Defiance of the Fall Chapter 1433: Earthly Dome

Towering cabinets, stretching dozens of meters high, lined the endless space. Though brimming with treasures beyond Zac’s wildest dreams, they failed to capture his attention as he navigated the labyrinthine corridors. Most items within the maze-like treasury were mere illusions, lacking the substance required for his [Mercurial Sack] to interact with. The few genuine artifacts were ensnared by formidable defenses and malevolent curses, rendering them more perilous than valuable.

Veering sharply left, Zac was taken aback to confront a ghast emanating an aura of decay and dust. It wasn't a creature of the Dao of Death but rather an embodiment of withered time itself, antiquity given form. Zac reacted swiftly, activating [Abyssal Drive] to momentarily blind the archival ghast and escape in a flash of Abyssal Death.

The treasury plunged into darkness as the foreign energy surge was detected, prompting streaks of temporal energy to converge on Zac’s position. He deactivated his movement skill just as a more formidable ghast began to materialize, immediately reverting to ground-level evasion. Engaging the temporal guardians of a clan’s forgotten wealth offered no advantages. Temporal Energy, particularly after his breakthrough to Peak D-grade, was no longer a significant weakness.

The true threat was to his finances.

“How much longer?” Zac inquired, his heart pounding with the agony of sensing the incessant drain on his seal.

Esmeralda’s voice chimed in from the sanctuary of her shrine.

Her words carried the tone of an adult soothing an impatient child, yet he had no choice but to place his trust in her assurance. The memory domain felt like it was fraying at its edges, having defied its expected collapse an hour prior. Sustaining it demanded an escalating price, but retreat was unthinkable. Even Zac could discern the immense accumulation of time seeping through the weakening veil of reality.

This dire predicament was precisely what they had aimed to circumvent. Of the Mercurial Court’s primary Daos, time was undeniably the most elusive. While Esmeralda possessed mastery over Space, and Zac exhibited remarkable resilience against illusions, time presented a challenge neither had a definitive counter for, short of fully unleashing his Void Emperor bloodline. Misfortune could lead to them being ensnared in a temporal quagmire until the trial concluded.

Esmeralda’s promise, for once, held true. After navigating a few more turns, Zac perceived a diminishing of the temporal energy seeping through the memory’s fabric. Suddenly, Esmeralda reappeared, her left hand a blur of motion.

“You didn’t—” Zac exclaimed as he witnessed the toad brazenly trigger the treasury’s alarms while attempting to seize a genuine artifact, initiating a complete lockdown.

“Now!” Esmeralda commanded with a broad grin, her voice warping as time decelerated to a near standstill.

The memory domain dissolved the instant Zac ceased channeling Imperial Merit. The vast, cabinet-filled maze appeared to follow them into the present, albeit in a grotesquely altered form. Branches resembling limbs erupted from the cabinets, pulsing with corruption, creating the impression of an emergence within a nightmarish forest. Faint traces of time remained, but they served only as a backdrop to the pervasive taint of the Lost Era.

Zac had merely a fleeting moment to grasp his surroundings before his senses shrieked of imminent danger. He lunged to his left, but remained a fraction of a second too slow to completely evade a blade that whistled past his throat. Zac felt a burning sensation that intensified, forcing him to suppress a wave of nausea from the poison coursing through the wound.

No wielder accompanied the sword that had nearly beheaded him; it moved with its own volition, turning back after its missed strike. An angry, scowling eye adorned its pommel, and the weapon thrummed with palpable malevolence. Its crimson edge radiated heat, inducing a feverish sensation in Zac merely by its proximity. It was the quintessential depiction of a demonic armament.

In truth, it was a Peak D-grade Qriz’Ul, its peculiar appearance a consequence of its surroundings. It was not solitary. Like figures from a twisted fairytale, hundreds of shelved items animated. To worsen matters, Zac detected two potent presences stirring in the distance. Judging by the blinding corruption they emanated, they appeared to be entities equivalent to Middle Monarchs—a level Zac was ill-prepared to confront.

While most of the animated treasures posed no immediate threat, Zac’s instinct screamed for him to flee. The critical question was, where could they go? An ominous entanglement of corrupted temporal energy loomed above the cabinets, the source of Zac’s intense danger sense. Furthermore, appearing in the sky would expose him to a C-grade Qriz’Ul.

