Defiance of the Fall 9: A LitRPG Adventure, page 1
DEFIANCE OF THE FALL 9
©2023 JF BRINK/THEFIRSTDEFIER
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CONTENTS
ALSO IN SERIES
1. Blood and Soul
2. Gathering at the Gates
3. Incursion Owner
4. Depths of Madness
5. The Rules of Madness
6. Sneaking Inside
7. Out of Time, Out of Options
8. Madness Made Real
9. Web of Ancient Madness
10. A Seed of Fear
11. Overwhelmed
12. Overextended
13. Ripples on the Lake
14. Greed and Chaos
15. A Little Bit of Chaos
16. Company
17. Marvelous Beyond Compare
18. Linked
19. The Trove of the Ocean
20. One Shot at Eternity
21. Collapse
22. Fertilizer for One’s Path
23. Rip and Tear
24. Stronger
25. Trapped
26. Doubts and Schemes
27. The Final Twilight
28. Leviathan
29. Orom
30. Experience
31. Freedom’s End
32. Unboxing
33. The Pursuit of Completeness
34. A Thought to Change the World
35. The First Clue
36. Depths of Death
37. Perfection
38. Singular Unity
39. Dao Manifested into Law
40. Journey
41. Waking Up
42. Ancient Dread
43. Darkness Perfected
44. Adamance
45. Cat and Mouse
46. Hubris
47. Opportunity
48. Entangled
49. Formation and Integration
50. Technique
51. Mastery
52. Vivi
53. Shadewar
54. Raising the Stakes
55. Transition
56. Bargain Hunting
57. Gunking Up
58. Celestial Clay
59. Calamity
60. Kalpataru
61. Culmination
62. Path of Oblivion
63. Harmony
64. Heart of the Empire
65. Words Spoken from the Heart
66. True and False
67. Sublimation
68. Gathering Storm
69. Mounting Threat
70. Little Chaos
71. Ripples in his Wake
Epilogue
Thank you for reading Defiance of the Fall Book Nine
ALSO IN SERIES
DEFIANCE OF THE FALL
BOOK ONE
BOOK TWO
BOOK THREE
BOOK FOUR
BOOK FIVE
BOOK SIX
BOOK SEVEN
BOOK EIGHT
BOOK NINE
BOOK TEN
1
BLOOD AND SOUL
Zac stood in the cave at the bottom of the chasm in the Twilight Ocean, the remnant waves of Oblivion still raging outside. This was supposed to be it, where he got the Splinter of Oblivion and finished his adventure in Twilight Harbor. He should have known by now things rarely went according to plan. The splinter was gone, stolen by that vindictive vampire, who had set herself up as the gatekeeper to his quest.
There was no backing down now. He’d already collected his reward when the System saved him from the terrifying snake in the depths of the Twilight Chasm. If he didn't seize the splinter and provide another Chaos Pattern, the System would confiscate one of his Daos.
Certainly, Uona had well and truly pissed him off this time, and Zac didn't need much prodding to walk into the lair of the beast.
With nothing else of interest in the hollowed-out mountain, Zac set out the same way he came. Uona’s invitation might be a misdirect, and it was possible that an insane bloodsucker was bearing down on his position at this very moment. If so, he would rather fight somewhere else than in this restrictive place.
Zac emerged at the top of the ravine a few minutes later and crushed an escape talisman. The moment he reappeared, he turned into his wraith form and flitted away with [Abyssal Phase], not forgetting to make use of the slowed-down environment to search for threats.
However, there was no blood tide crashing toward him and no other signs of a trap waiting to be sprung. It really looked like she wanted him to head to the City of Ancients. Zac was just about to return to his normal form, but an odd flickering of light far in the distance caught his attention. He changed course and rushed over to the small hill he spotted.
Zac wouldn’t have normally cared about some random glimmer, since there was an endless number of herbs and materials that gave off some light after gaining spirituality. The expansive reef by the Twilight Chasm had almost looked like a rave, for example, without any of the corals being of much value.
This was different—he actually recognized the energy—it wasn’t Twilight, but rather the power of stars.
Zac turned back into his corporeal form and swam over until he was in front of the source of the anomaly. It could have easily been mistaken for a couple of fireflies dancing upon a random rock, but it was small stars that winked in and out of existence. He scanned it over and over, and there was no doubt.
