Chapter 831: Gathering Storm
Far different from the descriptions of the Orom World going dark, it had instead been turned into a conflagration of flames that elicited a primal fear in Zac’s heart. They reminded Zac of the apocalyptic force he saw when forming his Seeds of Hardness and Sanctuary. When that ancient protector had sacrificed himself to protect his world against the end of a universe.
It felt like that kind of judgment had descended on the Orom World right now. There were no heavens, there was no Law of Space – the Dao itself was being incinerated by the inferno above.
Thankfully, something was holding it back, either the Orom or the originator of the attack himself, preventing the brunt of the terrifying energy from descending. Zac wasn’t sure even Kaldor would survive if those flames lashed out on the cultivators below. Just looking at the roiling tongues of fire left scorch marks on his body, forcing him to avert his gaze. Enduring them would extinguish him in an instant, and no [Void Zone] or other preparations would do him any good.
At first, he had figured it was the monks making their move, but he immediately shot down that idea. This could not possibly be the work of a Monarch, meaning it should come from the outside. Perhaps a true Boddhisatva had tracked down the Orom to punish it with cleansing fire, but Zac didn’t sense the echoes of the Buddhist Sangha in the flames. They were pure and unrelenting, like the primal fires that could both birth and extinguish an era.
Even if the flames didn’t originate from within the Orom World, there were still people ready to take advantage of the chaos. Zac didn’t even get the chance to take in the scene before eruptions of unbridled power appeared in multiple directions. To his left, coruscating waves of divinity rippled in every direction, and Zac looked on with mute incomprehension as a towering golden diety rose into the air.
It appeared in the direction of the bamboo forest, and if there had been any doubt before about Three Virtues’ involvement, it was gone now. After all, it was the avatar of Sāgara who had been conjured, the statue he had seen just a few months ago. The avatar had to be tens of thousands of meters tall, yet it somehow seemed even greater.
Space and scale couldn’t properly do it justice – it was like the deity was the size of the cosmos itself. Zac only dared shoot occasional glances in its direction, as he actually felt his heart being moved from witnessing its splendor. If Zac wasn’t careful, he’d become a warrior of the Dharma with all of his emotions expunged.
The enormous avatar slowly put its hands together in a mudra, and Zac vaguely heard the chanting of sutras even from this great distance. Millions and millions of lotus flowers were born in the sky, almost shrouding the fiery inferno above. However, the delicate white flowers didn’t seem to have any intention of contending with the flames above.
Instead, they were nurtured by it, growing just like normal flowers under the sun. Together, they danced in the lack of wind, the dancing petals setting up some sort of array that filled Zac with dread. The scene was mesmerizing, and Zac suddenly felt his vision shifting for an instant, finding himself standing inside a vast temple where each lotus flower had been transformed into a golden statue.
The next moment the vision was gone, but Zac wondered if the monks had somehow connected this space with an actual temple somewhere in the multiverse. Just what were they planning?
The monks weren’t the only ones who had made their move. A pitch-black tower had appeared to Zac’s right, and looking at it felt like looking at the true face of death. Even the roiling flames above were somewhat dampened by the darkness the structure radiated, though Zac could tell that the tower didn’t dare grow too tall to avoid drawing the ire from what was above.
Zac could even sense powerful fluctuations further in the distance in almost every direction of the Orom World, but it was too far away for him to see what was going on. One thing was for sure though; the seal of the Prison Brand was obviously not as absolute as the Orom had thought, for these kinds of things to appear out of nowhere.
Things had clearly been brewing beneath the surface since long before Zac arrived.
The chaotic scene had thrown Zac off-balance, but he quickly gathered his wits. So what if things were chaotic? Wasn’t that exactly what this moment required. It almost felt like the whole world had gone mad as a result of his desire, the desire to drown the Orom World with Chaos.
Now, it was time to leave his own mark on the tapestry.
There was a good chance that the Orom would enact an even harsher lockdown now that things were spiraling out of control, so Zac didn’t dare to waste any more time. He took out one of his semi-finished teleportation arrays and urgently spent the next few minutes fixing the final engravings while fearfully glancing at the sky in case something changed.
Thankfully, things were still gearing up, giving Zac enough breathing room to finalize his preparations. He only left one final inscription unfinished on the array before taking it out of harm’s way, placing it on the shores on the other side of the lake. He knew all-too-well what came next, and he felt some lingering fear as his gaze turned to the two glass boxes lying on the ground. He couldn’t have his escape pod destroyed by a wave of Oblivion.
Cracks had already started to appear on the two glass canisters, and it looked like the trapped remnants were waking up. With the Orom draining the environment of its ambient energy, the two glass cages had lost their main source of power. With Zac also maintaining [Void Zone] they were barely holding on against the burst of energy coming from within.
With the boxes in such close proximity, the two slumbering remnants had finally become aware of each other. They were furiously trying to break free to attack their nemesis, and parts of the arrays were whittled down with every clash. Still, Zac estimated it would take a few more minutes before the seals finally succumbed, and Zac didn’t have that kind of time.