Of paramount importance, this corrupted treasury represented the “safe zone” they had invested over a thousand Potentiality to attain. After three arduous weeks journeying towards the heart of the Mercurial Court, favorable options had dwindled. The most the Heavens could offer were perilous paths surrounded by inevitable doom.

“Buy me some time,” Esmeralda requested, observing Zac’s evident distress. She began to meticulously calculate and deduce the escape route, surrounded by swirling spatial distortions.

Zac responded with a grunt of assent, unleashing waves of corrosion from his being. Hundreds of E-grade Qriz’Ul were obliterated as [Deathmark] was activated, perishing before the axe wraiths could even materialize. The sight of dozens of Corruption Crystals scattering across the ground offered Zac no solace, nor did the substantial gain of Potentiality points he received in an instant.

Firstly, these crystals had become rather commonplace since their ventures into C-grade corrupted zones; these were merely the lowest quality. Secondly, the premonition of impending danger within his mind intensified significantly. The ancient Qriz’Ul typically remained dormant, and the disturbance expedited their awakening.

Deploying a skill was the least unfavorable of his options. The chaos instigated by hundreds of Qriz’Ul would far exceed that of [Deathmark], and the skill aided Zac in exposing the genuine threats concealed amongst them. One such threat was the sword encountered previously, distinguished by its extreme velocity and an edge wickedly imbued with a potent curse. Another was a sentient crystal, whose fragmented refractions conjured illusions and induced madness, capable of affecting his axe wraiths—beings that should possess no will of their own.

The final threat was a spellcaster’s tome, unleashing barrages of virulent and cacophonous spells. A colossal green meteor, spanning the width of a barn door, impacted the wooden shelves just after narrowly missing Zac, resulting in a deafening detonation. Grotesquely formed golems, emitting agonizing screams, clawed their way from the earth, staggering towards Zac as if in a drunken stupor.

Despite the tome posing the least direct danger, the sheer pandemonium it generated compelled Zac to address it as a priority. Two chains erupted from the swirling mists, intercepting the sword on its subsequent assault. It lunged fearlessly, scattering fragments of the broken chains. Concurrently, Zac directed all his wraiths to form a cordon around the crystal, effectively blocking its radiant beams of light.

The wraiths’ defense would be ephemeral, but Zac required only enough time to distract the two artifact-like Qriz’Ul to close the distance to the tome. [Death’s Duality] only succeeded in clipping a corner. Zac’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as the tome incinerated two of its pages, manifesting a temporal and spatial distortion. In the blink of an eye, it reappeared two miles away, appearing entirely unscathed.

Unlawfully obtained from Royal Road, this work should be reported if discovered on Amazon.

“Damn it,” Zac cursed, propelling himself into a newly formed vortex.

A mere second later, a temporal backlash ravaged the vicinity, nearly shattering the chains extending from the portal. The tome had somehow harnessed corruption to displace a portion of the karmic backlash from rewinding time, weaponizing it.

Zac’s sojourn in the void was brief. A new portal had already materialized where the tome had teleported. Capitalizing on the book’s disoriented state, a dripping chain pierced through the parchment before it could react. It was only then that Zac emerged, accompanied by four skeletal attendants.

A torrent of virulence collided with a pitch-black wind, redirecting the tome’s assault directly onto the crystal. Zac seized the opportune moment to finalize his attack. While the tome remained ensnared by a chain, a streak of steel sliced directly through it. A venerable tome, whether Qriz’Ul or not, stood no chance against [Death’s Duality] fortified by the soul-severing technique [Fatehew].

As the book disintegrated, additional vortices, no larger than a fist, continued to manifest. Three hovered silently behind Zac, serving as conduits for an equal number of chains. Two more opened near the struggling sword, forcing it to confront four chains simultaneously. Though its grade was superior, the cumulative effect of four applications of [Inexorable Subjugation] proved substantial. The chains formed loops with greater rapidity than the sword could sever them. The very vortices spun around the burgeoning ensnarement, akin to spiders’ webs, maintaining the containment.

The final chain emerged beside the crystal just as it cast aside the stream of virulence. It struck the gem with immense force, comparable to a truck’s impact, yet it merely shuddered and lost some of its radiance. Had circumstances permitted, Zac would have dispatched even more chains through the Void. Including the two preceding gateways, he was already stretching his capabilities to their limit.

Nevertheless, the three vortices adhered to his back as he surged through the wall of axe wraiths, eradicating those that had inexplicably developed sentience. A blinding flash greeted him upon reaching the crystal, accompanied by a chorus of screams that reverberated within his mind. A simple hatchet materialized before him, and the internal tempest within Zac’s consciousness subsided into a subdued murmur.

