Defiance of the Fall Chapter 1405: Sevona yet not Sevona

“Couldn’t you have given me a pillow too? That’s the least a benevolent master ought to do,” Zac grumbled while surveying the area around him.

The Hall of Abundance looked completely different now. That suspended moon had disappeared, swapped out for a serene night sky overhead. Nothing remained of the dimensional rift or even August himself. Idiche hovered in the position where the Divine Core used to dangle, her eyes shut in deep meditation. Her power surges were nearing Late C-grade levels, blended with a substantial portion of Sevona’s divinity. As unbelievable as it sounded, Idiche had leaped a full major grade within mere hours, and her presence kept intensifying.

“How is she doing?” Zac inquired softly.

“Looks steady enough. She took charge fast once you sealed the portal,” Esmeralda replied with a sigh. “Won’t be long now.”

Zac needed a second to pick up on the jumble of feelings crossing Esmeralda’s features, and even longer to figure out why they were there. Esmeralda gazed at the meditating Idiche with a mix of yearning and envy. It had nothing to do with the Vice Guild Leader snagging the trial’s top prize, a relic carrying a Stellar Wanderer’s essence. In a way, Idiche was reverting to her roots, turning into the Goddess Sevona.

Wasn’t that exactly what Esmeralda had journeyed so far to achieve? She was basically seeing another claim the life she craved.

“We’re nearly done here. I’d be shocked if this mission doesn’t bump me straight to Inner Disciple status. Plus, we’ve racked up tons of Potentiality,” Zac reassured her.

He wasn’t stretching the truth. His Disciple Token’s count had surged to 29,171 since his last glance, and Zac suspected a last reward would hit when Idiche wrapped up her change. A special bonus might even await him once everything calmed down.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Esmeralda acknowledged with a nod, then tossed him the [Fuxi Mountain Gate]. “Take this—don’t forget your skull smasher.”

The surge likely aided the [Fuxi Mountain Gate] in repairing some harm. Yet the Void Treasure had also gulped down vast energies from the Peaks of Fantasy and Continuum. A tempest swirled inside its inner space, snapping Zac’s Mental Threads before he could inspect things. Zac doubted the structure was wrecked—August lacked the chops for that—but accessing it would take time.

Zac hurled the tiny mountain into [Purity of the Void] for it to calm, at which moment he spotted a message from his human side already queued up. They’d exited Saṃghāta and returned to the Hollow Chasm’s outcrops. Surprises had popped up near the departure point, but Tavza managed them fine. They weren’t set to resume climbing yet, so another shelter had been set up on the shelf.

The spirit brush was tamed, and Ogras seemed quite fond of it. Zac wasn’t taken aback. The enchanted brush struck him as a dual-purpose Spirit Tool blending Order and Illusions. It didn’t perfectly match the demon’s Daos, but Zac’s weapon style wasn’t standard anyway. The brush packed serious might, and not all needed tools as eternal partners.

Even if Ogras couldn’t unleash its full potential, it’d act as a solid backup until Peak Hegemony. Beyond that, he could trade it for a better fit. Mismatched spirituality often counted as a plus. Plenty of cultivators deliberately chose gear that bolstered their paths.

The top update was the holy flames extending to his other body, keeping his forms in sync. Zac fired off a recap of events on his side, advising them to stay concealed another day. The pursuit lingered, and August might still have a desperate ploy brewing.

“So what went down with that gloomy guy? Did he and the Centigrade Elemental wipe each other out like we wanted? I saw nothing when I peeked at the entrance earlier?” Esmeralda questioned, pulling Zac from his reverie.

“Kinda like that,” Zac grinned before recounting the wild four-sided clash.

“So that Continuum flare I felt was the Elemental fleeing in defeat. Good for him, after trying to snatch my—er—Potentiality,” Esmeralda chuckled. “Must’ve been the Pryer’s shielding formations, like the seals Old Man Sendor placed on you. He’ll probably behave now that it’s destroyed.”

“Fingers crossed,” Zac concurred.

“And that wise guy rushed over just to perish? He should’ve stuck to the gondola as planned,” Esmeralda snorted.

“I figure Descartes pulled him out early,” Zac replied.

He hadn’t let go of Descartes’ prior warning. Someone had tipped him off about extra Flamebearers showing up. Zac initially pegged it as the tainted intruders or maybe the Sangha. Lately, he suspected Xiphos sent it. The Enkindling Sage had basically used Descartes to probe the “specters,” his term for true trial participants. Activating the genuine Empyrean Chalice had unveiled the mysteries Xiphos hunted and beyond.

