Defiance of the Fall

“I can’t feel the pull of treasure,” Zac whispered from their hiding spot. “Only danger.”

“If you’ve strung me along for a lake of useless dusk water… Boy, you better prepare yourself.” Ogras glared at Ventus.

It had taken them three days of carefully navigating confusing geography, deadly rain, and swarms of hostile shadow beasts to reach the depths of the shadow realm. They were currently four layers deep, peering at a modest hot spring from the cover of a circle of towering trees. The hundred meters surrounding the pool were in constant flux because of its steam. A sudden gust could leave you in something deadlier than a downpour, which explained the mile of barren land surrounding the waters.

For the pool to hold one of the central spots in the shade realm, the forest surrounding the spring was surprisingly unpopulated. It corroborated the demon’s suspicion they’d wasted their time. The anthracite rain was by no means a tonic for shadow cultivators. It was more dangerous to Ogras than Zac since it tried to overwrite his shadow constitution.

Not one of the shadowy creatures that lived in the area seemed able to draw sustenance from that tainted well, which explained why land in the deeper layers was so hotly contested. The sky was pitch black this far down, with not a single cloud in sight. This particular region had most likely never seen rain, considering how ancient the forest looked.

Hot springs holding unusually pure rainwater weren’t an opportunity to be fought over, even if it likely was connected to whatever generated the endless clouds on the surface. The source was bound to be far more dangerous than its emanations. The bubbling spring was a poison best given a wide berth, which differed greatly from the Numerologist’s increasingly haughty assertions over the past couple of days.

“This can’t be right. The signs are clear,” Ventus defended himself.

“My treasure sense isn’t perfect,” Zac offered. “I won’t sense anything if it’s sealed well enough. The water could have isolating properties. The treasure could also be deep underground, eluding my senses.”

“The flow of providence is smooth. There shouldn’t be a spatial pocket or hidden realm,” Ventus muttered, glancing at the irritated demon. “Maybe try send down another shadow?”

“And lose a third one?” Ogras spat. “Do you know how much it hurts taking a dip in those waters?”

‘Can you use the flag to investigate?’ Zac asked through a mental transmission, getting a slight headshake in response.

‘I have tobe careful about using it, especially inside this trial,‘ Ogras sighed. ‘It’s still in the process of reformation, and this continent is awash with complex Karma. It’ll get dangerous if it’s tainted.’

Ogras had already shared his plans for the [Shadewar Flag], the ultimate creation of the Ra’Lashar Goblins. It was a fundamentally heretical weapon, turning enemies into undying wraiths forever bound to its master’s bidding. K’Rav turning himself into its Tool Spirit added to the flag’s debt to the Heavens. It was a taboo item that would have been better left alone.

It was too late for that. Ogras hadn’t just brought the flag out of the Void Star. He was responsible for its birth and most of its captives. The demon’s Karma had been inextricably linked to the [Shadewar Flag]. Each trapped spirit was another chain trying to drag him under. It forced Ogras to take the much more difficult route of reformation.

Ogras was working hard to transform [Shadewar Flag]‘s nature. From being an item holding great sin, it was becoming an item that punished rulebreakers. Ogras had spent years capturing evil spirits and heretical cultivators, beings who’d wantonly broken the Four Laws to empower themselves.

The sin radiating from the flag would become proof of its great merit. At some point, Ogras would be able to use the treasure as a normal Spirit Tool, barring certain restrictions. Until then, he had to be extremely careful of when and how he used its captives.

“Alright, I guess I’ll jump in and take a quick look,” Zac sighed.

It wouldn’t be a pleasant experience, but he’d be able to resist the waters long enough for a quick sweep. He also had the Void as a fallback in case something went wrong.

“Wait!” Ogras suddenly said. “There’s something inside!”

It took Zac three minutes before he saw what Ogras meant. A ridge of anthracite scales cut through the surface before disappearing into the depths. The scales were less than a foot long, belonging to a tail or body no more than two meters across. Its unimpressive size and color made it almost indistinguishable from the hot spring’s bubbling waters. However, the barely discernible ripple of Life couldn’t escape Zac’s senses. They were dealing with a Late Beast King.

“A fish? Or maybe a snake? I can’t believe it’s unaffected by the water. It’s clearly a creature made from shadows,” Zac said.

“Finally, some good news,” Ogras muttered, his eyes gleaming.

‘You’re thinking of capturing it for your physique?’ Zac asked.

Ogras inspecting every creature they’d passed hadn’t gone unnoticed. He was looking for the next beast to seal.

‘Exactly. I finished digesting the Dreamgeist long ago. I think this guy will make a good addition to the gang. My previous spirit locks have all focused on subterfuge and assassination, making my shadows flexible but weak. I could tell that this thing doesn’t have the same aura as the water, so it must have an incredibly sturdy constitution.’

“Okay, so we’re going fishing,” Zac said. “Any ideas?”

