Defiance of the Fall Chapter 1400: Blood and Moonlight

The stench of human avarice washed over Zac the moment he stepped out from Esmeralda’s spatial pocket. At its current intensity, the greed wasn't powerful enough to cloud his mind. If anything, it served as a tactical advantage. Their adversaries believed the moonlight would reveal any lurking dangers, yet both Esmeralda and Idiche possessed the means to bypass their perception. With the enemy lulled into a false sense of security and Zac acting as the primary distraction, they were unlikely to detect any interference.

Zac felt certain that Idiche would fulfill her end of the bargain provided she reached the Hall of Abundance, though his confidence didn't stem from her own claims. Instead, he placed his trust in the gathering winds of fate rather than her individual skill. It was becoming undeniably clear to both Zac and Esmeralda that the dormant power within the Vice Guild Leader of the Explorer’s Guild was far more than a simple soul fragment reborn into an Outer Disciple.

Idiche was destined to be the Sevona of the new era.

According to Esmeralda, allowing Idiche to claim the Divine Core would trigger the rebirth of a primordial goddess. Ever since Zac first suspected Idiche’s true nature, he had wrestled with the implications of such an event. Would her awakening serve the agenda of the invaders? A goddess newly ascended might lack mastery over her divinity, potentially creating a vulnerability for the opposition to exploit.

However, seeing the powerful entity’s desperate scramble to block their path made Zac believe that her awakening was actually a threat to them. Furthermore, it was possible that Idiche was the Mercurial Court’s secret weapon against the outsiders. Zac even began to suspect that her hidden identity was the very reason the Eighth Elder had recruited her as a disciple in the first place.

A genius from the outer courts would be hailed as a Heaven’s Chosen anywhere else, far surpassing any typical Peak Hegemon of the Empire. Yet, her demonstrated prowess wasn't quite at the level that should attract a titan like Elder Istazh. The ten pinnacle cultivators of the Mercurial Court were undoubtedly formidable Autarchs.

Despite this, Elder Istazh had shown a singular interest in her, even providing Idiche with invaluable treasures. This clandestine discipleship was likely the elder council’s method of steering fate without violating the restrictions placed upon them. By letting Idiche integrate the Divine Core, the hunt would conclude prematurely and the island’s seal would vanish, effectively ruining the enemy's schemes.

Zac’s intuition whispered of a far more complex conspiracy. Esmeralda’s earlier remark in the lodge continued to haunt him. Sevona’s divinity carried energy signatures reminiscent of the Eternal Guardians. More specifically, it shared traits with the Stellar Wanderers, one of the Ancient Arcana—the same Ancient Arcana whose reality-warping essence served as the bedrock for the Omnipresence Chamber.

The invaders sought Sevona’s divinity to guarantee their own survival when the dream eventually collapsed. Meanwhile, the Mercurial Court likely intended for Sevona to bolster the failing boundaries between the various timelines of the Omnipresence Chamber. Zac found himself caught in the middle of a cosmic battle for existence. Success promised unparalleled spoils. The possibility of gaining direct access to the [Second Singularity] was no longer a mere fantasy.

Of course, all of that depended on him surviving the immediate danger.

“There he is. The return of the prodigal son,” Kaltosa Lu remarked with a smirk as Zac entered the devastated lobby.

His appearance sparked a wave of tension. The surviving invaders grew wary at the sight of a new combatant, while the recently arrived Monarch flared with rage. The lingering aura of Zac’s Abyssal Death saturated the room, making it impossible to ignore his role in the slaughter of the Monarch's allies. The Monarch only restrained himself because Descartes stood motionless at his side, waiting for his leader's command before striking.

“A little warning would have been nice,” Kaltosa Lu remarked with a sigh, acting as if the enemies didn't exist. “You nearly cleaved me in half just now.”

“I wasn't exactly expecting you to be hiding inside his corpse. For that matter, how did you even get here?” Zac shot back as he moved closer.

The Elemental’s presence was a frustrating reminder that he had witnessed Zac’s hidden trump cards. While it was becoming harder to hide his command over Void Energy, few people understood its true utility. The capacity to trigger skills instantaneously through [Force of the Void], bypassing most defensive barriers, remained one of his most vital secrets.

Zac typically only revealed that power when delivering a finishing blow. He had inadvertently shown his hand against these remnants of the past, never imagining a fellow trial-taker would be lurking so close. As a result, Kaltosa Lu was now aware of [Force of the Void], a fact that would surely cause trouble in the future.

The Elemental had already spent days hunting Zac, uncovering the majority of his repertoire. Designing a perfect counter to the cunning Elemental seemed impossible. Therefore, Zac decided to take the opposite approach. He would shatter the current flow of the hunt and upend everyone’s plans, seizing his prize from the resulting mayhem.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way. That applies to survival just as much as romance. As the tides of destiny rise, the necessary players are drawn into the eye of the storm. We shall—HEY!” Kaltosa Lu shouted in shock as Zac suddenly blurred into motion.