He’d been sitting in the first row when Ventus, the scion of the Radiant Temple, had formed his Dao Branch. How could Zac possibly mistake the elf's Dao for something else?
The question was why there was a small mote of his Dao on this desolate stretch of land in the middle of nowhere. Ventus was a Numerologist from a B-grade faction, making Zac believe there was a deeper purpose. Most likely, the elf somehow managed to calculate that Zac would pass by this area and left this marker here to be found.
Whether Ventus left this thing for “Zac Piker” or “Arcaz Black,” he had no way of knowing. Could he have calculated the two were one and the same? Zac doubted it. He didn’t have any proof, though he was somewhat certain his mother’s array contained anti-divination capabilities. Otherwise, it would be useless in preventing others from finding out his secret.
Whichever of his identities this mark was left for, Zac’s instincts told him it wasn’t a trap. Even then, he summoned the three pygmy skeletons of [Profane Exponents], and even started charging up [Pillar of Desolation], as he moved his hand toward the shimmering starlight.
Almost like a mirror cracked, a small area on top of the stone shifted, and the starlight was suddenly replaced by a small box. Zac opened it, which prompted a recording to start playing as a hologram of the annoyingly handsome elf was conjured by shimmering starlight.
“Greetings, Mr. Black. You do not know me, but I hope you’ll trust me when I say our fate is connected. I am Ventus Kalavan, Starseeker of the Radiant Temple. By the time you see this, I will have been captured by Ykrodas Havarok in his efforts to enforce his will on this trial.
“I am not asking for you to save me. I am simply bringing a word of warning in hopes you will reciprocate in the future. I spent a decade of my lifespan to calculate some major events in this trial, and if you’re seeing this particular message, you have failed in whatever mission brought you to the Twilight Ocean.
“Do not worry, calculating the details of your mission is far beyond my abilities. It is related to Chaos, making any divination unreliable at best. But I do believe you are heading toward the City of Ancients in hopes of resolving your matters.
“My gift to you is divulging the true nature of the City of Ancients. As you probably know, this realm is not a natural formation of nature. It is the result of realms of opposing elements colliding, resulting in this odd ocean. What you might not know, is that these two ancient worlds both had a spiritual will, and thes
“The Realm Spirits are weak and susceptible to sabotage by this point. The faction that manages to decide the fate of this spirit will have a leg up on the events that follow. The Eidolon is planning to either turn it into a soul slave or replace it with a spirit of their own, and the Eternal Clan should have a similar goal.
“The Havarok wants the spirit to live on for a while longer, and I think you can figure out the goal of the Radiant Temple yourself. I do not know exactly what will await within the gates of the City of Ancients, but the stars warn me of a cage of soul and blood. This is the limit of what I can calculate at this juncture. I hope we will meet again.”
Zac thoughtfully looked at the small box for a moment, then crushed it and flashed away. The moment he reappeared, he applied another round of Karma-breaking powder across his body. Although the message left by the Numerologist was extremely helpful, it was extremely discomforting that he’d been read to the point that Ventus managed to place a communication crystal like that.
Soon enough, he set off in his vessel, heading straight for the City of Ancients. The information Ventus shared didn’t change his goal, but it had given him a better idea of the situation. He didn’t know exactly what a Realm Spirit was, but he guessed it was something similar to a Tool Spirit.
It wasn’t hard to connect the dots from there. If there was a spirit having some sort of control over this Mystic Realm, it would probably affect the Eveningtide Asura’s plans. Meanwhile, it sounded like the undead factions wanted to turn the Realm Spirit into a back door to snatch the opportunity for ascension.
The struggle over the Realm Spirit’s fate was of no concern to Zac, and yet, he had a feeling he would be dragged into it whether he liked it or not. And from what he’d gathered, it sounded like the best option was if the spirit survived, allowing it to run interference on Alvod. He sighed with exhaustion as he looked at the state of his body.
Thankfully, he had only been forced to activate a single Annihilation Sphere to break into the heart of the ravine, and the single set of cracks was fast being eroded by the Creation Energy in his body. Zac had hoped to have managed to form an equilibrium by now with the help of the second splinter, which was impossible in the short run.