“Don’t beat yourself up over his loss. The Limitless Empire didn’t climb to the top by accident. Its folks were way too eager to toss their lives aside. How could regular groups with their crooked leaders and infighting keep up?” Esmeralda eyed Zac sideways. “And now you’re part of that crowd.”

“I prefer seeing myself as a hired outsider,” Zac quipped with a crooked grin.

“Well, the gig you signed on for is deadly serious, and you’ve got plenty of ancient foes after you already,” Esmeralda noted before brightening. “Fitting for my student. If a handful of Supremacies aren’t swearing at you, are you even kicking? Just keep dodging, keep grabbing loot, and the rest sorts itself.”

“Speaking of that, did you spot anything while scouting?” Zac probed.

“Not a scrap of treasure remains in this cursed spot,” Esmeralda griped, her face twisting in disgust.

Zac exhaled heavily. If Esmeralda claimed the lodge held nothing worthwhile now, then it didn’t. He’d counted on extra prizes at the hunt’s close. The Potentiality was hard-won, and Xiphos’ boon hardly qualified as a real gain.

“Least we’ve got no more foes,” Zac murmured, as much for his own sake as the sulky toad.

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“If any linger, they’re trapped out there,” Esmeralda added. “The lodge sealed its doors right after you passed out. No blue glow seeps through the cracks anymore.”

“Here’s hoping it’s backup waiting beyond,” Zac pondered.

“Whoever they are, they’re probably glued to the entrance. I’d wager they’re desperate to learn what’s going on inside,” Esmeralda giggled.

The Hall of Abundance fell quiet shortly after, as they turned to healing. Beyond the persistent lump, Zac mended quicker than anticipated. Some stemmed from Xiphos’s lingering infusion, but Idiche’s soothing glow nourished better than any restorative setup Zac had tried.

Two hours passed before Idiche started emitting rhythmic waves of sheer divinity. Her shift neared completion. Esmeralda’s gaze sparkled with eagerness as she glanced upward.

“A goddess rising anew… Bet she’s got treasures hidden somewhere, right?”

“Worst case, we can have her whip up some fine illusions,” Zac murmured, gesturing to his C-grade [Mercurial Sack].

Esmeralda had noted no tribulations or roiling clouds during Idiche’s prior breakthroughs, and none appeared now. Still, it soon grew clear the smooth progression would cap with a dazzling finale. The radiance surging from Idiche’s form soon drove Zac and Esmeralda into the corridor, as the Hall of Abundance brimmed with golden brilliance.

Suddenly, a massive surge shattered Zac’s focus, channeling the chamber’s divinity skyward. Idiche unleashed a colossal column of timeless might upward. It dwarfed the earlier moonlight ray by leagues, saturating the twenty-meter-wide ceiling aperture.

A ring of runes, faintly echoing the invasion’s vast spell arrays, materialized overhead. They linked with the beam in some manner, though what occurred outside stayed hidden. In Zac’s vicinity, the only shift was the foul stench of rot vanishing.

The ray persisted for ten solid minutes before fading. Idiche came back into view.

Her body no longer showed two separate energy traces. They’d merged into a flawless unity drawing from each. Achieving such balanced harmony pushed Idiche to Monarchy’s edge, yet she missed an Autarch’s cosmic weight.

In truth, Zac anticipated greater results. A Divine Monarch equivalent paled against August’s strength, which rivaled a mid-stage Autarch. Still, she’d only just roused, her power boosted by inscrutable remnants of Ancient Arcana. Idiche’s ascent might continue unabated.

“The space’s stability... it’s strengthened,” Esmeralda murmured, inhaling deeply. “No one’s tearing open portals around here anytime soon.”

Zac let out a relieved breath, certain the danger had passed for good. Even if remnants haunted the island, how could they challenge Idiche now? The idea sparked a vision of Sevona scouring her domain with blasts to wipe August’s rebellion clean, leaving Zac abruptly uneasy for his own safety.

“Maybe we should...” Zac trailed off, but escape was impossible now.

Idiche’s eyes had opened, fixed straight on them. No malice or divine wrath showed, a positive sign, though Zac’s gut twisted as he reentered the Hall of Abundance. Idiche seemed utterly transformed—her look, demeanor, even certain traits—all altered. Without the recognizable aura hints, Zac wouldn’t have pegged her as their former ally.

“Should I address you as Idiche or Sevona?” Zac asked cautiously while approaching.

“I am neither. I am both,” Idiche replied, her gaze shimmering with primordial starlight.

