Chapter 1241: Upending Balance

Chapter 1241: Upending Balance

The cultist captain had conjured an enormous domain resembling a gladiatorial ring made from flesh. It emitted the unmistakable weight of an Inner World, giving it a weight and power no Hegemon could emulate. It wasn't at the level of the real thing, not even a frontier Monarch's, but it was far beyond what Zac had personally experienced when sparring with Pavina.

Countless beasts poured from a dozen portals lining the coliseum. Zac initially thought them part of a skill because of their sheer numbers and matching energy fluctuations. However, he quickly realized they were actual, real beasts implanted with a Heart Curse. Or rather, they seemed to carry a piece of the Black Heart Cultist's curse inside their bodies.

All of them were Beast Kings, and they drew power from the coliseum through their curse, though it seemed to push them into a frenzied state. Oddly enough, the beasts came in all shapes and sizes. It was different from most beastmasters who, like Ibtep, focused on a specific type of beast to nurture. The only things that unified the motley pack were the nasty wounds covering their bodies and the dense stench of blood they emitted.

It made Zac think of the rituals to raise Remoulded and Reincarnators. Was the Half-Step Monarch doing the same with these creatures? Pitting thousands of beasts against each other inside World Rings, keeping whoever came out ahead? Raising the requisite number of Remoulded beasts had to cost a fortune, not to mention the time. Then again, was that a problem for a faction like the Black Heart Sect?

The beastmaster was no slouch himself. His aura was steady and refined, resembling the old generals Zac had encountered over the past years. The captain was undoubtedly thousands of years old, not another youth forcibly raised through the ranks. Like the pugilist, the beastmaster fought with his hands, albeit in a completely different manner. He'd entered a bestial transformation, only his aura and appearance made him seem more like a devil.

He was over six meters tall and had a hunched, bulky build. Six jagged horns adorned his head, and glistening scales had replaced his skin. His hands were oversized even for his stature, with claws the size of short swords. His aura held the familiar brutality of the wild, where the main Dao came from the Peak of Nature. It was a direction Zac had courted before deciding to cultivate Pure Life.

The ferocious swipes and bites weren't enough to suppress Kator. If anything, the Half-Step monarch couldn't keep up with the reaver's aggression. He was a force of nature that kept pushing forward, happy to trade blows for blows thanks to his extremely tough defenses. Chunks of flesh were constantly ripped off from the bestial captain's body as Kator sought an opening to finish the job.

However, the power of a Half-step Monarch couldn't be ignored, especially not one from a powerful faction like the Black Heart Sect. If Kator relied on superior defenses, then the cultist relied on superior regeneration. He was an unkillable alpha lording over his pack, with wounds rapidly closing and scabbing over.

Kator was caught between a rock and a hard place, failing to seize a significant advantage against the Half-step cultist while reinforcements continuously joined the fray. His skeleton armor was durable, but he had no choice but to exert some effort to thin the beasts before they overwhelmed him. Zac was well aware of how detrimental that was to an infighter relying on their Technique. The momentum kept getting reset, making it incredibly difficult to move the battle in their favor.

Adding insult to injury, every beast Kator killed made the beastmaster stronger. The curses inside the animals didn't try to target Kator, instead returning to their origin. Zac even guessed the infusions were what allowed the beastmaster to recover his wounds as quickly as Kator could leave them. The Black Heart beastmaster's personal strength was another difference from other beastmasters Zac had encountered.

Most lived and died with their beast, literally. Verana was a poignant example of that. Her companions had fallen one after another during the months of bitter struggle on the frontlines. Finally, Verana's last companion was too exhausted to protect her when an assassin struck, ending her journey at Peak E-grade. Let alone Verana, most of the Tel-Eladar warriors who'd joined his ranks had shared a similar fate. Beasts were simply targets that stood out unless there were enough of them to form a tide.

The Black Heart cultist's path was more balanced that way, provided you were willing to sacrifice your companions. The beast tide could counter a large number of enemies, and their strength could be resorbed if facing a strong enemy.

Kator did what he could to revert the tide. The enormous warbeast wrought from bone that he'd summoned in his battle with the Arhat was already out. However, it was already on its last legs from holding off the Black Heart leader's strongest beast. Another spatial crack had appeared close to the coliseum, from which the tentacles of the curse-implanted Void Beast had emerged.

The task of dealing with the beast overflow had fallen into Ogras's lap, preventing him from helping the others. With his flag still occupied by the struggling clumps of cultists, he had his hands full. Even then, the occasional beast had managed to slip through the cracks, and Zac could see both corpses and still fighting animals all over.

