Defiance of the Fall

Three minutes in, Zac was already down one point. It wasn't what he'd hoped for, and certainly not a good sign. Landing a clean hit was easier said than done when two opponents were of roughly equal strength, and neither could use treasures or skills to quickly force an opening. He'd heard that sparring sessions between high-grade cultivators could last months when neither could find a weakness to exploit.

Zac had no plans of stalling or tiring Kator out, but he'd hoped to deduce the reaver's Daos before his luck ran out. He hadn't expected Kator to freely provide the answer in such a straightforward way.

As expected, Kator had mixed truths and falsehoods, creating an impossible scenario for his opponents. It had felt as though there were dozens of Daos hidden within his technique, but only three distinct Daos were rampaging through Zac's body. However, Zac was shocked to find that Kator actually cultivated truths from six different peaks.

His Dao of Time wasn't pure but a mixed-meaning creation borrowing from the Dao of Death. Death only held a supporting role, perhaps connecting the reaver's constitution with the Peak of Continuum. The Dao was the source of Zac's feeling like he'd been trapped in a swamp. It held the truths of temporal decay, dragging one toward the nether realm.

The crushing pressure that targeted Zac's Dao Heart wasn't solely created by a Hidden Node. Kator also cultivated an emotional Dao from the Peak of Impetus. It was mixed with the Peak of Conflict, creating a branch that gave Zac the impression of an unstoppable general. It rampaged through his body like it was bent on destroying him. If not for Zac's near-immunity to foreign Daos, it would have caused a lot of damage.

The combination wasn't as unusual as Kator's other Daos. The Daos of the seven emotions and six desires could greatly empower a cultivator if their mental state matched their Dao. The more Kator's emotions urged him on, the stronger he would become. Zac even suspected his [Conviction of Eoz] was based on this peak. Yet there was a reason many cultivators severed their seven sensations to attain the Dao.

Impetus was a double-edged sword. When your emotions were in sync with your Dao, it held unmatched power. But the moment your heart failed you, so would your Dao. If fear took hold in the heart of a warrior cultivating Daos like Fortitude or Valor, it could break their path altogether.

The third Dao was the reason why Zac had such a hard time figuring out Kator's Secrets. The last two peaks that made up Kator's sextet of concepts were the Earthly Peak and the Peak of Taiji. The Earthly Daos could manipulate other Daos. Beyond that, Zac didn't fully understand how the Mixed-meaning Dao fit into Kator's cultivation system or technique.

The half belonging to Taiji was based on gravity, but Zac hadn't sensed that kind of weight in his strikes. The same was true for the Dao of Death. As a pureblood Draugr who had incorporated the very same Dao into his technique, he should have been able to notice it before the Dao of Time. Not even the Earthly Peak would be able to obscure his vision.

Had Kator only infused parts of his Daos into his technique like himself? Or was the reaver still hiding some of his power? Zac hoped it was the former but knew he couldn't rely on blind hope.

Kator was just as powerful as Pavina had said, yet there was no fear or hesitation as Zac walked back toward the middle of the ring. If anything, his heart beat with excitement. It wasn't often you ran into opponents like this, be it in talent or uniqueness of path. And after this big bastard had annoyed him for over a month, Zac desperately wanted to land a solid hit square on his face.

"Is this it? Was I expecting too much?" Kator scoffed. "Where's the ability you used on my uncle? You said it was a Draugr Bloodline ability back then, so go ahead."

"We'll see," Zac said, not minding some banter while his Hidden Nodes cleaned up the invading Dao.

Zac wasn't the only one benefiting from the brief impasse. The runes across Kator's horn-like bones still shone, but the shimmer across his plating was just a shadow of before. The ridge extending down his neck seemed to be a tuning fork of sorts. It let Kator perfectly harmonize with his Daos, strengthening him and deepening his Integration. It was like he'd momentarily entered Late Integration, which upended the fragile balance Zac had maintained.

Kator's aura was already back to normal, seeming slightly sluggish and out of harmony. He was dealing with a small backlash by the looks of it. But could that really be the limit of a top-tier advantage like a Miracle Bone? And if so, why were the runes still shining?

