Defiance of the Fall Chapter 1392: Taint

The moment for escape had passed. The defensive barrier shattered, sending Idiche flying like a discarded toy while the shockwave nearly rendered Zac unconscious. Yet, the physical agony paled in comparison to the nightmare unfolding before him. A grotesque entity, sporting four arms and a secondary head protruding from its neck, gripped Esmeralda in a lethal hold. Her skin appeared parchment-dry and marred by scars, and the life-sustaining vats upon her back were reaching total depletion.

Keeping their foe suppressed for so long had exacted a price far greater than Zac had anticipated. Perhaps her pride had forced her to mask the extent of her fatigue? That momentary vulnerability allowed the intruder to seize control, and he clearly intended to finish her before Zac could intervene. Esmeralda locked eyes with Zac in a final, heavy gaze as a chaotic mixture of frenzied energies and dark corruption surged into her small frame.

“I—” Esmeralda’s parting words were silenced by a sudden, bloody explosion.

Zac’s mind went numb, his consciousness rejecting the reality of the slaughter. He convinced himself it was merely a cruel illusion. He clung to this denial so desperately that he nearly missed the birth of a terrifying singularity released from the shattered seals within Esmeralda’s remains. A silver vortex began tearing through a shell of deathly sigils and perfected space; the fabric of the world seemed to buckle under its presence.

Denial was no longer an option as the first fissure erupted, discharging waves of temporal power far more potent than anything he had encountered in the Mercurial Courts. The sheer magnitude of the force rivaled the overwhelming pressure he had felt from the Fifth Pillar while tumbling through the void of reality.

The island itself seemed to moan in pain as the temporal winds warped the surrounding space. Zac felt his movements slowed to a glacial pace even as his thoughts raced at impossible speeds. He was a captive audience to this unfolding catastrophe, forced to watch the veil of reality tear apart because of his companion's sacrifice.

“What!” the tainted Monarch cried out, his voice a gravelly blend of shock and predatory delight.

The killer had likely never dreamed that the toad he dispatched carried a [Timescape Loop], a Supreme treasure of Time. Its latent power was sufficient to puncture the very heavens. With the corrupted timeline pressing against their world and the strange energies of Lodge Island acting as a catalyst, the final barrier crumbled instantly.

The searing, arid winds that rushed forth provided no warmth against the cold dread radiating from the shadow of the desert fortress. Zac realized the end had arrived. The island was now isolated, and the remnants of Esmeralda’s Heavenly Territory had carved this area into a disconnected pocket of existence. Even if he possessed a functional escape treasure, the formidable presence stirring within the castle depths would surely block its use.

Hopelessness curdled into a white-hot rage as Zac glared at the murderer. If his Draugr form was destined for destruction, he would spend his final breaths seeking retribution for Esmeralda. The ancient Killing Intent within him resonated with his fury, eager to participate in a final strike of vengeance. As the intent shifted, Zac realized he could actually merge the murderous force directly into his soul.

Such a fusion would be dangerously volatile, but survival was no longer his priority. He only cared about gaining enough power to drag another Monarch into the grave with him. Zac’s grip on his axe tightened until his palms bled. A primal craving for slaughter drowned out all reason, even masking a strange sensation coming from his weapon.

Wait, why did the handle feel so wrong? Did it even matter now?

Suddenly, a thunderous roar erupted from the core of Zac’s soul, freezing him in place just as he prepared to strike. Something was fundamentally wrong. The vision of Esmeralda’s demise, the perfected Dao of Continuum, and the Killing Intent driving him forward—it was all a deceptive web of malice. The Killing Intent tried to smother his dawning realization, but that only caused Zac’s mental defiance to burn brighter.

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” Zac screamed, his voice booming with enough authority to shatter the illusion.

Zac collapsed to his knees, his energy completely spent. As his mind struggled to regain its footing, he reached for the familiar weight of his axe, only to find a different object clutched in his bloodied hand. He hadn't been holding a hilt at all; he was gripping the razor-sharp edge of a prehistoric knife.

The light reflecting off the blade hit Zac’s dark eyes, triggering a flood of suppressed memories. He remembered diving into the polluted waters to retrieve the key, but the density of the corruption had been far worse than he’d bargained for. He had lost his bearings entirely in the murk. The dagger had been his only guide, but the malevolent voices had breached his mental walls just as he reached it, replacing his reality with a nightmare.

He had no memory of returning to the surface. Looking around, a wave of relief washed over him as he saw the scarred valley instead of the desert fortress. Most importantly, the containment sphere holding the Monarch was still holding. Idiche was still there, though her face was deathly pale. Zac winced, realizing her distress wasn't just from the physical strain of the technique.

“Are… you alright?” Idiche asked, her voice trembling with barely suppressed terror.

“I’ll be fine once we leave this cursed place,” Zac replied with a weary sigh, piecing together what she must have seen.

