Defiance of the Fall Chapter 1394: Overturning Destiny

Zac had only just finished purging the corruption from his Soul Aperture when Guild Master Marai’s final words caused the echoes of insanity to flare up once more. They sparked a turbulent mental storm, scattering his focus and giving rise to a chaotic mix of rational theories and deranged guesses. In his battered state, he found it impossible to distinguish between the two.

A familiar weight suddenly descended, suppressing the internal noise. Zac looked up, wondering if the clashing timelines had finally provoked the wrath of the Heavens. He sensed that he wasn't the target this time, though the divine anger was clearly directed at Sevona’s island. For the moment, the presence remained a mere whisper, seemingly hesitant to manifest fully. Zac suspected he only noticed it because of his numerous past encounters with the Heavens.

“This is bad!” Esmeralda cried out suddenly.

Zac snapped out of his daze, realizing the celestial pressure had blinded him to a subtle change occurring right in front of them. Though Marai’s corpse looked the same, it now felt like a dark, mismatched collage of misaligned fragments. Combined, these pieces formed a construct cruder than even the weakest Corpselord. He couldn't pinpoint the exact issue, and his Danger Sense remained strangely silent, yet he was certain something was fundamentally wrong with the deceased Guild Master.

His partner didn't hesitate. She seized Zac by the collar and dashed away just as he snatched the storage pouch from Marai’s belt. They had barely covered a mile when a massive bloom of spatially-infused corruption burst from the corpse, shredding the surroundings. Zac’s Danger Sense finally reacted to the sudden eruption, though the threat didn't require further movement.

Esmeralda’s agile maneuvers allowed them to dodge the lethal streaks of energy lashing out in every direction, giving Zac a chance to study the event. The sight didn't solve his confusion, but the sheer scale of it helped quiet the unreliable voices in his head.

The density of the corruption nearly matched the pond that had almost claimed his life earlier. It far exceeded anything he had sensed while Marai was still breathing, and the energy streaks felt fundamentally "off." Zac even summoned his Warbringer Idol to ensure his senses weren't being deceived by illusions. His intuition confirmed that while Illusory Energy was present, the destruction was mostly physical.

“What is happening?” Zac whispered.

The scale and nature of the explosion were baffling. Typically, as he had seen with Zorm, the collapse of an Inner World released most of its energy into subspace. For a relatively new Inner World like Marai’s, there should have only been a minor spatial disturbance. It would be different if she had detonated it on purpose, but that wasn't the case here. Even if corruption had forced the collapse, the sheer volume of energy was impossible. There was enough Spatial Energy in that deadly bloom to fuel a dozen Inner Worlds.

Furthermore, the destruction was strangely contained. Zac had witnessed similar discharges and knew this explosion should have consumed the entire central region of the island. Instead, it stayed within a half-mile radius and began to fade in a way he couldn't grasp. The massive energy buildup seemed to simply vanish, as if erased by the Dao-annihilating properties of [Void Mountain].

It appeared the crisis was resolving itself. Was this a form of post-mortem Heavenly Judgment, or were they being shielded by the strange properties of Sevona’s Hunting Lodge? It certainly linked back to the fragmented feeling the energy gave off; Zac felt as though the expelled power originated from dozens of different sources.

Before he could process this, a vacant-eyed Idiche blurred past them. Though her cloak soon obscured her, her path was clear: she was diving straight into the collapsing spatial storm. Zac couldn't have stopped her even if he tried.

“Is she seriously trying to scavenge Marai’s Inner World?” Zac asked, alarmed.

He had considered the possibility himself, but his instincts warned him that such a feat would be suicide. The forces behind those corrupted Spatial Tears weren't something [Void Zone] could easily neutralize.

“She’s out of her mind!” Esmeralda spat, her shock mirroring Zac’s.

“Can you pull her back?”

“Impossible,” Esmeralda said, shaking her head violently. “That isn't a stable space anymore. The corruption, the island’s nature, and other unknown factors have merged into something I can't decipher.”

