Defiance of the Fall

The desolate tundra was painted in myriad hues as the Dao-wrought northern lights grew into huge dimensional fissures that spread across the horizon. However, it wasn't the Void that waited on the other side. It was a melange of chaotic truths and unstable energies. It reminded Zac of the Void Star, both when the Spatial Nexus blew up and when they escaped Gemmy's world.

Even today, Zac didn't fully understand what those realms of chaotic spacetime represented, but it seemed to be the result of two realms pushing against each other. The immense energies involved opened up a temporary space filled with energy and Dao from both realities. Entering such a space was incredibly dangerous, and whether you found your way back before the spatial bubble burst depended on luck and strength.

The scene above was both beautiful and harrowing, but it seemed as though it had nothing to do with their battle. Space still held within the planet's protective atmosphere, though Zac could vaguely feel an uncomfortable pressure. It came and went like a storm that couldn't be seen with the naked eye, but it was more noticeable wherever large amounts of energy had been unleashed. The sensation filled Zac with trepidation, like they were fighting on top of a thin layer of ice.

If you took a wrong step or exerted too much power, you might accidentally break through and be plunged into the icy depths below. Dossin's subordinates had released thousands of deep-blue crystals that hovered above their ranks. They released subtle ripples that seemed to help stabilize space, but their effect was limited. It was no wonder. How could a couple of low-grade arrays nullify the force exerted by a moving Mystic Realm?

Attacking was fraught with danger, but to avoid fighting wasn't an option. Over a hundred monstrous goliaths were bearing down on their position, each a walking calamity with enough strength to indiscriminately slaughter their E-grade soldiers. In fact, they wouldn't even need to breach their lines to devastate their ranks.

Thousands of tendrils grew from their towering bodies, forming an impassable wall of sin. The terrible aura within the thorns and flesh was similar to the common Heart Curses they usually fought, but it was deeper, more refined. It didn't escape anyone's notice, and it drastically increased the pressure they found themselves under.

Taking the brunt of a war slave's Heart Curse was still lethal for most. However, E-grade cultivators could survive being grazed or lightly wounded by tendrils or most forms of cursed ground. Of course, it depended on them not being implanted with too much corruption and that they sought treatment in time.

These tendrils were different. Whatever methods the Chapter of Hallowed Fleshed used to create these monsters made the cursed energy they carried far more potent. Zac almost felt a hunger from the sea of fleshy vines that slithered toward them with incredible speed. It would be extremely bad if their lines were breached.

A storm of long-distance attacks pelted the giants as soon as they came in range. It did little to exhaust their boundless energy. Only the Hegemons managed to damage their hardened flesh, but only a handful collapsed from the initial barrage. The rest trudged on, and even grievous wounds closed with a speed that rivaled the recovery of Plant Kings. Worse, much of the energy from those who fell was siphoned off by their brethren.

Millions of E-grade warriors couldn't accomplish much individually, but they would be able to exhaust the giants if given time. Unfortunately, there were too few targets, and one of the headaches of large-scale battles reared its ugly head. Dossin's orders were precise and exhaustive to maximize the damage they caused, but there were simply too many people targeting the same spot.

Space became too congested, and many attacks actually helped the giants by clashing with other skills in an unintended friendly fire. Such a scene rarely occurred when the Acheron Company fought alone, but this army had been cobbled together half an hour ago. Getting the timing right was impossible.

Most E-grade soldiers were ordered to target the incoming goretide instead. It was constantly growing denser, and a constant rain of attacks was barely enough to maintain a status quo. The situation wasn't looking good. They were barely keeping the goliaths at bay, but more were already stepping onto the battlefield. The pressure increased, and their soldier's energy wasn't endless. It was just a matter of time before their defensive line was breached unless something changed.

Zac was worried, but he didn't set out alone to lessen the pressure on his men. He could guess why General Dossin adopted such a conservative approach. Part of it was that the approaching goliaths were just empty meat shields meant to exhaust their elites and War Machines. These fleshy monstrosities were all very powerful, but there were still the cultists themselves to worry about.

There was something else too. Dossin had to adapt their response to the constantly shifting spatial pressure. Activating so many War Arrays at once had pushed the dimensional integrity to the limits. They had no choice but to slowly advance while attacking just enough to deal with the threat. Only when they'd exited the danger zone could they deal a decisive blow to Kan'Tanu's vanguard.

Zac inwardly sighed, thinking back to the powerful weaponry installed on the alliance's flying treasure. Dossin had likely planned to unleash a powerful barrage at the enemy and escape the spatial decay before landing. They might even have been able to dodge the first goretide with the earth traversal. Unfortunately, the bell's appearance ruined those plans, and they found themselves in a passive position.

Now, they would have to endure another culling before seizing the opportunity to turn things around. Until then, Zac couldn't do anything that might ruin her plans. He could only grit his teeth and endure as the pressure mounted, and the fleshy tide was soon within 100 meters in some sections.