“We are?” Ventus said. “Unusual resistance or not, we’re dealing with a creature that has been allowed to take the best spot as its lair. It’s bound to have a tyrannical bloodline and likely strong ancestors—why else are even Beast Emperors staying away from this forest? Dealing with it in normal conditions is difficult enough. Fighting it on its home turf with so many unknown variables? It’s an unnecessary risk for uncertain reward. Lord Atwood said it himself; he couldn’t sense any treasures.”

“I’ll worry about the reward,” Ogras glared. “As for home turf? We simply have to drag it out of the pond. Snake, fish, or dragon, it’s just a dumb beast who’s never experienced the wider world. Or are you saying that you can’t outsmart a fish?”

“Even a dumb beast is smart enough not to leave its nest when predators are coming for it,” Ventus said with a blithering look. “That water may as well be an impregnable barrier.”

“So?” Zac said, sharing a perplexed look with Ogras. “That’s an easily solved problem.”

“How? Illusions won’t penetrate the waters. A beast lure could work if it’s high enough level. However, it’ll also draw attention we don’t want.”

“No need for all that. We’ll just blow up the pond,” Zac said while a grinning Ogras mimicked an explosion with his hands. “It can’t hide in the pond if there’s no pond left to hide in.”

The two had fought enough battles to understand each other’s thoughts. Ventus neither shared their mental connection nor their positive outlook. He looked at the two with horror, urgently shaking his head.

“We can’t! That pool is the nexus of the shadow world. Even if we manage to blow it up, it could create ripples that destabilize the whole region. We might break a seal, turning the pond into an ocean.”

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“So what? We’re not planning on settling down, stupid. Who cares if we mess things up a bit?” Ogras chided. “We’ll create some chaos? All the better. We’ll sneak away during the commotion.”

Ventus wasn’t ready to accept such a flimsy plan. Zac ignored his bickering companions, even if the Numerologist put forth salient points. Creating a commotion this deep carried certain risks. They’d noticed the deterring aura of more than one Beast Emperor on their way here. Zac wouldn’t have gotten this far in the trial if he poked every hornet’s nest he passed. More often than not, he’d avoided places like this.

At the same time, he would never have come this far if he backed down every time his Danger Sense trembled. The risks were within bounds, and the potential upside more than warranted having a go at it. They could always abort the hunt if the chaos grew out of control. Zac looked at the pond thoughtfully. It was less than two hundred meters across, small enough to cover with a single skill.

It would be a waste to destroy the springs with something like [Arcadia’s Judgment]. He might need it for the fight or their subsequent escape. Luckily, Zac wasn’t lacking ways to blow things up. He turned his sight into his spatial ring, where piles of bombs, War Machines, and talismans waited.

If there was one thing he’d learned during his short stint with Emily in the Centurion Lighthouse, it was that one couldn’t be too prepared. She’d solved one inconvenience after another by pulling out everything from morphing treasures to an experimental cannon. There was no point wasting your energy when a tool could accomplish the goal as well or even better.

Zac soon decided on an experimental device created by the Ishiate Tinkerers. The [Cherry Nut] wasn’t the most dangerous device in Zac’s possession—that title was securely held by the cursed treasure Esmeralda stole from the ghost temple in the Perennial Vastness. He was still decades from purifying its Fell Karma, and until he did, undoing the seal would be no different than opening Pandora’s Box.

The [Cherry Nut] was good because of its meter-thick shell of reinforced steel. It would protect the bomb from the water’s corrosive properties long enough that it could sink to the bottom. It was originally designed to be dropped by Hegemons onto enemy armies, where its sturdy exterior would let it reach the ground before being blown apart. It even had a simple array that harnessed some of the attacks trying to stop its descent, adding further fuel to the fire.

The invention never saw action because of a few critical flaws. It needed to be charged by the Hegemon, and the process took over a minute. If a Hegemon could freely float above enemy lines that long, the war was already over. Neither could the nuts be charged beforehand, and the jolt from shooting them out of a cannon risked an early detonation.

The biggest issue was that the core material came from the Merit Exchange. Price and uncertain supply kept it at the experimental stage, much to the chagrin of its inventor. After elite combatants, the Ishiate Tinkerers were among those who earned the most merit, especially after Galau arrived with his wealth of deadly knowledge. The head researcher of the [Godslayer Cannons] had even earned more merit than some of his sealbearers.

While experimental, the [Cherry Nuts] were useful when you simply needed to blow something up and could control the timing—like when performing an unscheduled demolition of the local waterhole. Zac took out the massive metal sphere over two meters across and turned to the yet-convinced Numerologist.

“You said you wanted to enter my storm of fate. Well, this is it. This is what following me looks like.”

Ventus seemed to fight a battle of wills with his distorted reflection on the bomb. His pristine features gradually smoothed until he regained the gentle serenity of when they first met in the Twilight Ocean. “I’ve embarrassed myself, seeing death in every shadow. You’re right, I cannot have it both ways. I’ll do my part.”

Two hours later, Zac shot out of the woods, looking like a primal warlord decked in trophies of fallen beasts. An enormous fractal blade rapidly grew out of [Verun’s Bite] as he closed in on the pond. His left hand controlled the bundle of vines cradling the [Cherry Nut]. It trembled ominously, hinting at the barely contained destruction within.