Zac never stopped moving as he took in the chaotic scene. He'd shot out of the spatial tear like a bullet, cramming a set of Healing and Soldier Pills into his mouth as he made a slight adjustment to his direction. He descended right upon Kruta's targets, chains and axe at the ready. The orc was covered in cauterized wounds, though he'd clearly given as good as he'd gotten.

Molten scrap from dozens of broken swords floated all around him while one of the cultists had their arm replaced by scorched tendrils. Zac's state wasn't much better. His whole body was covered in wounds and Ichor after breaking out of the dreamscape, and he'd used up all his cooldown skills except [Sonorous End].

Zac knew it wouldn't do him much good. The skill wasn't very strong on its own, barely qualifying to be considered a High-quality skill. Only by using it with [Rapturous Beginning] could it bring out its true power, and Zac had no intention of bringing out his human half again unless absolutely necessary. The two Black Heart cultists weren't worthy of exposing that card, even if one of them was a Late Hegemon.

The Black Heart Cultists were shocked to see Zac arrive and not their two Peak D-grade combatants. They clearly understood the implications, and Zac felt the fluctuations of Heart Curses being fully activated. The Late Hegemon's face paled as he summoned eight enormous swords by sacrificing longevity while his companion activated a treasure to form a sturdy barrier.

It was too little too late. Zac's mere presence had upended the balance, and a few swings left huge cracks in the hastily erected shield. Kruta went from losing ground to tearing through the Sword Array when Zac forced the duo to redirect more than half the attacks his way. The shield soon couldn't endure Zac's wrath and shattered.

The longevity-imbued swords didn't even get the chance to showcase their might before [Death's Duality] tore through the Black Heart cultist's head. The second cultist fell at the same time, held aloft by the burning sword impaling his chest. His body turned into a human torch from the immense heat stored in Kruta's weapon.

One of [Love's Bond]'s chains hadn't been as quick, adding a set of deep cracks. They would heal soon enough, but the scene left Zac fuming. A flustered Jaol spoke through the communicator, preventing Zac from giving the reaver a piece of his mind.

'Danger! Come back!'

Jaol's warning only barely preceded terrifying energy fluctuation seeping through the spatial tear from which the Void Beast's tentacle came. Ominous cracks leaking tremendous amounts of energy were rapidly spreading across the oversized appendage. Even space was bulging upward as the small fractures spread throughout the battlefield rapidly expanded.

Zac swore and disappeared in a puff of Abyssal darkness, with half of the group similarly escaping in streaks of light or spatial ripples. The other half were swallowed by shadows and whisked away by Ogras as they made a beeline for the Yphelion. Their ship was already flying away using the subsidiary thrusters, and for good reason.

Space finally couldn't take it any longer. A region a dozen miles across burst just after Zac entered the Yphelion's protective shielding, creating another bloody pillar far larger than the one before. The blast wasn't even directed at them, but the shockwave was enough to leave Zac alarmed.

"Defensive talismans!" Zac shouted, and over a dozen D-grade barriers appeared outside the Yphelion's overdrafted shields.

The barriers broke one after another. Thankfully, it was enough to endure most of the onslaught, saving the Cosmic Vessel from having to endure yet another calamity.

"Is it dead?" Zac spoke into the commicator. With the Half-step Monarch, he got the stream of Kill Energy to confirm. He wasn't as sure with the Void Beast.

'It's dead, but I'm afraid there's bad news,' Jaol answered. 'There was a very powerful, artificial, signal mixed into the energy fluctuation of the self-destruction.It should have been able to travel very far in subspace.'

"A dead man's switch?" Zac frowned. "We need to leave. What's the status of the engines?"

'It's the same,' Galau answered from another channel. 'I've barely got the general energy system up and running after overloading it with the cannons. The engines still need the better part of an hour.'

"Keep working at it. Let us know if there's anything we can do to help," Zac sighed before taking out two treasures from his Spatial Ring and swallowing them.

"Good job, everyone," Zac said. "Unfortunately, it seems the captain used his pet to send out a message. Rest up; we might have to fight again sooner than we'd like."

"I knew our journey went too smoothly the past weeks," Ogras muttered as he dragged a streak of sweaty hair out of his eyes.

"You call that smooth?" Emily said with a raised brow.

"I do when this guy's involved."

One by one, the sealbearers teleported back onto the Yphelion. A few stayed on a bit longer, Kator one among them.

"Are you okay?" Zac asked, glancing at the large crack in the reaver's midsection that exposed the pitch-black sinewy muscles behind.

"It'll take more than this to do me in," Kator guffawed before waving his scepter at Zac. "Why? Do you feel this is your opportunity to strike?"

"Not at all. I'm happy you're in such good spirits," Zac calmly said as roiling clouds began gathering above, already crackling with angry, red lightning. "I'm hoping you can share some of the burden of what comes next."