Four guards were slaughtered by Zac’s axe before they could even react. Zac stood amidst a spray of gore, now three meters tall and draped in a justiciar’s mantle. He had unleashed three skills simultaneously: [Inexorable Subjugation], [Arbiter of the Abyss], and [Fatehew]. The first snared his targets with chains, the second manipulated their defensive maneuvers to create a gap, and the final strike ended their lives before Descartes or the Monarch could intervene.

“You bastard!” the injured Monarch bellowed.

Ignoring Descartes, he vanished before Zac could strike another group of soldiers. The C-grade commander reappeared in front of Zac instantly. This wasn't mere speed; it was genuine teleportation. Zac realized with a grimace that his foe was a Spatial Cultivator, and agility was only part of his arsenal.

Zac felt the very fabric of space tighten around him, forming a crushing cage. This spatial lockdown was fueled by the Monarch’s C-grade Qi and anchored by the weight of his Inner World. Kaltosa Lu attempted to interfere with several array disks, but Descartes shattered them with a casual wave of his hand. The Elemental found himself locked in a tense standoff with the leader, both masters searching for a flaw in the other's defense.

Zac was forced to face the Monarch alone, and this spatial bind wasn't something he could break through with brute strength. It was too early to use the Void to escape. Since he couldn't dodge, he had to take the hit—a choice he immediately questioned when a small, obsidian sphere emerged from the Monarch’s sleeve.

It hummed with volatile Spatial Energy, though the leakage was instantly pulled back into the core. The Spatial Cultivator had been nurturing a pseudo-black hole, using its innate stealth to hide the buildup. It granted him an advantage similar to Zac’s [Force of the Void], allowing a fully powered skill to manifest without warning.

The black hole shredded through four spectral chains and the barrier of a hastily summoned [Profane Proxy]. By layering [Arbiter of the Abyss] with the force-distorting winds of the black pygmy, Zac managed to bleed off half the impact. That left him with one final defense: the breastplate generated by [Love’s Bond]. Its protective power had surged after its recent evolution, and Zac hoped it would be enough to stop the remaining force.

The Spatial Monarch, perhaps sensing the same thing, gave Zac no time to recover. Zac cursed as the black hole vanished into a spatial ripple. A moment later, agonizing pain flared through his body. The attack had performed a micro-teleportation, bypassing his armor entirely to manifest inside his torso. It ripped through his organs, surging toward his Duplicity Core.

Zac fought tooth and nail against the spatial collapse threatening his center. [Adamance of Eoz] roared to life, hardening his Qi into an unbreakable wall. Death, Conflict, and Life energies merged with his Hidden Nodes to neutralize the intrusion. Zac was left with a gruesome hole in his abdomen, but his Duplicity Core remained intact.

The sense of impending doom didn't fade; it intensified. The Monarch was relentless, becoming a blur of afterimages attacking from every angle. Even though these secondary strikes lacked the full power of the black hole, they were still lethal enough to require a defense.

Zac tapped into the cold clarity provided by his surging Killing Intent, using [Arbiter of the Abyss] to parry the swarm of blows. The spectral chain on his left arm lashed out, but he couldn't pin down the Monarch’s true position. Every perceived opening was a spatial trap designed to leave Zac vulnerable to a fatal counter-attack.

He could endure a few more hits, but each one cost him dearly. Simply surviving wouldn't change the outcome; it would only lead to a slow death. Zac was being subjected to a classic strategy: a high-speed attacker systematically dismantling a tank's defenses.

Help finally arrived in the form of a chorus of screams. Over half the remaining troops collapsed, clutching their throats in agony. Even while occupied with Descartes, Kaltosa Lu had managed to saturate the air with a potent toxin. The Monarch’s eyes widened at the sight. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, debating whether to eliminate the Elemental first.

The opening had arrived. Oblivion and Inexorability merged into a singular force of destruction. The energy surged through Zac’s arm and into [Death’s Duality], coating the edge in a sliver of absolute void. The blade bypassed all illusions and cut through space itself, annihilating even the concept of resistance. Distracted by Kaltosa Lu and hindered by [Extinction Event], the Monarch was a split second too slow.

Space fractured, but Zac let out a pained grunt as he was sent flying like a discarded doll. The Monarch had barely evaded [Extinction Event] and landed a heavy counter. Zac had only just managed to blunt the strike to avoid a lethal wound. He gasped for air, ignoring the searing pain in his side. It was a price he was willing to pay.