"I didn't expect your path to be so complex after getting to know you," Zac continued while observing the Miracle Bone. "It caught me by surprise, but I'm up to speed now."

"Are you calling me an idiot?" Kator laughed. "What does that make you if I can use you as a punching bag?"

Zac only smiled as he shot forward. The last of the invading Dao had been swallowed by [Void Heart], yet Kator was still dealing with the ridge's after-effects. Zac had already paid with a direct hit for its activation. It would be foolish to let the reaver recover before resuming the battle. He still lacked some answers, but he was more confident this time.

Kator didn't mind Zac's unannounced attack, boisterously laughing as he threw his shield at him. Zac narrowly dodged without losing speed while two chains wound themselves around the string of sinew connecting the shield with the reaver's palm. Both sides tugged, but Kator's positioning was better, being able to use his full weight behind the pull.

The chains suddenly detached from the string to target Kator's arm. Meanwhile, Zac had caught up, unleashing a ruthless slash aimed at the reaver's extended arm. The withering Dao tried to drag his perception under, but Zac was ready for it now.

There was no easy way to get around the temporal uncertainty, where a minute discrepancy could mean the difference between landing a strike and walking into a trap. However, Zac was in the Middle Integration realm himself, and he roughly knew its limits.

He needed to create a situation where it didn't matter if his timing was slightly off. It meant forcing a larger opening, but Zac already felt the battle lean in his favor. Something was indeed wrong with Kator's state. He narrowly moved his hand out of the way, but a leg was caught by a chain.

The air screamed as the mace fell with the force of a mountain, but Zac didn't leave the melee range. He moved under the shield arm, using the remaining momentum of his first attack to swing up at Kator's ribs. The reaver had anticipated his move and was already moving out of reach, but Zac stuck to him like glue.

Zac was a storm of intractable violence, his unceasing strikes generating a constant rumble resembling the sounds of an army marching to battle. Kator continuously created false timelines, but they shattered under the inexorable advance of Death.

Kator was barely able to hold on, his counters seemingly more aimed to create wiggle-room than take him down. The situation was completely opposite from before, but Zac soon realized something was wrong. He'd gained control over the tempo, but his path to victory gradually grew narrower.

Infighting at this level was like a bloody form of chess, where both sides saw hundreds of steps ahead. Judging by the flow, his advantage should be snowballing, yet Zac didn't feel much closer to landing a solid hit. Kator's stance had shifted into a fully defensive one, trying to drag out the fight as long as possible by relying on the Dao of Time.

The reaver wasn't faking his disadvantage—he wouldn't have adopted such a passive approach if he didn't have to. But it confirmed his weakened state only really was temporary. Zac knew he was fighting against the clock, and he immediately made his decision. The power of the Abyss poured into muscles and bones as he extracted even more power from [Conviction of Eoz].

Zac's prickling pain spread through his limbs as his strength and speed soared another 5%. It wasn't the limit of the node, but if he went too far, he'd destroy himself before Kator got the chance. And five percent was enough to drastically shift the balance. Darkness roiled across his body, making him seem like a ghost from hell.

A herculean swing pushed away Kator's shield, exposing his chest. The mace descended toward him, but Zac slammed it away with the reinforced plating on his right arm. He'd planned on using the rebound to shift his block into his strike, but he felt a heavy pressure on his arm, ruining his trajectory and making him fail a lethal blow.

As expected, Kator hadn't displayed the full extent of his stance. He no longer held back on using the Dao of Gravity, making it even harder to break through his defenses. Zac wasn't deterred. Every time he forced out a new method, it only meant he was one step closer to victory. Every failure fueled Zac's next strike, his desire for victory urging him on. [Conviction of Eoz] responded in kind, and the damage to his body lessened while its effect remained the same.

Eoz had said that he found his greatest strength when protecting his descendants. Zac had felt that effect on the battlefields over the past month but also realized it wasn't the only way to use his inheritance. It wasn't a desire to protect his kin that let Eoz escape the shackles of the Abyssal Lake when he first woke up. It was simply desire.

