DefianceNovels
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Chapter 1,319.
🕑 Added 2024-12-21 20:50:30 +0000 UTCA/N: A day late, but that's it for December and 2024! Thank you all for your support through the year, especially while I figured things out and changed the release schedule.
Delays are still bound to happen now and then, but the change has overall worked as intended. I wouldn't have been able to plot out and tinker with the LIP Arc nearly as well with a 5 ch/week schedule, and I think that shows.
Now, I'm taking Christmas to refuel for the next stage of the LIP and Ultom. Defiance of the Fall will be back on January 6. I hope to see you all there!
Until then, Happy Holidays!
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It was only when the trio stopped outside the huge statue’s immediate perimeter that Bultras was made aware of their destination. She looked at the stone cauldron with mixed emotions. “Who could have thought Terren’s Cauldron has such a problem? Lord Reylan will be distraught when he…. Wait, don’t tell me?”
“It was probably Reylan Valfir who concocted this scheme in the first place. The disappearances are Reylan causing trouble from beyond the grave,” Zac confirmed.
While Zac worked with Bultras over the past few days, Esmeralda kept watch on the Elemental while gathering information. That included figuring out where the cauldron came from, and Zac was caught up by the time they arrived. The installation was quite new by Multiverse standards, only eight centuries old. It was gifted by Reylan Valfir, an up-and-coming alchemist and direct descendant of a council family, to commemorate his breakthrough.
Coincidentally, Reylan disappeared two decades ago, right around the time the cursed flame’s nourishing array was installed. Reylan was officially still alive, said to be in seclusion to study the Dao of Alchemy. In the upper circles, he was thought a victim of assassination since his Soul Lamp had extinguished. In reality, he’d been consumed by the flame.
With the arrangement incomplete and without a controller, it had taken the flame a few centuries of sporadic activations to gather the necessary energy to fully awaken.
“Remember, we’re dealing with an unstable flame inside a folded space,” Zac reiterated, giving Bultras a warning look. “The flame is only an outer node of the Natural Curse. Dealing with it haphazardly might very well drag the real thing to Terren’s Loom. Don’t become a sinner by playing the hero.”
Zac wasn’t too worried about the Elemental. No matter how exquisite his methods, there was a significant gap in strength. The Elemental was also acting alone, while Zac had Esmeralda and an infuriated Peak D-grade Blacksmith on his side. At worst, the target would use some hidden method to sneak away. Even that seemed unlikely with Esmeralda around.
The real headache was the volatile Bultras. Two days of planning out [Love’s Bond]’s breakthrough left him confident in her skills as a Blacksmith. Except, Zac couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t take matters into her own hands upon facing the flame. There was no real trust between the two, and their priorities were undeniably different.
The blacksmith was focused on saving her hometown and clearing her name. Meanwhile, Zac no longer cared what happened to the memory domain or about increasing his fate with the Mercurial Court. He’d sit back and let the whole city get cursed if it ensured a safe and successful ascent for Alea. If not for the Elemental throwing a wrench in their plans, Zac would have gladly waited a few more days.
“I’m not some airhead you need to baby. I know what to do,” Bultras huffed at Zac’s reminder before her expression softened. “Are you sure this is necessary? Your companion has just reached the threshold. You can let it stabilize and accumulate for a couple of decades. At that point, I can guide her into the next stage. Despite lacking the cursed flame as a catalyst, the odds of success will be much higher. I’ll make your project a priority, and I’ll even approach the Ancestors for assistance.”
Zac was unmoved. “The road of cultivation is bound to be lined with challenges. Sometimes, the safe path is a dead end. How can one hope to grasp a corner of the Heavens without daring to take a leap of faith? The road is narrow, and you need to seize the opportunities that come your way.”
“We need to hurry,” Esmeralda reminded.
Zac nodded and put on a hood and silver mask that hid his features and aura. As far as possible, Zac wanted to avoid appearing on Kaltosa Lu’s radar. The toad led them to a spatial weak spot near the statue, and [Love’s Bond] was already in Zac’s hand when their surroundings shifted. Thankfully, their arrival went unnoticed, giving the three a moment to plan things out.
There were noticeable differences in the folded space compared to Zac’s previous visit. The Elemental still floated in the center before the flame, which was now connected to a completed nurturing array. The arrangement had been further augmented by hundreds of floating Spatial runes of indeterminable purpose.
The Spiritual Flame had also seen some changes. The turquoise fire burned more intensely, and it had gained a more intense aura of Death after advancing through countless deaths. It wasn’t enough to call it a Death-attuned Spiritual Flame, but it was getting there. Taking the first step of realignment was the hardest, and Alea would be able to continue the process if she managed to absorb it.
It was a welcome bonus that would make Alea’s job easier. Still, the touch of deathly wasn’t what drew Alea to the flame. Neither was it the Spatial Curse. Like the Spiritual Flame, [Love’s Bond] was born from Sacrifice, giving the two a type of affinity. The most obvious example was Alea’s skill [Fate’s Obduracy], where she sacrificed her foundations to seal an enemy’s fate.