Zac hesitated before backing down. He had been slowly regenerating Miasma and Void Energy by consuming his remaining Void Treasures, but he was still far from his peak. More importantly, the danger wasn't about his condition; Marai’s death had triggered an anomaly dangerous enough to make even Esmeralda wary.

“We have to hope Idiche knows what she's doing,” Zac sighed, returning to his Miasma Crystal as his mind turned to other problems. “What the Guild Master said at the end... how could she know? Do all the invaders understand the situation?”

“Likely, to some degree,” Esmeralda replied with a grim nod. “I suspect the corruption allows them to bypass or even break the laws of this dream.”

“Overturning Destiny... is that actually possible?” Zac wondered aloud.

Since meeting Janos, it had become clear that the Limitless Empire’s goals were far more ambitious than they had guessed. Initially, they thought this trial was meant to wash away the sin of creating the System, allowing the Empire’s remnants to eventually return to power.

Now, it seemed they had placed a portion of their people in a temporal capsule capable of hiding from the Heavens themselves. If the plan worked, the Omnipresence Chamber would open, and real people would emerge from the dream into reality. Zac could only imagine the chaos that would erupt across the Multiverse.

“If any power could achieve it, it’s the Limitless Empire. But I doubt many will make it,” Esmeralda noted. “Think of that corrupt mayor from the start. Even if he survived Black Zenith’s fall, he would have perished long before the Imperial Road was ready. Will that Grand Dream and his allies pay the price for trillions of lost lives? Not even the Emperor could afford such a karmic debt.”

Zac nodded. “Only those alive when the grand array started have a chance. Probably only those in the courts or specific havens. All the other souls are just fuel to open the way.”

“The question is: when did the array start? When the Courts were sealed? When the System first woke? Or during the slaughter that followed?” Esmeralda pondered before her eyes brightened. “That crazy girl actually made it. Her talent is truly something else.”

Zac felt a mix of shock and relief as Idiche emerged, covered in fresh spatial wounds. She stumbled toward them and collapsed, her trance-like state shifting into deep exhaustion. Zac detected an ancient aura emanating from her; her unique bloodline was intensifying, absorbing the island's illusory nature.

A sudden flare on the horizon caught Zac’s attention just as the unfinished magic circle completely shattered.

“Don’t tell me,” Zac chuckled as a theory formed.

The timing made sense if Marai had been the one sabotaging the ritual. She likely wasn't strong enough to defeat the invaders in a direct fight, so she opted to steal a vital component—something like the dagger. It cost her her life, but fate had delivered the item to Idiche. Once Idiche consumed it, the ritual lost its anchor and failed.

It was a guess, but his gut told him he was close to the truth. However, the revelation didn't cheer him up. He wished Marai had lived, not just for her secrets, but because her death meant they had lost a powerful ally before even reaching their destination.

“Should we—” Zac stopped mid-sentence as a crushing perception locked onto them. It was a presence he recognized—the terrifying existence he’d felt from the other side. Not the guardian in the fortress, but the even greater power from the center of the desert island.

“Hurry, shut that rift!” Esmeralda hissed.

She was referring to the lingering remnants of the spatial explosion. Instead of vanishing, the final streaks were stabilizing, fueled by the island’s illusory energy. Zac forced his exhausted body to move, activating his armor and gathering his meager Void Energy into a complex rune on his palm.

Zac’s fist struck the unstable energy mass like a hammer. The combination of raw force and Dao-annihilation shattered the delicate balance. Zac grunted as a whip of corrupted space tore through his [Ossuary Bulwark], sending him flying. A small, sticky hand caught him mid-air, steadying him.

“Just in time,” Esmeralda said as the rift blinked out of existence.

The massive perception lost its target, leaving a lingering sense of malice behind. Zac thought he might have even sensed a flicker of fear from the entity. Was it because of his Void energy? He doubted his bloodline could truly challenge something that powerful, but he was happy to let it be wary.

As the area settled, Zac noticed the Heavens had also looked away. It seemed the disturbance really was tied to Marai’s transformation. He stared at the crater where she had been, his mind racing.

“What exactly was that?” Zac asked.

“We’ll deal with that later. The conflict between the sand and rain hides us for now, but someone might have felt the blast. We need a new place to hide,” Esmeralda urged.

