowed down a pace.
Space split, but a pained grunt came from Zac as he was yet again thrown away like a ragdoll. The Monarch had deftly dodged
[Extinction Event]
and launched a counter of his own. Zac had only barely managed to contain its force to avoid lethal harm. Zac drew a hacking breath, enduring the stabbing pain. It was a small price to pay to achieve his goal.
The Monarch thought Zac had underestimated their skill, but the only one being underestimated was Zac. He knew his Oblivion-powered attack would never strike home. How could such an experienced warrior be distracted just by having a few subordinates die? His demeanor since stepping into the lodge was yet another trap, one Zac willingly stepped into. The expenditure of Oblivion Energy was regrettable, but it was also the best way to make Zacâs attack seem real.
Zac had already seen through his opponentâs rhythm and begun subtly manipulating the flow of battle using his Inexorable Stance. At the very last moment, heâd blocked most avenues to counter
[Extinction Event]
, leaving the Monarch with only one option. The attack provided the momentum Zac needed to reach the azure seal blocking the Hall of Abundance.
Before now, the Monarch had kept Zac contained at the center of the lobby, preventing him from opening a path to his hidden companions. His wounds were the necessary price to open a path to the Divine Core.
The Spatial Cultivator realized the problem in time. His lack of information resulted in the wrong response. When the Monarch tried to stretch and twist space in an attempt to drag Zac back to the center of the lobby, a sphere of nothingness erupted with Zac as the nucleus.
[Void Zone]
quelled space and allowed Zac to pass right through.
A second, stronger eruption of annihilation appeared on Zacâs blade. It crashed into the shimmering seal before the Monarch could catch up. A huge chunk of moonlight was consumed, but enough remained to keep the seal intact. The follow-up palm strike finished the job when a tear was blasted wide open with the help of
[Void Mountain]
.
Suddenly, Zac saw it in the distance; the Divine Core, floating in the middle of a large rotunda. He almost felt as though it was looking back at him, and the attention filled his mind. He only vaguely sensed a rush of wind passing him by before the azure seal patched itself up. Just before it fully closed, a shockwave filled with sorrow rushed out from the lodge's depths.
The next second, Zac found himself shoulder to shoulder with a very surprised pair of attendants. Around them were more than fifty hunters who frowned at the sudden disruption to the opening reception. Having already experienced this situation before, Zac acted before anyone else could.
âEnemy attack!â Zac roared, coughing out a mouthful of Miasma for improved effect. âEnemies full of corruption. Theyâre trying to sully our holy grounds!â
The crowd was slower to react than Zac had hoped, but it turned out that there was no need to rely on the illusory hunters. The grand foyer, now in a pristine state and teeming with Sevonaâs benevolence, sensed the existential threats hidden within the invaders. Scorching sunlight poured through the grand window, and a dozen screams erupted through the hall.
Among them was the Spatial Cultivator. He was helpless before the holy lightâs angry glare, and there was nowhere he could teleport to avoid his judgment. In contrast, neither Kaltosa Lu nor Descartes were affected. Zac first thought theyâd gained passage by finding items similar to the dagger, but a vibration from his pocket hinted at a different theory.
Zac noticed a slight drain of Imperial Fate from one of the Elementalâs arms while Descartes gripped a very familiar object. He possessed an item almost identical to the
[Court Cycle Token]
. Like Kaltosa Lu, he was paying Imperial Merit to change his destiny, seizing the fate of an ally in the eyes of the lodge.
Descartes wasnât content simply surviving the purge. He threw out an old banner emblazoned with the crest of Sevonaâs Kingdom. It collapsed into dust before Zac had the chance to intercept, and the whole illusion collapsed. Zac went for the second-best option, striking at the dying Monarch to secure the kill.
Holy flames already raged within him, and spatial tears leading to a burning world surrounded him. Zac pushed his hand inside and activated
[Deathmark]
to release a stationary cloud of corrosive death. His other hand followed up with another swing of
[Fatehew]
, aimed straight at the Monarchâs head. He was cut in two, and his very soul was lacerated by the skillâs spiritual blade.
Still not done, Zac finally dropped one of his remaining
[Cherry Nuts]
before retracting his left hand from the spatial tear. It was the same approach that Ogras adopted to finish off the competition in Dipper Seven. It was crude, but Zac didnât have a lot of options. His Draugr Class had very few abilities that could directly target an Inner World. Beyond
[Desperationâs End]
, there wasnât anything particularly impressive.
Zacâs mind screamed of danger, and he kicked the man away. The spatial cultivator had already lost consciousness from the pain, and he put up no resistance as he was flung against Descartes. The outsider merely scoffed and threw a punch at the incoming projectile. Even the force from the Monarchâs crumbling Inner World was suppressed by the punch.
The pitiful C-grade Spatial Cultivator drew his last breath before his whole body exploded, his own boss delivering the finishing blow. Zac looked around and realized only two Hegemons remained alive. Both would be dead within the minute without divine intervention.
âJust about there,â Descartes muttered, not the least perturbed by suddenly standing alone against two formidable foes.
Zac got a sinking feeling when Descartes threw out a dozen more corpses, including those of two Monarchs reeking of corruption. Another was a familiar face. It was the sealbearer whoâd killed off their own clone, the man with seven illusory swords whom Zac later met at Astoraâs mansion. It looked like his luck had finally caught up with him.
Why was Descartes doing this? Was he showcasing his work to prove that they were on the same side? It didnât seem like that was the case, and even Kaltosa Lu had gained a solemn expression as hundreds of Array Disks appeared in the sky. Something was wrong.
âDid you think I had sold my soul to these pitiful natives? Do I look like someone who would blindly swallow Ultomâs toxic truths? People stuck in these remote corners of the Empire truly lack discernment,â Descartes scoffed.
âTrying to jump ship now that your subordinates are down?â Zac countered, his eyes roving back and forth in search of threats.
âBelieve what you will. I would have upheld my agreement with the creatures of the false timeline if they were more competent. Whatâs it to me which side wins? Iâll return to the capital when Iâve achieved my goals. But theyâre floundering before we could even begin to strike at the Theomoreâs hegemony,â Descartes said, his smile widening as he gazed toward the Hall of Abundance.
âIt doesnât matter. My agreement was with Lord August, and I believe heâs about to uphold his side of the bargain.â
The name hit Zac like a sledgehammer, and his eyes widened in horror as he spun around. A second energy signature had appeared inside the Divine Core, one all too familiar.