At least the brush with Oblivion had somewhat calmed the Shard of Creation for the time being—it was currently sitting motionless in his Mental Energy cage. But that didn’t mean it’d been subdued or had given up. The shard was still agitated, though more in the sense of a cornered beast preparing to pounce.
Its demeanor was completely different from how the shards acted in all those visions. The shard holders had all met a miserable end, but they didn’t seem as pressured as he was. It was more of a slow grinding down, where thoughts of desires were fulfilled, except in a way that brought unintended, and often horrible, consequences.
His situation wasn’t just a matter of completing his quest any longer. If he didn’t manage to regain equilibrium within a few months, something bad would happen. The shard kept gaining energy out of nowhere to continue its assault, while he was constantly expending Mental Energy to resist.
The best theory he could come up with was that the new shard kept acting out because it failed to merge with the one locked in his cage. He’d already passed the “calamity” by surviving the outbursts and wresting control, but the process was only half-finished. At the same time, he didn’t dare let the second shard into his cage and cause an imbalance.
As precarious as the situation was, Zac had a feeling it could get exponentially worse if he opened the cage before having collected the splinter. For now, he was stuck in this weird state of limbo—as half a calamity on two legs. Hopefully, Catheya would have some answers for him soon enough.
Two weeks passed, at which point he felt a sudden change in one of his talismans, prompting him to take out a communication crystal and infuse some Miasma.
“Mr. Chaos,” Zac said with a modified voice through the crystal, a small smile spreading across his face.
“Blue Lily,” an unrecognizable voice responded, confirming that it was Catheya on the other side. “How did it go? Is it done?”
“I got your message.” Zac sighed. “It failed; it was like you expected.”
“Can you meet up?” Catheya asked.
“I’m on my way.” Zac cut the connection.
Not far from here, hundreds of thousands of warriors had gathered, and it was impossible to know what kind of capabilities they possessed. Just like bugging telephone lines was possible back on old Earth, it was apparently possible for inscription masters to lock onto the communication crystals of others. They might even be able to use the signals to pinpoint the speakers.
That was why they disguised their voices and didn’t go into any details. Some things could only be discussed in person. Even if someone managed to listen in, their conversation wouldn’t warrant any additional attention. With so many people and groups gathered in one place, there were bound to be tens of thousands of schemes taking place at any given time. Why waste time on a random one with no hints of there being a payoff? Especially when he’d mentioned the operation was a failure.
Zac reached the spot his tracker indicated, this time a small glade in a forest of dense reeds almost two weeks’ travel from the City of Ancients. No doubt because it would be risky setting up a camp any closer. A hole appeared in the ground, and Zac jumped inside.
A moment later, Zac, Catheya, Qirai, and Varo sat together like they had a few months ago. The atmosphere was more subdued, with Zac’s plans having gone awry.
“What happened?” Catheya sighed, swirling a small glass filled with a blue flower wine.
“Uona figured out my goal. She’s stolen the item in the ravine and even left a message, forcing me to enter the City of Ancients,” Zac mumbled with some distraction—his shard started waking up after weeks of inactivity.
“Well, the road of cultivation is full of setbacks. This chance might have passed, but new ones will come,” Catheya said. “Are you ready to leave this trial?”
“I can’t. If I leave without that item, I’ll probably die.”
“WHAT!” Catheya shouted, dropping her glass. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Not only that,” Zac grunted, “without it, I won’t be able to contact your ancestor.”
“Never mind that,” Catheya said with exasperation. “You should have told me the ravine was that important to you. I might have been able to distract that witch for a while.”
“I’d hoped things would work out somehow… Guess I was a bit optimistic. Anyway, I’m heading to the City of Ancients.”
“Wait, take a breath and calm down. You know how powerful she is. We need a plan!” Catheya hurriedly said.
“Don’t worry, this isn’t your fight, and I won’t try to implicate your clan. Besides, I have my methods. It’s not like all hope is lost. I almost killed her last time, and this time, I have the means to finish the job,” Zac said with a weak smile.
“How could you possibly—Wait…” Catheya muttered, seeming to realize something. “Like that time?”
Zac didn’t exactly know what she was talking about, but guessed she might be referring to when he’d raged out at the Zethaya Pill House. He didn’t have time to answer, as a surge began building in his mind. His eyes widened in alarm.