She didn't suggest using the dagger or moving toward the lodge, and Zac didn't push for it. They hadn't rested an hour before finding Marai, and Zac had already drained his Void Energy again. He picked up the sleeping Idiche while Esmeralda cleaned their tracks.

Esmeralda skirted the mountains surrounding the core rather than heading deeper. They moved toward one of the active magic circles, which meant venturing into heavier sand and corruption, but they had no other choice.

The Monarch would be coming from behind, and the mountains were too dangerous to traverse. Without the Vigor to power the dagger, heading inland was suicide. The Natural Formation was becoming unpredictable due to the influx of otherworldly sand. The narrow strip between the peaks and the core was their only safe path.

After twenty minutes, Esmeralda turned away from the mountains toward a large boulder. Zac watched as she carved complex patterns into the stone before phasing straight into it without needing the dagger.

“Phew. It’s safe now,” Esmeralda said.

Zac climbed out of her pouch, his head spinning. They were in a cavern where the walls seemed to shift every time he moved his eyes. “Where are we?”

“Inside a formation eye. The chaos destabilized it, creating a small illusory pocket. I opened a path and pulled us in,” Esmeralda explained smugly. “I’ve sealed it up. That Monarch won't find us even if he walks right past.”

Zac nodded. “How long do we have?”

“Twelve hours at most. Maybe less, depending on how things change,” she replied.

“Can we see outside?”

“No, I had to seal it completely to keep the corruption and illusions out.”

“Half a day,” Zac murmured. “I should be recovered by then.”

He hated waiting while his enemies advanced, but there was no alternative. Even if they reached the lodge now, they’d be too weak to fight. Letting the enemy move forward might actually work in their favor; the invaders were trying to break the lodge's defenses, and the island would surely resist. They could wait for both sides to exhaust themselves.

“I’ve been thinking about Marai. Toward the end, she felt like those [Peregrine Gondolas], only more extreme,” Zac said while eating. “You saw into her Inner World, right? Was it the same?”

“Yes, but I don't think it was intentional on her part,” Esmeralda said, looking at Idiche.

“The corruption?” Zac guessed, tossing a pebble at Idiche. “Stop pretending to sleep. We need your help.”

“I was just stabilizing my Cultivation. I think I absorbed something,” Idiche admitted, sitting up with a blush. She had been awake for several minutes, though her bloodline was still fluctuating.

“The corruption is part of it. The Guild Leader definitely brought it into her world on purpose, likely to spy on the enemy,” the toad explained. “She had a very clever technique and a powerful artifact to support it.”

“What?” Idiche looked confused. “Marai was an Inner Disciple and the leader of the Explorer’s Guild. She must have found treasures in the archipelago. I don't know which item you mean, though.”

“I didn't get a clear look before it vanished into a spatial crack,” Esmeralda sighed. “It let her fold space and illusions to create a sort of decoy Inner World. She let the corruption infect that illusory layer while her real world stayed hidden beneath.”

“And it leaked when she got hurt?” Zac asked.

“Essentially, but the damage was permanent,” Esmeralda added. “She was doomed regardless. Her method couldn't contain the energy of the Lost Plane forever. The treasure was already tainted, and her actual Inner World was starting to mutate.”

“Maybe she knew the risks but did it anyway to get intel,” Idiche sighed. “Royce... I had no idea.”

“It still doesn't explain the timelines. The other invaders don't turn into a patchwork when they die,” Zac noted. “Did you see anything else in her Inner World?”

“Nothing,” Idiche hesitated. “Wait—maybe. I had a sensation similar to a vision I had before I met the toad. But I can't quite remember it.”

“Any detail helps,” Zac encouraged.

“Whatever it was, just the memory of it nearly shattered my soul. My mind hurts just thinking about it,” Idiche shivered. “I think... it was an egg? And something inside it was being poisoned by the energy on this island.”

“An entity in an egg?” Zac pondered before shaking his head. “Speculation is useless without more facts. We'll find out at the lodge. I need to recover.”

Esmeralda nodded. “Get ready. I suspect the world outside will look very different when we leave.”