The Monarch believed Zac had underestimated him, but the reverse was true. Zac knew his Oblivion-enhanced strike would never land. A warrior of this caliber wouldn't be truly thrown off by the death of a few subordinates. The Monarch’s hesitation had been another trap—one Zac walked into on purpose. Using his Oblivion Energy was painful, but it was the only way to make his desperate gamble look convincing.

Zac had deciphered his opponent’s tempo and used his Inexorable Stance to guide the flow of the fight. At the critical moment, he had funneled the Monarch toward a specific counter. The resulting impact provided the perfect momentum to propel Zac toward the azure barrier sealing the Hall of Abundance.

Until now, the Monarch had kept Zac pinned in the center of the room, preventing him from reaching his allies. These injuries were the toll required to reach the Divine Core.

The Spatial Cultivator realized the trick too late. His lack of intel had led to a fatal miscalculation. As the Monarch tried to warp space to pull Zac back, a sphere of nothingness erupted from Zac’s body. [Void Zone] stabilized the local space, allowing Zac to surge forward unimpeded.

A second, even more violent burst of annihilation gathered on Zac's blade. He slammed it into the glowing seal before the Monarch could close the distance. A massive portion of the moonlight was devoured, but the seal held firm. Zac followed up with a palm strike, using [Void Mountain] to blast a hole through the remaining barrier.

There it was—the Divine Core, hovering in the center of a vast rotunda. Zac felt as though the object was observing him, its presence filling his mind. He barely noticed a gust of wind streak past him before the azure seal resealed itself. Just before the gap closed, a wave of profound sorrow radiated from deep within the lodge.

A second later, Zac found himself standing beside two stunned attendants. They were surrounded by over fifty hunters who were currently scowling at the sudden interruption of the ceremony. Having navigated this illusion before, Zac moved instantly.

“Enemy raid!” Zac bellowed, spitting out a glob of Miasma to sell the act. “Corrupted invaders are trying to desecrate our sacred halls!”

The crowd didn't react as quickly as he hoped, but it didn't matter. The grand foyer, restored to its holy state and filled with Sevona’s light, recognized the corruption within the invaders. Blinding sunlight surged through the windows, and a dozen screams filled the air.

The Spatial Cultivator was among them, defenseless against the holy wrath. There was no corner of space he could flee to. Curiously, Kaltosa Lu and Descartes remained untouched. Zac initially thought they had used items like his dagger, but a pulse from his pocket suggested another reason.

Zac saw a faint shimmer of Imperial Fate around the Elemental’s arm, while Descartes held a familiar artifact—one nearly identical to the [Court Cycle Token]. Like Kaltosa Lu, he was sacrificing Imperial Merit to overwrite his destiny, masquerading as an ally in the eyes of the lodge.

Descartes wasn't finished. He cast out an ancient banner bearing the crest of Sevona’s Kingdom. It turned to ash before Zac could act, and the entire illusion began to crumble. Zac pivoted to his next objective, lunging at the dying Monarch to finish him off.

Holy fire was already consuming the man from within, and spatial rifts to a burning realm surrounded him. Zac thrust his hand into the chaos, triggering [Deathmark] to release a cloud of rot. His other hand swung [Fatehew], targeting the Monarch’s head. The man was split in two, his soul torn apart by the skill’s spiritual edge.

To be certain, Zac dropped one of his [Cherry Nuts] before pulling back. It was the same messy tactic Ogras had used during the Dipper Seven trial. It was unrefined, but Zac’s Draugr Class lacked efficient ways to attack an Inner World directly, aside from [Desperation’s End].

Sense of danger spiking, Zac kicked the dying man away. The unconscious cultivator offered no resistance as he was hurled toward Descartes. The leader merely sneered and punched the incoming body. The shockwave from the punch actually suppressed the energy of the Monarch’s collapsing Inner World.

The C-grade Spatial Cultivator died as his own leader delivered the final blow. Zac scanned the room; only two Hegemons remained, and both were seconds away from death.

“Almost there,” Descartes whispered, unfazed by being outnumbered.

Zac felt a chill as Descartes tossed out a dozen more corpses, including two Monarchs reeking of corruption. One face was familiar—the sealbearer Zac had encountered at Astora’s home, the man with the seven illusory swords. It seemed his luck had run out.

What was Descartes' goal? Was he trying to prove his allegiance? It didn't feel like it. Even Kaltosa Lu looked grim as hundreds of Array Disks filled the air. Something was very wrong.

“Did you honestly think I had allied with these pathetic locals? Do I look like someone who would be fooled by Ultom’s lies? Those trapped in the fringes of the Empire truly lack vision,” Descartes mocked.

“Changing your tune now that your team is dead?” Zac countered, his eyes searching for the next trap.

“Think what you like. I would have honored my pact with the phantoms of this false timeline if they weren't so incompetent. It matters not to me which side prevails. I’ll—”