Defiance of the Fall

"It's you?" Emily blurted, confusion and disbelief written all over her face.

Zac understood what was going through her mind. Her surprise wasn't over the betrayal. Emily had experienced much over the years, and there was no way she'd accept an outsider's words at face value. Especially when the old veteran had gone so far out of his way to provide assistance, even risking his life by joining a dangerous special military operation. Few who reached Late Hegemony were so selfless and generous.

Tussar's actions could have been explained with Zac's unique status and connections. He had an ongoing cooperation with the Allbright Dynasty, and Monarchs were personally drawing writs of order for his use. Tussar could have seen Zac as his ticket to the Allbright Empire's inner circles, where he might find the chance to repair his damaged core and even take the next step on his path.

That may well have been his backup plan, but Zac knew it wasn't his foremost goal. Tussar had always been after the seals. If this one hadn't appeared out of the blue, he might even have targeted one of his people. It was this goal that was the cause of Emily's confusion. After all, Tussar was old—very old, at least 20,000 years by Zac's estimate.

It wasn't just Tussar's appearance. Even his aura was showing signs of age-related decline. It was a premature aging brought on by Tussar's semi-crippled state. A Hegemon's lifespan was connected to their Cosmic Core. When the core was damaged, so was their longevity. It was clear as day that Tussar was well beyond the limitations of the seals and upcoming trial.

"You want this thing?" Emily said, a smile tugging at her lips. "Go ahead. I'd like to see you claim it."

"Hoping to make a fool of myself, child? You might get your wish, but I've made my preparations," Tussar said before turning to Zac. "How about it, young man?"

"You think you can target my people and live to tell the tale?" Zac said, glancing at Ra'Klid. "Ignore him."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Tussar said when the demon stepped toward the seal. "If you steal my opportunity, then every single person on this battlefield will know about it. Same thing should I die."

"You've come prepared," Zac said with a flat voice. Indeed, this was why he hadn't attacked right away. Tussar knew his strength, so there was no way he'd dare approach them without some safeguards. "It doesn't matter, though. Sooner or later, everyone will know the situation whether we like it or not."

"That's true," Tussar said, glancing at the floating seal. "But I'd say we have a while. Of course, we could avoid this headache if you took a step back."

"This is a waste of time," Emily interjected. "You idiot, haven't you read the bounties your own empire put out? Only those below 100 years of age can take this. You're causing trouble for nothing!"

Zac inwardly sighed as a ruthless smile spread across Tussar's face.

"Nothing is absolute, little girl."

"Sacrificial Rebirth," Zac muttered, not hiding his disgust.

"You know even that?" Tussar said, his eyes wide with suspicion. "Don't tell me—"

"Senior Silver warned me about you. You've already been marked as a potential spy because of the mysterious disappearances around you. However, I only realized the truth moments ago."

It was only when Zac used the mysterious feather he'd been appraised of the full picture. Tussar had actually disguised himself as one of his men and hid inside [Apex Jungle]. That was suspicious on its own, but it was nothing compared to the horrifying thing he'd sensed within Tussar's body. Thousands of souls, trapped inside a sinister array engraved on his Cosmic Core's surface.

Zac was no expert on heretical rituals, but everyone had boned up on the subject since the Kan'Tanu invaded. With this knowledge and his sturdy foundations on patterns, it wasn't hard to put the pieces together and intuit what Tussar was up to.

"Sacrificing your cultivation, countless treasures, and thousands of our allies to build a seed of rebirth?"

Tussar had turned his core into a womb feeding on sacrifices and his own lifeforce. His core wasn't actually as badly damaged as his appearance indicated, but the sacrifice had consumed so much the old veteran was nothing more than a living husk. There was already burning life hiding within the array, and Zac had felt a strong sense of evil coming from it.

Zac didn't know the exact mechanics but understood Tussar's plan. He'd shed his old self and be reborn, using his newborn body and reformed soul to access the opportunity.

"What a waste."

Since when was the System so easily fooled? Would Ultom not see through such a crude method? If it were possible, Zac wouldn't have been dealing with Tavza and Kator. He'd be stuck with some old monsters reborn through far more exquisite methods than what some Allbright captain could concoct.

Tussar must have lost his mind after his injury, deluding himself that this was his chance to make a comeback. Zac didn't let him touch the seal because he would trigger a pulse of rejection that would expose the situation to anyone in the know.

"True, my metamorphosis will leave me almost crippled," Tussar nodded. "But so what? What does a broken soul and crippled core count for in the face of this opportunity? I'd give up far more for this chance, so don't try to stop me!"

Zac only shook his head.

"You may disdain me, but what does a heaven-blessed child like you understand of the commoner's plight?! You think you've struggled, but can it compare to millennia of service and sacrifice?! I can't even remember how many desperate situations I've endured, just to claim what you nobles deem low-quality dregs!"

