Defiance of the Fall

Rivers of white-hot gold poured through the cracks, melting steel and incinerating wood. The unthinking roots were becoming victims of their gluttony, unable to adapt to the overloaded Stellar Extractor. Them pouring into the endless starlight like moths to the flame provided a much-needed respite.

"Just a little bit more, we're almost there!" Catheya urged, floating just above the ground.

The small expenditure of flight was a cost she could ill afford, but she had no choice. Her left leg was encased in ice to prevent the embedded saplings from sprouting, and even more of her body was frozen to hold together her wounds and accelerate her recovery. She couldn't run even if she wanted, and Kruta was in no state to carry her.

The orc was an arrow at the end of its flight after having displayed a tenacity and ferocity that would make his ancestors proud. It was almost a miracle he managed to put one leg before the other. He'd taken the vanguard throughout their protracted battle, unleashing wave after wave of cutting flames to keep the wilderness at bay. Kruta distractedly grunted, his mind focused on keeping himself moving.

Catheya's promise wasn't an empty reassurance. Zac's short telepathic message had come at the right time. The shakes had begun just moments later, and the whole station was already about to go supernova. If they hadn't gotten the route to the emergency chamber at the end of the corridor, they'd be done for.

The doors to the teleportation chamber slid up without complaint, and Catheya almost cried with relief upon seeing an active gate waiting for them. Catheya had no idea if it was correctly calibrated. She didn't care. The streaks of starlight had already joined into a rising tide that was rapidly catching up.

Kruta's cloudy eyes regained their sharpness upon seeing the gate and the two drew upon their reserves for a final spurt. A painful constriction tried to tear Catheya apart as the world flickered in black and gold. The next moment, she felt solid ground beneath her feet. More importantly, the intense starlight's poisonous radiation was gone.

Catheya slumped onto the ground, unable to muster so much as a thought. Thankfully, the swarm of sparkling roots right on their heels was dealt with by the gate itself as it turned off. Most likely, it had been overloaded by the starlight.

"Finally," Kruta gasped as he lay to her side. "Never doing weed duty again."

"Well, we didn't make our lives easier by stealing their precious fruits," Catheya said with a weak smile, enjoying the sweet caress of Death against her skin from crushing two Miasma Crystals.

"I don't know why. Fruits are meant to be eaten," the orc huffed as he wearily looked around. "Wait, does this look right to you?"

Catheya blinked and turned her head, properly taking in the surroundings for the first time. "That's—"

The gate was supposed to be an emergency teleporter leading to a major hub, where the others hopefully would be waiting. Instead, they were inside a small chamber, with only a single teleportation platform. Worse, the thunderous collisions that started the extractor's collapse seemed significantly closer.

"Don't tell me we've been sent off-course again," Kruta groaned.

"There's no corruption, at least. I only sense—" Catheya's words caught in her throat as she felt a distinct pull of fate. Was this the reward waiting for her after the extremely challenging couple of hours?

'Everything is in order. Welcome aboard the Pernumia Ino.'

"Is that… Carl?" Catheya hesitated as she looked for the source of the familiar voice.

'It's me,' the voice on the intercom confirmed. 'Galau helped reroute the gate. You're aboard a Cosmic Vessel.'

A deep rumble threw the two off the ground, and one of the severed roots took the opportunity to strike.

"No you don't!" Kruta growled as he snatched the snaking vine from the air.

Catheya was about to freeze it but looked on in confusion as she saw the warrior bite into the spiritual root with a wicked grin. "Just what are you doing?"

"Two birds with one stone," Kruta said, looking very pleased with himself. "Revenge and refuel."

'Ahem—As I said, you're aboard a Cosmic Vessel we've commandeered. I'm sorry to impose, but I need your help, and quickly. Follow the guides.'

It was at that moment two floating balls emerged from the wall, and a series of screens popped up above each. Mechanical guides, by the looks of it. It was nice to see the four familiar faces, though Catheya was disappointed that Zac wasn't one of them.

"What's going on?" Catheya asked. "I'm afraid we're not in any condition to face another enemy."

"Not in any condition to move," Kruta added.

Catheya desperately needed rest after having fought the wildlife's increasingly frantic assault. Her mind was utterly drained after having maintained her Heavenly Domain for so long, to the point she had to crush crystals to ward off the hostile energy around her. ȐаΝǑꞖЁs

"I don't need you to fight. I need your help to control this old piece of junk," Carl answered, his voice coming out of the ball now.

"Then you're in even worse luck, buddy," Kruta sighed. "What do I know about ancient Cosmic Vessels?"

Another shockwave threw the two into the air, causing Catheya to gasp with pain. Waiting no longer, the small spheres flew and hoisted her and Kruta into the air using energy tethers. Catheya gawked at having herself whisked out of the room like she were a replacement part for the dusty old ship.

"I'm sorry, but we're really on a tight schedule," Galau said. "And don't worry, you won't have to do a thing. We need your authority."

"Authority? Our seals?" Kruta asked.