The Warbringer Idol served its purpose, shielding Zac from the crystal’s onslaught. While not entirely immune to the Lost Era’s encroaching madness, his repeated exposure had significantly softened its impact. Without hesitation, Zac shattered the crystal’s outer shell with a few swift strikes. Another Peak D-grade Corruption Crystal was extracted with practiced efficiency before Zac turned his attention to the ensnared sword.

The initial wave was dispatched in mere seconds, yet the Qriz’Ul threats in this sector seemed endless. One of the C-grade abominations had already stirred and was rapidly approaching at an alarming pace. Zac let out a breath as he felt Esmeralda’s hand land on his shoulder. In the blink of an eye, the corridor became a streak of accelerated motion as the thief whisked them away.

“So, what’s your assessment?” Zac inquired in a low tone, confirming they had evaded the Qriz’Ul Monarchs’ pursuit.

“At least you didn’t sever any chains or limbs this time, which is an improvement. You came close, though. I saw you nearly sever them to dodge the temporal backlash. Had you done so, the sword would have been unleashed. What then?” Esmeralda remarked with feigned irritation. “You’re still quite open to exploitation by more skilled adversaries.”

“I am aware of that. I’m still adapting,” Zac replied, rolling his eyes. “I was asking for your perspective as an observer.”

“It should pass muster,” Esmeralda stated with a shrug. “I can clearly discern they aren't spatial gateways, but I cannot detect any void aura. Given the obscurity on the other side and the deathly energy emanating from you and your chains, most individuals would likely attribute it to a Death-aligned skill with sensory obstruction properties. Silent Death, isn't that what you call it?”

“Excellent, that’s the most important thing,” Zac concluded with visible satisfaction.

Zac quickly ascertained the most effective method for employing his vortices in combat. Instead of utilizing them as mere spatial blades, they proved far more potent when integrated with his existing techniques, particularly his armaments. A vine or chain suddenly manifesting from an unexpected angle could ensnare an opponent or disrupt their offensive flow.

This approach added a new dimension of complexity to his close-quarters combat. As Esmeralda had pointed out, Zac had a tendency to inadvertently sever his own chains by prematurely closing gates or failing to synchronize their movements initially. This minor setback did little to dampen Zac’s enthusiasm, and he resolved to incorporate this into his combat stances permanently.

[Earthly Dome] stood apart from his other Void Talents. Abilities like [Force of the Void] and [Void Zone] were best deployed at critical junctures to sway the battle’s outcome. These were almost cheat-like abilities that Zac felt comfortable using only when assured no witnesses remained. In contrast, the void vortices offered significant advantages even in prolonged engagements.

The constant awareness of a potential attack from any direction placed a considerable mental strain on even seasoned combatants. They were compelled to conserve some energy for defensive maneuvers against ambushes, whereas Zac could maintain relentless offensive pressure. Alea’s chains possessed remarkable resilience. He could dispatch a chain into the Void for extended periods, allowing it to accelerate within that dimension before erupting without warning. Esmeralda’s assessment was highly encouraging. As long as Zac masked the Void’s aura by channeling [Void Mountain] through his being, the vortices could be mistaken for conventional abilities.

Zac did not let the success make him complacent. He remained vigilant as Esmeralda navigated the periphery of the massive corrupted zone. Over the following day, he engaged in two more battles, during which Esmeralda recalibrated her bearings. Each engagement provided crucial insights that refined his modified techniques. Only as they approached the corridor’s edge did Zac commence drawing corruption into himself.

“So, space is next, is it?” Zac mused aloud.

The sight of a literal solar system, complete with a star of absolute blackness, occupying the space before him no longer elicited surprise. The planets’ replacement by colossal anatomical parts did give him pause, though he had witnessed stranger sights in the Imperial Graveyard. One certainty remained: the Mercurial Court's interior territories grew successively more bizarre with each passing day.

Esmeralda nodded with clear satisfaction, welcoming the unsettling spectacle. “A welcome change, really. I could use a moment’s respite before the final push.”

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Zac’s eyes fluttered open as he detected a consistent influx of potent corruption permeating [Purity of the Void]. It seemed his Draugr lineage had successfully navigated another corrupted expanse. Fuxi’s imposing statue stood before him, its inscrutability unchanged from two weeks prior. Extracting further profound understanding from the enigmatic runes had proven arduous since the initial breakthrough.