“That’s it! That’s the evil I’ve sensed in the other flames!” Bultras wheezed with alarm and anger. “Those are spatial runes! What is that bastard up to?”
The same question was on Zac’s mind. There’d been no time to go over everything on the short way over. Esmeralda said that the Elemental had repaired the array and planned on advancing it beyond Middle D-grade. Zac couldn’t make heads or tails of the Elemental’s arrangement. The Spatial runes were connected to the nurturing array, forming a link to the flame through it.
It didn’t look like something that’d let the Elemental control a Late D-grade Spiritual Flame. Zac’s best guess was that it was a Spatial Seal that’d let him store the upgraded flame until he was strong enough to absorb it.
“Like I said, he’s more ambitious than I gave him credit for,” Esmeralda sighed. “He’s planning on gathering enough Sacrificial Energy to open a path. He must have realized that a Middle D-grade Flame wasn’t strong enough to make that happen.”
“A path where?” Bultras asked.
“To the heart of the Curse. He’s probably after its core. Its value is far greater than a D-grade mutated flame, especially for an Array Master,” the toad said. “That’s why we had to go early. He’s altered the nurturing array. He’ll trigger all the curses in one go to flood the flame with Sacrificial Energy. The flame will be forced into the next stage and collapse from the overload, turning it into a temporary spatial gate.”
“Are you confident you can keep the flame under control while I deal with the Array Master?” Zac asked.
“I’ll do it even if I can’t,” Bultras grunted.
“Be careful. He’s strengthened the spatial bond to the Natural Curse. Don’t do anything with it before I’ve cut the connection,” Esmeralda said before turning to Zac. “The sooner you deal with the flameling, the better. I’ll assist, so avoid your usual approach. Remember, a thief comes and goes with none the wiser.”
“I know,” Zac said.
There was nothing else to say. Zac shot out like a bullet, heading straight for his target. The Elemental reacted extremely quickly, making Zac wonder if they’d been exposed when they snuck inside. Dozens of hidden array disks activated, and the short distance between Zac and the cave’s center became a vast chasm of fragile space. From the cracks, rivers of angry flames poured out.
Having experienced a similar situation countless times more harrowing just weeks ago, Zac didn’t so much as blink. He dove into the first salvo like an ancient god, crushing manmade Spatial Tears with his body until [Profane Exponents] had time to form. At that point, Zac’s Duplicity Core was already burning hot.
The Elemental wasn’t only using his own power. He was drawing from the cursed Spiritual Flame. The Natural Curse’s Karmic bond ignored the coffin pygmy’s defensive barrier, repeatedly trying to mark Zac. The drain wasn’t that big of a deal, but Zac couldn’t delay. There was no obvious loophole to the array, so Zac unleashed a herculean swing empowered by [Spiritual Void].
Space shattered like a mirror, and the sea of flames parted, allowing Zac to step back into the hidden cave. However, it was completely empty. There was no sign of the flame or anyone else, yet Zac’s Danger Sense picked up a growing threat.
‘It’s a duplicate layer!’ Esmeralda’s voice emerged in Zac’s mind, along with a secondary stream of images.
Zac suddenly saw eight spatial folds layered like a cake, with Zac standing in the lowest one. Some of his essence leaked into the closest layers, creating a vague outline matching his appearance. The original spatial fold was all the way on the other end, with six empty spaces separating them. The concept was just like the split spaces of Zac’s [Eye of Desolation]. Except this time, Zac was the one trapped.
Esmeralda’s vantage was a huge help, allowing Zac to directly target the borders. The Elemental only seemed to possess one Earthly Dao, and it was related to arrays. His Spatial Dao was a Peak Branch, which wasn’t nearly enough to enforce the spatial separation. A well-aimed swing was enough to tear a hole in the wall between layers, but Zac swore upon finding himself back at the same spot after jumping through.
The layers were moving as he navigated through them, and the damage he created swiftly mended. Zac barely managed to get closer when he rushed, so he switched up his tactics. [Deathmark]’s ominous shroud rapidly spread through the folded spaces, corroding its way through the Elemental’s array. It didn’t matter how space rearranged itself if all spaces were filled with Zac’s attack.
The Elemental wouldn’t wait around while his spatial domain was infiltrated and corroded. Dozens of array disks appeared around the cursed flame, drawing on its tainted powers to channel a devastating strike. He didn’t get far before a massive hammer filled with righteous wrath interrupted his plan.
The attack was courtesy of Bultras, who’d been carried through the spatial maze by Esmeralda. The swing was more than enough to threaten the Middle D-grade Elemental’s life, and he urgently shifted into a neighboring spatial layer to avoid the attack. Bultras clearly wanted to pursue, but she gritted her teeth and released a fiery net to contain the cursed flame instead.
Half the battle was already won now that the enemy had been forced away from the Spiritual Flame, and the elemental already showed signs of wanting to escape. Zac couldn’t wait for Esmeralda to carry him through the spatial layers, and [Deathmark] would need a few seconds to reach the last spatial layer. Void of Life poured out of [Spiritual Void], and Zac fused with the darkness as he slipped through the cracks ungoverned by Dao.