"Exactly," Galau said. "By some miracle, Carl managed to convince the resident Ship Spirit to set out."

"The mad prophet can be quite convincing," Bubbur muttered under his breath.

"Anyhow," Galau coughed. "The ship is running, but we're locked out of almost everything. However, we found out that sealbearers can activate one or two features each using their authority."

"And we need the two of you to activate the weapons battery," Carl said, his eyes gleaming with malice.

Catheya felt the attraction from her final seal grow weaker. She ignored it, knowing this wasn't the time to be selfish. "Who's the enemy? Foreign Gods or Qriz'Ul?"

"Neither," Carl said. "It's the Kan'Tanu pope. We need to do something, or he'll ruin the boss's plans."

"The Kan'Tanu Pope?" Kruta sputtered. "Are you crazy? That's a Peak Monarch. Do you know how fast they are? How quick their reaction is? It doesn't matter how powerful this old skipper is if we can't hit him. Everyone would just build ships instead of cultivating if it was so easy to kill those kinds of old monsters."

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"It's not completely crazy. The circumstances are a bit special," Galau said. "You'll see soon."

They were soon deposited into chairs facing a huge screen and a large number of controls.

Catheya placed her hands on a control crystal, and her mind was filled with information. There was detailed data on and feedback from the weapons systems, but Catheya's mind was mostly occupied by the screen. For the first time since their approach to the base, she had a full view of the outside.

It looked like their vessel was floating in the middle of a thousand waterfalls pouring gold and purple. It would have been impossible to see anything beyond the dense, churning mist if not for the vessel's arrays adding detail.

Catheya almost wished she'd been allowed to retain her blissful ignorance. Scarier than the clashing Stellar Energy and corruption were the pitch-black clouds above. A vortex large enough to swallow dozens of planets was almost directly overhead, and Catheya felt an intense heavenly presence within. She hadn't seen the phenomenon before, but she recognized it at a glance. It was a Dao Confirmation, an unusually fierce one at that. The cultist would see a huge transformation of his Dao if he managed to survive it.

The Cosmic Vessel was hidden by arrays, directly facing four gargantuan creatures locked in a pitched battle. The energies they wielded easily surpassed a One-Step Autarch's, though their application was extremely crude. They were like barbarians banging at each other with enough force to collapse worlds.

One of the puppets had a clear advantage. It was tearing into its opponent, and the battle wouldn't last much longer unless something changed. The other duel was the direct opposite, with its puppet in a much worse state. It was like its joints had been eroded by sand, with its movements stilted and slow. Its state exposed it to the fierce barrage of the equally impressive Foreign God, which drew from the purple mist to gain further strength.

The puppet had already lost an arm, and its chest was covered in huge scars teeming with corruption. The reason for the puppet's faltering response was clear. Carl's target was floating nearby, enclosed in the embrace of a thousand withered hands. The shadows they cast hid his sins from the Heavens, creating a sinister sanctuary. Even the puppet didn't seem to notice his presence, despite the enormous flesh flower thrumming with fell Karma blooming on its forehead.

"I can't take us any closer than this," Carl said. "Our camouflage will deactivate when the weapons activate. We only have one shot before we have to run for our lives."

Kruta glanced over at Catheya. "The flower?"

"The flower," Catheya agreed.

"Alright, one last round of weed duty," Kruta sighed.

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

The Void Realm was littered with treasures imbued with all Daos, not just those of Zac's path. However, there was a distinct skew toward Life, Death, and Conflict thanks to Zac having favored environments suited to him. First, there were the mountains hidden in the depths of the Twilight Chasm. Then, there was the mountain Buddhist range during his breakthrough into Hegemony.

With so many materials already perfectly attuned to his path, Zac still had a decent chance of making up for the lost time. Even his breakthrough inside the Centurion Lighthouse had prioritized treasures harmonized with his path. Being a fortress, he'd swallowed quite a number of Conflict-attuned materials.

The same could be said for the latest infusion. Not all the materials he'd just consumed by opening vortices across the Centurion Base had been sacrificed to open up this space. Dozens of treasures remained, though it was too early to use them for his core. They were still being transformed by the Void. Zac would be better off using the treasure pairs he'd prepared for the occasion.

Stealing treasures from his future self was bound to have consequences. It was like he was taking out a loan, not knowing the interest or when the principal would have to be returned. Certainly, the alternative was much worse. Zac would have to make sure he replaced what he'd taken and more, which should hopefully strengthen the Void Realm.

Zac stowed Kator's body after some hesitation, placing his Spatial Rings in a pouch. It'd be a waste to leave him in the Void Space, and Zac didn't know if he might need it down the road. After, Zac rushed forth like a starving beast, fiercely suppressing any discontent in his body. He appeared before a blob of darkness surrounding pieces of an aquamarine rock—vaguely recalling swallowing something similar in the Centurion Lighthouse.