After being hidden inside his Spatial Ring for years, [Verun’s Bite] finally made its appearance. A furious howl filled with anger and liberation was released as Zac completely unleashed the stored energy in his [Spiritual Void], and the whole lake churned in response as Zac swung his companion for the first time in too long.
Eight streams of Mental energy entwined into a sturdy rope before entering the axe. Half of them were infused with the unstoppable potential for destruction of the Branch of the War Axe, and the other half with the undeniable force of the Branch of the Kalpataru. The golden markings across the Spirit Tool lit up with golden luster as the weapon was flooded with the Dao, but the sheen was almost drowned in a sanguine brilliance released from the runes on the handle.
The axe fell, and the world grew quiet for a moment before an earthshattering shockwave leveled all the trees on the whole island. However, Zac’s eyes became wide as saucers when his mighty swing empowered by his Bloodline and his Dao didn’t so much as leave a mark on the glass casing holding the Splinter of Oblivion.
Zac had visualized a scene of the cage shattering like brittle ice in the face of his fury, but reality wasn’t quite so satisfying. However, Zac wasn’t discouraged. He knew there was a good chance these glass casings were made from some extraordinary materials, but he thankfully had a backup plan.
“What friend? He’s...” Iz muttered, but her voice died down as her brows furrowed.
Just what was he? Even now, she couldn’t put her finger on it. There was just something about him, something novel. But what? He wasn’t too powerful, though Iz guessed he should be one of the strongest people at his grade in this desolate corner of space. Even among the ancient factions, he could be considered a rare talent in terms of raw strength.
But she had met many people like that already during the outings her uncle and grandpa had tricked her to participate in, and she was always filled with annoyance when dealing with those people. Yet she found herself using the Divine Mirror almost every day for a few hours, even when Mr. Bug was just sitting in silent meditation.
At first, it was just curiosity about the one who dared to curse at her, but it had somehow become a hobby she enjoyed far more than any of the arrays her guardians had prepared. Even that Neural Network of the Technocrats or the Heavenly Realm of the ancient Imperials became boring over time, but watching that guy bathe in fateblighted refuse or getting beat up by low-grade beasts never grew stale.
In a way, he was the antithesis of herself. He was a blank slate, with no backing and no idea what he was doing. But he was also Free.
“Have you decided what you will do when you meet him?” her uncle asked curiously.
“Well...” Iz hesitated. “First, I’ll beat him up a bit for calling me crazy. After that, we’ll see. Perhaps I’ll have him take me to some trial? I want to experience his ability to cause all this chaos firsthand. I don’t want to go back too quickly now that grandpa finally allowed me to leave. Who knows when I’ll get to travel again after this?”
“Master worries for you,” Valderak sighed. “He fears the fate of your parents will repeat itself.”
Iz wordlessly nodded, a pang of sorrow filling her heart as she remembered the sealed form of her mother. Even with her grandpa’s efforts, it would be tens of thousands of years before Eruz Tayn could wake up. The battle had been too intense back then, and not even her grandmother had been able to directly retrieve her soul from the past.
Of course, a few thousand years was nothing compared to the two million years her mother had been sealed already, most of which Iz had spent gestating inside Eruz’s womb. Her grandfather had waited so long and worked so hard to piece together her soul back by scouring billions of temporal fractures in the past. Even then, there was no coming back for her father.
Their enemies had made sure of that.
“Grandma killed all those people millions of years ago already. She even incinerated a whole universe, fraying the Heavens themselves. Who’d dare target me? And what would be the point? Just to anger my elders again?” Iz muttered.
“Never underestimate the lengths people will go to in pursuit of the peak. The old enemies are gone, but new ones will crop up as long as the Tayns control a corner of the sky,” Valderak urged.
“Alright, alright,” Iz agreed, having heard the same warning so many times before.
It looked like Valderak was about to continue, but he suddenly stopped and turned toward the Voidcatcher. “Oh?”
“What’s wrong?” Iz asked with worry as she tried to discern what had changed.
“Fate is gathering, and I sense fluctuations at the threshold of Autarchy inside the Orom’s Inner world,” the golem said with some interest. “The sangha and the unliving are making a move. More importantly, there was a weak burst of Oblivion just now.”
“What? He’s starting? We made it in time!” Iz exclaimed, her mouth curving upward.
Just like inside that life-death trial of his, things were coming to a boiling point. This time, she wouldn’t miss it.
“Wait, do you think we’re part of the storm of fate he accumulated?” Iz asked curiously.
“It’s hard to say where the line between coincidence and fate lies,” Valderak said. “But he is undoubtedly the fulcrum.”
Iz nodded before her brows furrowed with displeasure. “This stupid fish keeps buckling and I can’t see anything. Can you send me in?”
“Absolutely not!” Valderak said without hesitation. “The energies within are getting too chaotic. Don’t worry, we have some time. I’ll toast this bastard a bit more and make it spit out the boy.”
Iz reluctantly nodded, and a tragic wail echoed through the cosmos.