Tussar's eyes were bloodshot, and his aura flickered precariously. Zac was no Mentalist, but he could feel the veteran's soul crumbling before his very eyes. He'd triggered the process.

"Out of millions of brothers, only I reached these heights. The rest were chewed and spat out by the imperial war machine!" Tussar roared as bleeding cracks covered his body. "How can you understand my—"

"Determination."

The last word came from within Tussar's chest before a naked figure burst forth. He was drenched in blood and his own viscera, and his skin was covered in twisted runes filled with heterogenic spirituality. Zac was shocked at the sudden turn. He'd been waiting for an opportunity to knock out the old veteran during his transformation. Who would have thought the rebirth would be so fast and seamless?

There was nothing to be done. Zac followed his gut and moved to intercept. The incoming homunculus opened his mouth, and a storm of virulent blood burst forth. It was dregs left from the ritual yet seemed more potent than the Hexmaster's blood.

A piercing scream of mortal danger almost made Zac's mind blank out, but years of slaughter made his body move by instinct. Instead of dodging the noxious liquid, Zac lunged straight into it. He didn't even bother to intercept Tussar. Instead, he moved to the cracked husk he left behind.

Most would see it as a nonsensical course of action, but it was that unexpected choice that saved him from hundreds of streaks of light that pierced through the haze. They came from every direction, forming a twenty-meter kill zone around Zac's previous location.

A flash of warmth was followed by an agonizing burn. Zac had been a hair too slow, and his left foot had been severed. It was proof of the lights' terrifying power and how close he'd come to dying. He would have been carved into a dozen pieces if the kill zone had been just one meter wider.

Emily fell over with a pained groan. She had been outside the kill zone, but one of the lights had passed right through her left shoulder, creating a hole three centimeters across. Ra'Klid was the only one avoiding direct damage, no doubt due to his close proximity to the seal. The fishermen hiding in the shadows had consciously avoided that region when targeting the snipe and the clam.

The most pitiful one was Tussar. Zac was the main target, but the old veteran's grab for the seal hadn't gone unpunished. Two dozen streaks of finality ended his ambition and made his sacrifice null and void. Tussar's face still had a look of fierce determination when his head fell onto the ground, and there was only a brief flicker of horrified realization before the head split in two and the light in his eyes faded.

The overbearing attack had almost wiped them out without warning, and Zac knew this was just the beginning. The ambush had swept away the haze, exposing six figures flying toward their group. All had the same golden figure floating behind them, an emperor wielding a thin sword overflowing with the Daos of Light and Space.

Why was it them? What the hell was going on?

One was a lieutenant of a three-eyed race in their allied army, and another a Half-Step Hegemon from the army neighboring the Acheron Company. Only now, both radiated the aura of Late Hegemony that easily surpassed General Dossin's. The other four were unfamiliar, but they all wore familiar livery belonging to the soldiers of the different factions in their group. Equipment only E-grade cultivators would wear, a stark contrast to reality. All four were Middle Hegemons stronger than the reincarnators they had just fought.

The six hadn't stopped to see if their first attack landed. They were already mid-action when Zac spotted them, where the floating avatars pointed their swords toward him. Zac's mind wailed with danger as hundreds of glimmering lights emerged from the weapons.

Meanwhile, one of the Late Hegemons had opened a scroll in his hand. There was only one rune painted on the ancient parchment. It wasn't a fractal but a single word written in the script of the Limitless Empire.

Solitude.

The world instantly grew utterly silent, like Zac had been rendered deaf. Something had shifted with the space around them as well. It was like they'd been separated from the universe. Even space had perfectly solidified after showing signs of collapse just before.

It was them. The sigil, the powerful cultivators whose hardened eyes indicated they were ready to throw their lives away to accomplish their goal. It was the same as his battle against Valsa Planur in the Perennial Vastness. These were deathsworn soldiers from one of the Seven Heavens.

Knowing the identity of his attackers didn't help. He was still trapped like a beast, and Emily and Ra'Klid were trapped with him. If anything, their identity meant any chance of negotiation or intimidation had gone out the window. He'd seen how these deathsworn worked. They would lay down their lives without blinking if they had been given an order. And judging by their actions, their order was to kill, not capture.

It was almost like time had stopped as Zac gazed upon the incoming attacks. An overwhelming feeling of impending doom had forced his mind into overdrive in its search for a path to victory. He quickly concluded there was none. He had wasted a lot of Cosmic Energy on the previous battle, and half his skills were on cooldown.

Zac still had plenty of treasures in his Spatial Rings, but so what? Wouldn't an elite unit from one of the Imperial Clans have similar methods prepared? Just look at the barrier they'd used to trap him. If anything, he would only fasten his demise if he wanted to prepare talismans and treasures. This wasn't like the Perennial Vastness, where everyone was at the same level. The two leaders likely had Late D-grade treasures beyond the scroll.