Zac swung his arm, and the fully charged [Evolutionary Edge] tore into the steamy curtain. The fractal blade immediately darkened and began twisting from the corrupting mist. Just before failing, the blade collapsed onto itself. A tyrannical force shook the pond as over a dozen of [Conformation of Supremacy]‘s spirit runes exploded in unison.

The explosion was over a hundred meters wide, covering half of the spring. The vapor was swept away, and the tremendous pressure forced the boiling water to stall. As if the Heavens were helping, a strong wind swept through the forest and dragged the displaced mist even further away. The hot springs were in full view for the first time since they arrived.

It was only a temporary measure, enough for Zac to safely approach and drop his payload. Zac appeared above the pond, precisely stopping one-third in. Haro let go of the metal ball, which was already pulsating with barely restrained force. Everything went extremely smoothly. Less than a second had passed from Zac leaving their hideout to the ball hitting the water.

It wouldn’t be surprising if a relaxing beast, seemingly without natural predators, failed to react in time. That wasn’t the case today. A scaled tail emerged from the opaque waters just as the [Cherry Nut] was about to breach the surface. It lashed into the bomb with enough force to reduce it to scraps.

The subsequent explosion was torn apart and partly consumed by gusts of shadows seeping out between the scales. Even point-blank, the [Cherry Nut] didn’t manage to break through the tail’s defenses. Meanwhile, Zac was forced to hurry out of the way of a water blade launched with the swipe. The beast might not share the same origin as the water, but it clearly knew how much danger it posed to others.

Zac backpedaled further as he switched to his Ent Elder form. Even weakened, the explosion from a [Cherry Nut] was nothing to scoff at. The water surface had been pushed down a full two meters from the explosion, finally exposing what they were dealing with. It wasn’t a fish, nor was it a snake. It was a crocodile with an unusually long neck.

Zac had to admit, the beast seemed like a good addition despite only being twenty meters long. It was far from some of the gargantuan creatures he’d seen over the past months. That didn’t mean it was weak. Most likely, its modest size was because of its age.

Its brutal aura had all the hallmarks of an incredible bloodline. If not for lacking the distinct presence, Zac would have guessed it had some dragon blood running through its veins. If it reached Late Hegemony as a child, it should have a C-grade Bloodline or greater.

The crocodile was in view for a moment before dipping into the water. It would come back up sooner rather than later. The pressure on the springs was bound to create a powerful recoil. However, a [Cherry Nut] detonating above the surface couldn’t explain the pond suddenly turning into a geyser, pushing its water hundreds of meters into the air.

The crocodile had properly dealt with the unfamiliar threat before retreating. Too bad for the beast, Zac was mostly there as a decoy. Zac’s overbearing approach made the beast overlook the puff of shadows moving in the opposite directions of the dispersed vapor. Worse, dealing with the first [Cherry Nut] made the crocodile miss the second bomb silently being dropped on the other side of the pool. The explosion pushed the second bomb to the depths, where it could deliver its payload without interruption.

The timed explosions joined hands to push the waters to the Heavens. Suddenly, only the crocodile remained in an otherwise empty pool covered in cracks. The beast was unscathed and reeked of brutality, but it couldn’t hide the clever glint in its eyes from an experienced hunter like Zac.

Vibrant trees starkly different from the local flora sprouted out of thin air, creating a dome of foliage surrounding the pit. Layers of floating trees became a protective umbrella guarding against the downpour. The forces of nature entered a bitter struggle, where [Apex Jungle] furiously regrew leaves and branches to replace what the dark-grey rain turned into fickle shadows.

The collapsing geyser was rapidly whittling down Zac’s domain. Thankfully, he wasn’t fighting alone. A dense haze of shadows spread through the primordial jungle, making Zac’s skill look like a part of the landscape. The shadows glommed onto the tree crowns, adding an insulating layer that bought time for [Primal Edict] to reinforce the trees.

This was a battle that Zac could never win. The refined water carried too much energy. His skills would collapse long before it was exhausted. It didn’t matter. The trees only needed to provide cover until they’d dealt with the crocodile rampaging through the unfamiliar jungle.

The shadows isolated sounds and energy fluctuations to a certain degree. It might not be enough to fully hide the battle raging in the heart of the shadow realm, but it was more than enough to obscure the countless stars appearing inside the forest like dancing fairies. They danced about, following truths different from yet accommodating of the Evolutionary transformations that made [Apex Jungle] a labyrinthian trap.

Zac felt like his skill had been separated from the rest of the world. Ventus had erected a formation that severed the connection between the local residents and the hot springs. Even if beasts noticed the commotion, they’d feel an instinctive reluctance to investigate. The effect was similar to the time Zac met Lord 84th, the Buddhist monk who brought Abbot Everlasting Peace away from Earth.

The monk had sealed certain future trajectories, preventing Zac from even considering attacking. That was likely accomplished with the Dao of Karma, while Ventus worked through the Dao of Order. The stars created a stream of false data that poured into any observer’s subconscious to influence their decisions.

Everything was in place, and there were no signs of dangerous variables. The hunt was on.