They were carving a path to life in a sea of death, and the smell of blood and putrefaction was suffocating. The thorns were already within throwing distance of the Acheron company at the flank, while others had been forced to activate a wall of defenses. The shields held for now but shuddered precariously under the goretide's relentless pressure.

"Stop!" an enraged roar shook the army while hundreds of the hovering crystals simultaneously lit up.

Six swords wrapped in engraved bandages appeared above Dossin, each teeming with incredible force. But instead of targeting the looming goretide or the giants beyond, she slashed into her own ranks, killing thousands in the blink of an eye. Zac had kept a low profile until now, but he swore and unleashed a barrage of fractal blades that cleared out a huge swathe of tendrils. They needed the breathing room to deal with the sudden betrayal.

However, it wasn't Dossin that Zac worried about, but rather the hot-tempered youth who had confronted Dossin before. He floated at the front of his army, a sea of tendrils banging against a shield before him. His warriors were furiously unleashing everything in their arsenal to push them back, but it was clear they'd be among the first to suffer the Heart Curses of the Hallowed Flesh.

The young leader was facing tremendous pressure and was clearly no longer in the mood to listen to Dossin's commands. He was holding a withered branch burning with umber flames that made Zac's eyes tear up. Dossin's attack was bearing down on him with lightning-quick speed, and Zac was shocked at the force and brutality it contained. Even he would be hard-pressed to block that sudden attack, and the young man had not expected to be targeted with such decisiveness.

"You—" he screamed as a powerful barrier sprung up around him, but his words died with him as Dossin's attack pierced straight through.

The attack cleanly dismembered the general before six runes formed a seal around his corpse. Her subordinates were already following up to reinforce her shield, but it was too late. The branch was an extraordinary item, and that fool of a commander had already unsealed it. The world was drowned in red, and Zac had to squint to barely determine what happened.

The cage was incapable of containing the force, so Dossin shattered one rune to direct the onslaught forward. A monstrous wave of flames swept through the goretide, consuming sixteen goliaths at once. A single attack of the mysterious treasure punched a hole in the Kan'Tanu's vanguard, but no one was celebrating the achievement.

That burning branch was no larger than a shortsword but held dozens of times as much energy as his Early D-grade War Arrays. Even after its outburst, its flames had only weakened by half, but there would be no opportunity for the exotic treasure to showcase its might again. Space imploded, swallowing both treasure and its wielder's corpse. Dossin had cut straight through her own subordinates for a chance to stop a larger tragedy, but her sacrifice was instantly undone as hundreds of crystals were reduced to dust.

The collapse was like a flash in the pan, covering no more than a few meters and disappearing in the wink of an eye. But a ripple spread through the young man's ranks just as space mended. The soldiers had no chance to react, and Zac looked on with dismay as half a million men shattered like they were made of stone.

All were equal before the ripple, and Hegemons fared no better than the weakest support staff. Most victims came from the culprit's own faction, but the neighboring armies were also impacted. Worse, Zac could feel how the whole region had destabilized. The burning branch had broken through the treacherous layer of ice, and cracks were now spreading in every direction, undoing Dossin's plan in one go.

"Nothing more dangerous than a pig-like ally!" Petrus swore, his eyes blazing with hatred.

Zac wholeheartedly agreed and even regretted not killing all the troublemakers before setting out. Risking a rift between the army's factions was better than leaving such a troublemaker to their own devices.

At the same time, it wasn't hard to understand the man's thoughts. It was easy to brand him a traitor, but the situation was more likely the consequence of an arrogant man under a whole lot of stress. The bell had reaped the lives of a tenth of their men, but the death toll wasn't evenly distributed. Part of it might have been bad luck and a difference in mental tempering, but Zac believed some races were more susceptible than others.

Acheron Company only lost three or four percent, with not one of them a spectral cultivator. A golemoid race was even better off, where less than a percent had ripped out their cores. In contrast, the annihilated army had lost at least 15% of their men, including a few Half-Step cultivators. Then, they had the bad luck of facing more goliaths than most, yet Dossin staunchly denied any requests to launch another salvo with War Machines.

The young lord had already been dissatisfied with the Dravorak General's leadership and chose to unseal a powerful treasure rather than see his men be sacrificed to accomplish the plan of an outsider. That critical misstep cost him everything, and his actions had turned the whole army's path of retreat into a minefield.

They had advanced more than a mile since unleashing their first barrage of the War Machines, following up with just enough attacks to not tip the scales. New fault lines spread through already weakened space, and Zac could vaguely sense energy and Dao bleeding into their reality through invisible microfractures. It wouldn't be difficult for the Kan'Tanu to shatter the region altogether.

Zac growled as he shot forth. "Go!"

More than a hundred Hegemons tore into the goretide, each cleaving a path through the thorns on their way to the lumbering goliaths. Dossin had asked the strongest combatants not to expose their positions but had no choice but to activate their hidden reserves early. By hook or crook, they needed to move the battlefield before the Kan'Tanu could take advantage of their mistake. The E-grade soldiers were forced into a sprint, desperately cutting their way through the impassable wall of brambles.