The end of the road drew closer as the Inexorable Stance finished its cycle. Two chains bound Kator's left arm, and he'd just forced away his mace. His axe was already descending toward his chest when his skeleton suddenly shone with opalescent light again. His restrictions failed, and Kator's shield tore toward Zac's head with speed imbued by time and gravity.

Zac growled with annoyance, but he had no choice but to disengage. As expected, a single burst wasn't the limit of the Miracle Bones. It was like the tides, rising and falling, this time returning at the worst possible time. Was it bad luck, or was it calculated? Zac sensed it was the latter. So long as Kator could stall and play defensive for a minute, he'd be able to turn things around again.

It even seemed like Kator had accumulated force by restraining himself, and he was like a released spring now that he was no longer in a weakened state. He'd gone from turtling up to displaying aggression surpassing any earlier point in the fight. Yet Kator didn't manage to eke out a clear advantage.

Last time, the surge had come too suddenly, but Zac knew what he was dealing with now. Kator had held back, enduring until the situation shifted in his favor. Two could play that game. Death was a patient hunter, and Zac's body would last almost an hour at the pace he was using his Hidden Nodes—more than enough time to force Kator into a weakened state multiple times.

But Kator wasn't planning to play along.

"Not bad. I guess you have some grit. But can you keep going? What's next, son of Eoz?" Kator laughed.

Zac urgently tried to shut down whatever the reaver had in store, but he was already at a slight disadvantage. And there was no way to stop Kator's next move. Creaking sounds of bone breaking echoed from Kator's back, and Zac swore in surprise upon seeing his broken spine rise into the air. It had separated into three pieces, forming a gruesome halo above Kator's head.

The whole arena shuddered as the Heavens were supplanted. The air was no longer just filled with simple Miasma; it had become an expression of Kator's Dao. The transformation wasn't a surface change like [Fields of Despair]. The halo had generated a true Dao Domain at the level of Early Integration.

Domains and techniques were almost impossible to cultivate simultaneously, at least at their level. One required you to externalize Dao, the other as something internal. It posed the same difficulty as Catheya pursuing Dao Domains and Earthly and Heavenly Harmonization, but it went even further. Those two concepts were at least of the same type, while domains and techniques were completely different approaches to how you viewed the Dao.

But it looked like Kator had broken that fundamental rule with the help of another Miracle Bone. The domain wouldn't be able to exhibit its full power in a battle of technique, but Zac still found himself under assault by the world. Turbid temporal flow tried to restrict his movements, and the weight of Kator's Dao put his already strained body under further pressure.

Zac's Hidden Nodes fought back, but the domain was an external pressure that limited their effect. Meanwhile, Kator was like a dragon returning to the sea. His hits grew even more ferocious, and Zac was drowning in wild attacks. He had no choice but to push his [Conviction of Eoz] harder to hold on, but he knew he couldn't stay this way for long.

The chains attacked the halo with suicidal fervor, lashing at them from every direction. The bones were repeatedly knocked away, but Zac was dismayed to find it didn't have much of an effect on the domain. The Miracle Bones seemed to work so long as they were within twenty meters of Kator.

Alea could drag them further than that, but that was easier said than done. The reaver had completely seized the momentum, and he had no problem targeting any chain that tried to drag a bone away. Even if he succeeded, Zac would be occupying half his chains, and they were the only thing preventing him from being completely overwhelmed.

New cuts joined the previous ones as Zac was pushed toward his demise. The situation was impossible. His body was breaking down to withstand the offensive, but its only effect was prolonging his suffering. This was his limit.

Was he really going to lose like this?

Zac inwardly roared with unwillingness, but he only had one thing left to fall back on. His eyes shone with madness as he made his choice. Screw it! A Divine Monarch had felt his Bloodline Talent first-hand, and everyone seemed to know about it already. He might as well take the opportunity to gauge their response to his showcasing some of its abilities. What good was his Void Emperor Bloodline if he never dared use it?