“Great, that really helps,” Esmeralda mumbled sarcastically.

Idiche smiled, and in an instant, the Hall of Abundance shifted to a new vista. They’d been shifted to Aylen Gan, heart of Sevona’s Divine Kingdom, right in the garden where the vision began. But now it was real, and others joined them.

Besides Esmeralda and this Sevona-who-wasn’t-quite, an unknown humanoid race member stood there. She radiated the fresh vigor of a novice cultivator, barely scraping E-grade. Despite the differences, the site and her official robes marked her as Sevona.

“Long ago, a young girl lost her parents to illness,” Idiche narrated, drawing no response from the strange being. She simply stared blankly at the stars. “She took up her role amid a kingdom gripped by a deadly plague. The girl exhausted every effort to shield her subjects and earned praise as a saint.

“The outbreak was quelled at last, but rival nations eyed the realm’s frailty. The girl confronted the danger boldly, aware victory would bring fresh trials. When duty’s burdens overwhelmed her, she’d retreat to this garden and gaze at the stars,” Idiche continued, her stance echoing the young Sevona’s.

“One day, the stars gazed back.”

Zac inhaled sharply as two stars swelled into vast eyes spanning the heavens. They held entire cosmos and insights beyond reality’s limits. Piercing past, present, and future, they embodied unfathomable omniscience no mortal could touch. This was a stare from time’s dawn, the focus of Ancient Arcana.

Idiche remained beside him, quietly meeting the stare until the eyes dissolved. “The Transcendent One had come back from exploring the vast unknown. For unknown causes, its notice fell on a tiny kingdom and its youthful leader. Their eyes locked, and Sevona transformed eternally.”

Idiche exhaled softly as she approached to stroke Sevona’s head. “Yet Sevona never truly reborn. No Divine Kingdom ruled by a reincarnating Goddess existed within her people’s forms. Sevona’s realm knew splendor, then prolonged decline. After two hundred thousand years, it crumbled under an invading empire’s push.”

“Then how…?” Zac struggled to voice it.

“Because Sevona was seen and etched in a Stellar Wanderer’s mind. Her kingdom endured in the thoughts of one who’d viewed all its potential paths. Ages on, the wanderers cast off their endless forms to forge the Heavenly Dao’s canopy. Their undying recollections formed the Ultom Courts’ foundation, sustaining it through countless Eras.”

Idiche sighed again, and the peaceful garden yielded to the fractured lost plane’s turmoil. Warped remnants and endless insanity assaulted Zac’s perceptions until Idiche raised a shield to guard them.

“Even Stellar Wanderers aren’t forever. Recollections frayed and were shed to safeguard the courts. They were abandoned to fate.”

With that, a massive rift tore through the sickening chaos ahead, and a chunk of the Lost Plane broke free. Continent-sized at first, it shattered into myriad shards. The scene zeroed in on one corrupted fragment as it tumbled through reality’s fissures until it neared a known continent.

“Certain memories drifted to the Left Imperial Expanse,” Idiche explained, her stellar eyes brimming with grief. “Sevona’s recollection merged with the Peregrine Ocean, derailing old schemes. Dormant spirits unrelated to Sevona or her land were pulled in and compelled to enact strange parts. The dim memory swelled with each ritual of offerings, but twisted further in the process.

They returned to the Hall of Abundance in the next breath.

“Because of you, the loop is broken. Sevona’s recollections and being are now fused with mine. I won’t let them harm my fellow disciples anymore,” Idiche proclaimed.

“Sevona yet not Sevona,” Zac breathed out.

No surprise the vision’s August and Sevona clashed with their current displays of strength. The August they battled was a construct from a Stellar Wanderer’s persistent recall, nourished by endless memory lanterns.

This discovery also showed Sevona’s echo as a chaotic element in the Omnipresence Chamber. Beyond corrupting the Grand Array massively, devouring its souls warped the memories. Zac eyed Idiche, suspecting she was just the newest in a line of “reincarnations.” With every loop, the scripted world strayed more from fact.

At last, that ruinous pattern ended, thanks to interlopers stirring true alteration.

Idiche turned skyward once more. “Poor August. For Sevona’s devoted protector to be etched as her killer… The cosmos twists things cruelly.”

Silence lingered a whole minute before an eager cough shattered it.

“That’s fine and all. Call yourself Sevona or whatever, but you remember how we busted our backs to get you here?” Esmeralda grumbled. “As an mighty ancient Goddess, time to hand out rewards.”

“Er…” Zac uttered, easing only at Idiche’s smile. “What she said.”