The members of the joint army were all handpicked by the alliance, and you'd see displays of valor and skill no matter where you looked. But the tendrils were endless and unrelenting, fearing neither death nor damage. Screams of pain and cries of despair echoed through the battlefield as the goretide reaped its first round of victims.

The Acheron Company performed better than most, but soldiers still fell one after another. Zac gritted his teeth with fury as he heard infected soldiers plead for death before they lost their rationality. In a normal battlefield, they might have chosen self-detonation to open a path for their brothers-in-arms, but even that final act of defiance had been taken from them. Now, they could only die with regret and anger.

Zac did what he could to lessen their pressure by unleashing as much destruction as possible with [Skystriker], but his goal was the goliaths. The quicker he destroyed the tide's source, the more of his men would survive. The sea of thorns was not able to deal with the alliance's strongest combatants. They either tore straight through the curtain or flew above, reaching their targets in seconds.

An ethereal sigh echoed through the battlefield to Zac's left as Vilari unleashed a skill. Zac could vaguely sense a spiritual wave passing through three of the constructs, but it had absolutely no effect. The goliaths lacked souls, which meant they were most likely remotely controlled puppets. It was still possible they had a controller within who was protected from mental attacks, and there was one easy way to find out.

Zac flashed forward, his axe lighting up as it drew an upward arc. A roar of war and dominance echoed through the battlefield as a large blade cut a goliath apart. Its innards were only more madness, and Zac frowned when a wall of stench hit him. It had undoubtedly taken thousands of human sacrifices to create these undying things.

He couldn't find any core, and the two halves were already trying to merge back together. Zac grunted in annoyance as his arm turned to a blur. A storm of violence descended on the construct, quickly reducing it into dozens of parcels. Their previous approach had been crude, but it really looked like they had no other options. Only shredding these giants seemed to keep them down for good.

A sudden, earth-shattering explosion leveled everything within three hundred meters of the fallen giant. Zac had expected something like that to happen and was already moving toward his next target. This time, he activated [Apex Jungle], and a sphere of vibrant trees created an island of life in a sea of corruption. Two constructs were trapped within, and another was blocked from advancing further.

"Be careful, they explode," Zac said as a squad of soldiers entered his domain.

It was an elite vanguard of Mavai Demons led by Ra'Klid. Zac had already learned how to prevent his autonomous skills from attacking his men, but it required less mental effort with the Life-attuned demons. They almost seamlessly blended into his forest, joining vines and streaks of axelight in combating the enemy.

More and more warriors caught up by following Zac's trail of destruction, and actual fortifications were added to the forest's edge. Zac's skill was becoming a true beachhead where his men could rest and regroup. But it was ultimately a trap where they'd bury these oversized monstrosities.

The third giant had already forced its way into the forest, but Zac ignored it as he methodically dismantled the closest one. Ra'Klid was already following on his heels, leading his men to shred, burn, and purify every piece Zac cut off. Others were working together to erect a series of barriers. When the giant eventually fell, it only managed to topple and destroy a single line of trees.

More giants converged on his location, but that was for the best. Thanks to Zac's Late Dao Branches, they barely needed to use any energy to deal with the giants. Of course, Zac doubted the Kan'Tanu would let him dismantle their flesh puppets unopposed for long. It was for that reason Zac instantly acted when he sensed something amiss.

'Watch out!' Vilari's warning echoed in Zac's mind as he cut into another giant.

Zac had already activated [Empyrean Aegis] and was moving away, but the golden barrier proved useless in the face of the rune that shot out from the goliath's body. Zac's danger sense had gone from a muted whisper to a blaring siren, and he desperately dodged with everything he had.

The early warning and quick reaction were barely enough. The rune passed right by him, though his shoulder was lightly grazed. Zac felt [Immutability of Eoz] heat up, but unbearable pain quickly overwhelmed the sensation. It was like a mesh of barbed wire had snuck into his pathways, and someone was trying to control him with the strings.

Meanwhile, a smaller form emerged from within the damaged goliaths. It resembled an evil god, with six arms and a swarm of tentacles instead of legs. At first, its aura was indistinguishable from the giant, but it shifted in nature as it rapidly rose. Zac's pathways were still in disarray, but he forcibly channeled energy into [Rapturous Divide] to create a line of annihilation through the avatar.

The six-armed creature shattered, but Zac sighed in disappointment. He'd hoped to turn his near-death experience into a decisive victory, but his opponent was too slippery. The avatar had turned into innumerable floating fingers that spread through this jungle. The rune before was already a strong indicator, and the energy emitted from the swarm of fingers confirmed Zac's fears.

"Retreat!"

The soldiers urgently followed his order, but the fingers moved too fast. Agonized screams immediately echoed through the forest. The fingers had only tapped whoever they reached, but the victims were already convulsing on the ground. Some managed to rebuff their advance, but there were still thousands more that deftly avoided Zac's attacks in search of targets.

They were dealing with a Hexmaster, and a strong one at that.