Zac placed a talisman on his chest and pulled. Both energy and matter poured into the talisman and appeared in the quantum space. Spiritual Tendrils were already waiting to make use of the infusion while Zac continued toward the next piece. The next step would normally be upgrading his nucleus. Ultom's enlightenment had only reinforced his belief that retaining his Core Nucleus was the right way to go.

Only, the order of his breakthrough had been thrown on its head, forcing Zac to make some changes on the go. Esmeralda's bet on him had let him recover much of his core, though its state remained precarious after the lightning was gone. Winding back the clock to remove the ravages of the Four Desolates was easier said than done. Many pieces of debris were still so damaged that they couldn't properly accept any cosmic energy.

Zac needed to perform a quick round of field repairs on these pieces before they collapsed from the energy pressure. Only when they were stabilized could he move on with his ascension. The process wasn't difficult, provided Zac didn't have to deal with any more external threats. Even with Kator gone, it was asking for the impossible.

"Damn it!"

A swirl of shadows surrounded the Flying Treasure before Zac needed to act, dragging it beneath one of the control rooms. It wasn't enough to completely avoid the tremendous shockwave that reached them the next moment, but it lessened it enough for Ogras to deal with the rest. Zac couldn't stop his restoration work, so he turned to the demon for answers.

"Damn, that old skipper has some kick to her," Ogras whistled as he emerged from the shadows. "That should have left a dent at least."

Zac looked into the distance with a frown. "It's not enough."

The tremendous shockwave had pushed away the purple mist, giving him a clear view of the distant battle. Adding his still-active connection to the Imperial Faith, he had a good idea of what his companions were up to. The pope had tried to parasitize one of the Eternal Guardians, and his team had used the ancient vessel to sever the connection.

Unfortunately, their attack wasn't powerful enough to destroy the roots. The pope hadn't completely lost his connection with the guardian, and the others were now exposed to his wrath. Zac sighed, knowing he had no choice. He conjured [Void Mountain] and infused the Imperial Faith brand in his mind with everything he had.

The sun, still floating atop the spire, promptly went supernova, and the spire followed. It was the starting call of a wave of destruction that swept through the Centurion Base as the glue that kept everything together was gone. Every scrap of stellar energy and lingering faith ignited for one final burst of glory. The balance inside the subspace was immediately upended as endless gold crushed the purple infiltration.

Most radiant were the two Eternal Guardians. The complex runes across their skin burned brighter than any star, radiating unbending conviction and triumph. Zac's heart shook at the scene, feeling like he'd been brought back to the Pilgrimage of Faith, witnessing the final stands of the interred saints.

The situation far surpassed his expectations. He'd simply planned on blowing up the faith pathways, hoping the disruption would strike the pope's mind. After all, he was still connected to the Ascension Chamber, relying on it to manage the Heavenly descent. Instead, it ignited a fire of purpose that roused the struggling guardians.

Nothing could stand in the way of the holy undertaking engraved on the Eternal Guardian's very essence. Even the Heavens were subdued by their radiance. Zac blinked, suddenly seeing an endless sea of warriors decked in glistening armor. They were echoes of the undying will that had birthed the Imperial Faith.

"The pillars which will uphold the Heavens," Zac muttered, feeling the river of fate buckle and its waters froth.

All corruption withered in the flame's presence, and the pitched battle was pitched no longer. The first Foreign God was reduced into dust by a collapsing sun before it could react. The other didn't get much further as endless energy poured into the guardians. An exacting swing tore reality to shreds, taking the corrupted creature with it.

The pope had no time to worry about the Cosmic Vessel that had interrupted his plans. He was desperately trying to add distance from the Eternal Guardians and their radiance. The hands keeping him safe were crumbling like dry wood before the righteous environment. The Heavens once more found its prey, and a tremendous pillar of destruction overwhelmed all else.

"Holy hells, what did you—" Ogras breathed, his shock only increasing when the air around them shimmered with ripples of Destiny. "What now?!"

"Hey, it's not me," Zac said upon seeing the demon's accusatory look.

He didn't have time to finish his sentence before a familiar aura erupted from Zac's pocket. The [Court Cycle Token] had come alive on its own and flew out on its own. Zac saw small streaks of hollow light emerge from his pores, fusing with the shimmers of destiny. And he knew.

"Uh-huh," the demon said after a similar display appeared on his body. He wasn't the only one, judging by the commotion coming from within the control room.

Zac coughed, opening his status screen to confirm his hunch.

One by Nine (Unique, Inheritance): Form a full cycle of Sealbearers. Reward: Entry to the Left Imperial Palace (9/9) [Complete] [34:11:28:49] [NOTE: Multiple cycles can be formed.]

As expected, the trial had been brought forward once more. The system had cut off over three months from the quest, and it wasn't done there. The pillar's ascent was clearly connected to the Centurion Base for some reason. Each time a piece of it crumbled, the timer lost a couple of seconds in one go.

"Tell everyone to get ready. The trial is starting early," Zac said. "We have some time unless this whole place blows up."

Ogras closed his eyes for a second before releasing a long-suffering sigh. "I wish you'd stop saying things like that."

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