Idiche was standing exactly where the escaped Monarch had been in his hallucination. Zac’s corruption-fueled madness had been aimed directly at her. He knew instinctively that this wasn't random. Some force had manipulated the voices to turn him against his comrade. Was the imprisoned Monarch pulling the strings, or had the corruption itself gained a twisted sentience?

“You looked like you were about to slaughter everything in sight,” Idiche said, letting out a breath of relief. “I’m glad you’re back; the cage won't hold him much longer.”

“What’s our next move?” Zac inquired, fighting to suppress the dark fog still swirling in his Soul Aperture. He was conscious, but far from recovered. A dangerous amount of corruption remained trapped within him, and his [Purity of the Void] was already at its limit.

“The toad promised to get us out, and I’ve laid down some veils to mask our departure,” Idiche explained, gesturing toward faint shimmering lines in the air.

Zac didn't have the time or energy to ask for details. A dark shape suddenly blurred out from the barrier. Esmeralda appeared battered and exhausted, but she was alive. Zac’s heart hammered against his ribs, terrified that this, too, might be a trick of his mind.

“Are you—” Zac started, his voice cracking.

“No time for talk,” Esmeralda snapped, scooping both Zac and Idiche into her storage pouch in a single fluid motion.

Even in her weakened state, the toad’s speed was unrivaled for her rank, especially with the local Natural Formations neutralized. She tore down the mountainside, moving away from their original path. From his vantage point in the pouch, Zac watched as they sped through a wide gully toward the inner basin.

The shimmering wall that had once blocked their path had thinned into a harmless mist. Though the lodge remained obscured, Zac could see the wider state of the island. It was grim. Two massive holes had been torn into the clouds, revealing blindingly bright magic circles in the sky.

A third, incomplete circle pulsed with a weaker Imperial Faith. It seemed the ritual there had either stalled or was still being established. Given the flickering aura and missing segments, Zac hoped it was the former. For now, at least, it wasn't conjuring the lethal sandstorms produced by the other two arrays.

Those sandstorms were eroding the island’s defenses. The grit in the air felt unnaturally dry, as if it were thirsty for every drop of moisture in the vicinity. Merely looking at the storm made the corruption in Zac’s body stir; clearly, the sand was saturated with the same filth, eating away at Sevona’s influence.

Zac’s mood darkened further. He had seen the fortresses on the horizon earlier, so the circles weren't a total surprise. However, their presence confirmed that the Guild traitors weren't their only problem. At least two other factions, equal in power to the Hastor Society, were laying claim to the island.

Surviving the Hastor Society had already pushed them to the brink, and that was with only one of their leaders present. That Monarch was still able to fight, while Zac’s group was nearly spent. There could be five or more hostile Monarchs converging on the lodge, and reinforcements were nowhere to be found. Any friendly Monarchs on the island were likely just as blind to the true situation as they had been.

The rusted knife in Zac’s hand suddenly vibrated, snapping him back to the present. His vision split, showing a ghostly, identical version of the valley superimposed over their current path. In this second vision, a clean brick road stretched out beside them.

“Wait, go left! The dagger is showing me a hidden path,” Zac shouted.

Before he could even finish, the blade hummed again, enveloping Esmeralda in an ancient, ethereal energy.

“I see it!” Esmeralda yelled, pivoting her course onto the invisible road.

They soon hit a snag that forced her to slow down. The road led directly into a zone of violent, colliding energies—a focal point of the valley’s Natural Formations. Entering it was a massive gamble, but they had no choice. Idiche flinched, a clear sign that the Monarch behind them had finally broken his chains.

“Don’t stop!” Zac growled through clenched teeth.

Esmeralda charged forward, but the expected impact never came. They glided through the chaotic energy without disturbing a single mote of dust, as if they were passing through a dream. This continued as they moved; every lethal trap they encountered turned into a harmless illusion the moment they touched it.

Physical obstacles were no different. Instead of following the open valley, the hidden road cut straight through the heart of a mountain. It was a shortcut to the island's core. As Esmeralda lunged toward the solid rock face, the world around them became translucent and intangible.

Zac watched with narrowed eyes, maintaining his focus as they sped through the mountain's interior. Finally, the stone vanished, replaced by rolling hills blanketed in damp sand. The desert was spreading. They had successfully bypassed the final defenses of the inner region, but the effort had cost Zac everything he had left.

“Ugh,” Zac groaned, the dagger slipping from his numb fingers.

Esmeralda skidded to a halt, and Zac tumbled onto the dirt. It wasn't just the mental battle with the corruption; the dagger had been voraciously consuming his Vigor. The drain had become agonizing during their passage through the mountain. Curiously, the drain stopped once he wasn't touching the blade itself.

The weapon’s unique domain vanished, and it refused to react when he picked it up again. All that remained was a faint, fading tug toward the island's center, which grew weaker as the Ichor on the blade's edge dried up.