Time was erased and gravity overthrown as the Void replaced the Dao. Kator's advantage was fully canceled when faced with [Void Zone], and Zac pounced with fury. Kator had egged him on, wanting him to show the ability, but he was clearly flustered upon having his Daos nullified. Not even the Miasma within his body was spared.

Unfortunately, unleashing his Nullification Zone also meant Zac lost some of his edge. The Void didn't just cover his immediate surroundings but also his own body. The Branches of Pale Seal and War Axe had coursed through his body until now, carried by his awakened bloodline to let him extract everything from his technique. The effect was gone when another truth pushed the others away.

But what if they were one, working together instead of pulling in different directions?

Zac hadn't forgotten the clues he'd grasped in the throes of the epiphany brought from [Wargod's Sagacity]. The answer was in the Void, but Zac he didn't have the luxury to go looking in this fight. Now, those ideas came crashing back, and it was like a haze covering his eyes had been forcibly shattered.

Heart, Dao, and Void became one, and the triumvirate truth opened a path. [Void Zone] began shrinking, initially to Kator's delight. He switched to his aggressive stance but was suddenly forced to throw himself onto the ground. A soundless axe slashed right where his head had once been, leaving not so much as a ripple behind.

Kator growled as he attacked with redoubled fury, a palpable Killing Intent leaking from his body. His anger didn't change the situation. It was suddenly like Zac was the one controlling time, with the reaver's powerful swings striking empty air. Zac didn't immediately aim for another hit. [Void Zone] was still shrinking, extending only two hands from his body.

The Void within his body was growing increasingly profound, but the bloodline of Eoz wouldn't be denied any longer. Adamance strong enough to reject the Heavens fought back against the nothingness. Neither side was giving in, turning Zac's body into a battlefield. Yet Zac encouraged the struggle, condensing his Nullification Zone even further. Finally, he reached sublimation, and two became one. Zac finally saw the road clearly and knew it was time.

His strike was simple yet sublime, severing Time and falsehoods as it moved toward Kator's chest. It was one with the Heavens yet separate, a paradox manifest within Zac's axe. Kator discarded technique and burgeoning momentum in a desperate attempt to avoid, but the edge still drew closer.

Zac barely remembered why he fought or the goal to seize points. The beauty of the swing consumed all else. Zac's whole being was infused into the gleaming edge, and space tore as it advanced. The scar was clean like a surgical cut, resembling the curtains of reality itself. The Void of Space didn't wait on the other side.

It was something else entirely, and it wanted to communicate.

The beckoning call from within soon commanded more attention than the winning strike. Zac realized something was wrong, but it was too late. The curtain parted, and Zac was consumed.

-------------

There was an infinity of nothingness. True nothingness beyond the Dao or Void. A blank existence beyond Zac's realm of comprehension. It transcended even the fundamental laws of existence. There could be no Life, no Death, no Conflict. To enter was to reject the self, forever embracing true emptiness.

The infinity didn't deter nor beckon—it wasn't the source of the call. It held no promises or threats. Yet it filled Zac with a primal dread that he'd never felt before, his soul crying with despair as he faced the transience of being. Seeing it exposed you to erosion of all thought, but Zac strenuously turned away. There could be nothing in the infinity, yet the beckon remained.

Zac lifted his gaze, finding himself staring at an inverted mountain hanging down from a swirling cloud of darkness. Was it made from ancient stone, or was it ice? Densely packed light? Three thousand competing answers appeared in Zac's mind. All were correct, yet none were. Zac didn't know why he knew it to be true, nor why he felt a vague connection.

The mountain was silent, enduring. And massive—its size beggared comprehension. The Zecia sector wouldn't be more than a pebble on its slopes. The mountain released no aura, but the sheer weight of its existence threatened to shatter Zac's mind. He could see the whole thing from his vantage, yet he could only take in a corner of a corner. Even that was asking too much of a mortal mind.

A single mountain, upholding seventeen peaks and all creation.

Zac felt a pull, and the mountain was swallowed by the darkness. The last thing he felt was eight ancient wills, their conviction piercing the infinity.

[Beware the Terminus.]

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