Not that any of this mattered—these deathsworn were too powerful on their own. Zac wasn't confident in surviving the incoming attack, let alone a protracted battle. He couldn't even protect himself, and he had two more people to worry about. Ra'Klid, especially, would die just from the fallout of a battle at this level. There was only one way to get out of this alive.

They needed to get out of here.

They were trapped using a method beyond Zac's understanding, and there was no time to plan properly. Zac knew without a shadow of a doubt they'd die if he took a measured approach. Madness shone in Zac's eyes as his aura exploded. He would have to risk it all.

Every floodgate in Zac's body was opened. A storm of Dao poured out of [Spiritual Void] while the Void once more harkened his call. The inverted mountain in his mind shuddered as it suddenly found Void Energy storming its slopes.

Zac knew this wasn't the right way to use the Void Mountain. There was even a decent chance he was damaging it, shortening the time he had to ponder on the Voids of Life and Death. He was trading long-term gains for a short-term term potential, but so what? You needed to be alive to enjoy your benefits.

The Branch of the Pale Seal approached the mountain, prompting a shift in the Void Mountain's aura. As a result, pockets of his bloodline's Void Energy turned into Void of Death.

Months had passed since his fight with Kator, where he first saw the potential of this route. Since then, he'd made some inroads into the nature of the Void by studying the isolated Voids of his path. Zac was still miles away from naturally integrating the Void of Death into his Evolutionary Stance, but briefly elevating the technique when the Void Mountain provided fuel was easily done.

The golden hurricanes within his cells roared as Zac pushed his Void Vajra Constitution to its limits. Boundless Life coursed through his body and was further kindled by the Branch of the Kalpataru. Even motes of deep-rooted Creation Energy were roused. He was a bonfire burning with the primordial essence that pushed the era forward and sparked the birth of civilization.

[Void Zone] had already been condensed to only cover his body, and it blanketed the raging waves of life like a suffocating curtain of darkness. It birthed a ferocious struggle the Branch of the War Axe fanned on, where two domains fought for dominion over Zac's body. However, the Void transformed when Zac infused it with the Void of Death provided by the inverted mountain in his soul.

The final key was added, and Zac moved in accordance with the triumvirate truth. Ra'Klid yelped as he and Emily were thrown away by Vivi's vines while Zac advanced. One step, one swing. The actions were simple and unadorned, yet subverted all expectations. The step took Zac right through the inescapable web of attacks, five of which simply dissipated despite holding incredible power.

The second attack had targeted Emily and Ra'Klid. If they hadn't moved out of the way, they wouldn't have looked much different from Tussar. Their new locations were safer, but one streak would have killed Ra'Klid if left alone; two others would have boxed in and killed Emily. Now, it was like they'd never existed.

The action may have seemed effortless, but there was a price for his protection. Not even the addition of Void to the Evolutionary Stance could turn the tables against these six hardened killers. It could only delay the inevitable. A deep gash had appeared on his chest, destroying armor and exposing bone. Zac could tell one of his lungs had been punctured, but he kept going.

Just a little more.

The deathsworn were clearly confused about how Zac had moved in a way that defied the fundamental laws of the Heavens. However, they didn't ask any questions or retreat. They just adjusted their array and attacked again. The speed and power confirmed Zac's hunch the avatars were powered by something more than their users. There was simply no way to unleash such destruction, at least not for the Middle Hegemons.

The temporary harmony within Zac's body was already falling apart due to pain and stress, but another infusion of Void of Death restored order. Zac's heart hammered with anxiety, but he didn't let it affect his actions. The next step decided life and death. Another step shifted his position, and the world briefly turned white.

Zac swung his axe despite his temporary blindness, ignoring the searing heat from his right as he moved once more. He appeared right beside Ra'Klid, who was sitting atop the Hexmaster with a blank look on his face. Zac's right ear was missing after a sharp cut narrowly missed his head. A layer of skin had been shaved off, and a deep wound dug into his shoulder.

If Zac's understanding of the Void had been even slightly off, the wound would instead have split his head in two. However, the risk had paid off. A weak groan escaped from the closest deathsworn as he slumped onto the ground, his head falling off his shoulders.

The death of a controller caused a brief backlash to all avatars, and Zac knew this was do or die. He seized a blob of energy gathered under the cover of his technique, and it poured into the freshly drawn fractal on his right shoulder blade. The fractal lit up and became a black hole that greedily absorbed the energy and Dao used to power his technique.

The sense of harmony was gone in an instant. The gold in his cells faded, and [Void Zone] became food. Even the Void Mountain receded further into his Soul Aperture like it was hiding from a predator. Zac went from being a perfect vessel of his path, burgeoning with power and promise, to a hollow husk echoing with weakness. The profound loss felt worse than death, and Zac almost lost control over the unstable energy.

Thankfully, the immense force concentrated on his right shoulder helped anchor his mind, though the pain it brought was enough to go mad. Zac said a silent prayer as he activated the fractal.

The never-tested, defective fractal, holding enough energy to blow a hole in the sky.

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