“Give it here, I’ll take a turn,” Idiche said, reaching for the relic.

Esmeralda snorted and swatted her hand away. “Are you blind? Look at the state of us. My disciple was drained in minutes, and you look like you're ready to pass out. If I try to carry both of you while powering that thing, I’ll be dead before we see the lodge. We’d be stranded in the storm. And what if we run into enemies? We have no strength left to fight.”

“That man…” Idiche whispered, looking back at the mountain they had just phased through.

“We were already on the hidden path when he escaped. You felt the power of that road. He won't be able to follow us, though he’s welcome to try his luck with whatever is inside that mountain,” Esmeralda said, scanning their surroundings. “This spot is hidden enough. We rest here until we can move again.”

“She’s right,” Zac agreed with a tired nod. “Use whatever recovery techniques you have. Now.”

“Fine,” Idiche muttered, and silence fell over the group.

Zac spent the next thirty minutes aggressively purging the corruption. Normally, he would have tried to refine such high-level energy for his Cultivation, but his [Purity of the Void] was already overflowing. He used Void Energy to pulverize the active taint while physically expelling the inert remnants.

He prioritized his Soul Aperture, with his Human side assisting in the purging process. The two halves of his soul had already exchanged information. His human form was still pinned down by the amplified Crushing Death, and the struggle between the Eternal Avengers and Dharmic Guardians showed no signs of stopping. Fortunately, Tavza was still moving at high speeds, and they were far from the primary war zone. They would reach the exit in another day.

To fuel his recovery, Zac consumed massive amounts of refined Beast King meat. His upgraded constitution and iron stomach allowed him to process the nourishment into pure Vigor at an incredible rate.

The lingering intent from Zorm had been lost, swallowed by the corruption before Zac could utilize it for refinement. With time running out, Zac used a significant portion of his Creation Energy to force his left arm to regrow and to mend the fractures in his right. He would leave the remaining minor injuries to his pills and natural healing.

He noted with some frustration that the Dao of the Lost Era wasn't a substitute for his [Thousand Axes Avatar]. The corruption and the ancient intent simply ignored one another, providing him no help during his mental crisis. He realized he was perhaps being too optimistic in hoping the refined force would be a universal solution to his problems.

Nearby, Idiche was absorbing power from script-covered Illusion Cosmic Crystals. She wasn't physically wounded, but the mental toll of the recent skirmishes was evident. Still, she seemed more composed than before. Her first true brush with death hadn't broken her spirit; she was becoming a true warrior.

Esmeralda was in the best shape of the three, having avoided the worst of Zorm's final struggle. Aside from her empty vats, she looked much as she had before the mission began. She even seemed slightly giddy as she ate a spirit-restoring treasure, likely savoring the thrill of her successful theft.

The contrast between her current state and the broken corpse from his vision was jarring, leaving a bitter taste in Zac’s mouth. He had seen far too much death, but he realized he was still fortunate. Most of those closest to him were still alive, and he realized Esmeralda had firmly joined that inner circle.

Esmeralda caught him staring and began eating even faster. “Find your own snacks.”

“I’m just glad you’re still with us,” Zac said quietly.

“Of course I am. One mistake doesn't mean any second-rate predator can take me down. I could have danced around that idiot all day if he hadn't tried to leave,” Esmeralda huffed, then looked at him curiously. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Nothing. The corruption just showed me some things I’d rather forget,” Zac sighed, feeling a bit foolish. Suddenly, his eyes sharpened. “Wait.”

"Do you feel that?" Zac sent a mental message.

"Feel what?" Esmeralda replied, not missing a bite.

"Something is moving in the sand. Over there," Zac said, his Draugr senses tingling. His eyes were attuned to life force, but the island’s illusions made everything deceptive.

They exchanged a quick nod and moved as one. A moment later, they dragged a blood-soaked figure out from behind a dune. Zac was stunned to find Guild Master Marai in such a desperate state. He could feel the corruption hemorrhaging from her shattered Inner World. It seemed he wasn't the only one who had been fighting the internal rot.

She wasn't faking; she was clinging to life by a thread. She didn't even flinch when Zac applied restrictive talismans and shackles to her. It was only after Idiche forced a high-grade pill into her mouth that her eyes fluttered open. She looked at Zac briefly before focusing on Idiche.

“Little Che… you came for me,” Marai whispered with a faint, weak smile. “Fate is a funny thing.”

“Don’t act like we’re friends,” Idiche snapped, her anger flaring. “What did you do with the real Marai?”

“It is me. I’m no traitor,” Marai coughed, blood flecking her lips. “I’m the one who caught you spying on—”

“Quiet!” Idiche growled. “Marai is many things, but she wouldn't sell us out to the enemy.”

Zac watched the exchange. Despite Idiche’s constant complaints, there was clearly a deep bond there. However, he had no way to verify her story without inspecting her Inner World.