Zac could feel the elemental’s horror upon seeing Zac silently shift through dimensions like a Spatial Cultivator. A primordial fire ignited inside the hollow of the donut-shaped Elemental, and he suddenly split into identical incarnations on four adjoining floors. Each took out hundreds of ancient array disks made from clay. They immediately harmonized into a dimension-spanning array that emitted far greater might than the earlier attacks.
Desperate, the Elemental had brought out one of his strongest killing blows. Judging by Zac’s screaming Danger Sense, the ancient formation could even threaten him. Zac didn’t get the opportunity to find out if he was right. Just when the array was about to activate, the ancient disks controlled by the elemental’s third clone disappeared. With a full quarter of the array flags missing, the formation collapsed, releasing an explosive backlash.
“No!” the Elemental wailed as he was consumed by a spatial conflagration.
Zac knew it was a guise, thanks to Esmeralda’s discerning gaze. A carefully hidden spatial pocket had silently appeared in a corner. It was an isolated space holding nothing but a rune flickering with the power of teleportation. While a fake elemental was struggling against the ancient array’s backlash, the real one was sneaking away through the cracks of space.
It wasn’t meant to be. Like the array disks, the rune suddenly disappeared like it had winked out of existence. Not giving up, the elemental brought out an ancient escape talisman that held some Imperial Faith. The faith didn’t save the talisman from Esmeralda’s sticky fingers. It was nabbed just like the rest, gone before it could be used. At that point, Zac had already caught up.
“No honor!” the Elemental wheezed with fury and despair.
Zac somewhat pitied the Elemental for being dealt such an unfair hand. That didn’t stop him from destroying the Elemental’s core with a swing of his axe before flooding his energy body with rampant Dao of Death. Zac didn’t stop there, repeatedly cutting into the unusual form until he couldn’t sense a hint of life. So what if they were dishonorable? This wasn’t a gentleman’s duel.
In lieu of Kill Energy, the trial provided another form of confirmation for the trial taker’s demise. Two streaks of pure light emerged from the Elemental’s torn body. Each was a stored identity and part of a Mercurial Court seal. As expected, the elemental hadn’t appeared in the area by coincidence. Zac looked at the identities with interest, sensing that he could directly seize them without going through a trial.
One of the identities was wholly unremarkable, giving Zac nothing tangible to go on. It was the second that was interesting, since it held a hint of the Mercurial Court’s aura. However, Zac didn’t feel any strong connection to it, and Esmeralda was similarly unimpressed.
‘The call is much weaker than the lantern I saw before,’ she commented.
‘Skip it?’
‘Let’s wait for a better one,’ Esmeralda agreed.
Like the identities could hear their discussion, they dispersed on their own, fusing with the memory domain’s ambient faith. However, Zac didn’t miss that a sliver of their energy entered the seal on his hand, augmenting the stockpiled Imperial Fate. The addition was significantly weaker than from the events in Dipper Seven, but it proved that killing trial takers allowed you to literally steal some of their fate.
Zac didn’t feel bad in the slightest for tag teaming a much weaker opponent. The only reason the Elemental managed to live that long was Zac’s fear of exposing their location. He could have ended the battle instantly with [Eye of Desolation] or [Desperation’s End]. Either was strong enough to shatter all the Elemental’s stratagems through raw strength, but activating such powerful skills might have damaged the folded space.
Esmeralda was an average combatant at best, lacking both interest and endowment. That didn’t mean her abilities were useless in a fight. She’d proven herself an absolute nightmare for a Spatial Array Master like the Elemental, turning the battle into a joke. She’d stolen his formation disks, his teleporter, and his teleporter. If he’d taken out something else, Esmeralda would have stolen that, too.
There was no time to celebrate the quick and easy victory. The Elemental’s death left the altered nurturing array without a controller, and Zac’s growing sense of unease indicated the flickering Spatial runes wouldn’t go quietly. They were doing something to the Spiritual Flame, and Bultras was fast losing control.
“Follow my lead!” Esmeralda shouted and took charge of the situation.
The three spent the next half-hour extracting the Spatial Energies the Elemental had infused. Esmeralda was still doing the heavy lifting while Bultras used her own Spiritual Flame to keep its younger cousin in check. Zac's job was the easiest. Whenever a piece of the Natural Curse or embedded Spatial Energies went out of control, he’d extinguish it with [Void Mountain].
“Not good! It’s going out of control. Don’t worry about me. I’ll drag the storm away from here,” Esmeralda suddenly shouted before disappearing with the Spatial Runes in a blinding flash.
“It’s stabilized!” Bultras exclaimed, looking at the gently swaying Spiritual Flame with surprise. “The connection to the curse is almost fully severed. It’s become rootless. This is the best time to absorb it.”
“Good. We’ll go with the standard approach,” Zac said.
“Wait, what about your mentor? Shouldn’t we help her? She risked her life to bring the danger away,” Bultras said.
“She’s a real hero, alright,” Zac said, having a hard time keeping the sarcasm out of his voice. “Don’t worry about her. She’ll survive even if the sky collapses.”
There was no point in ruining Bultras’s image of Esmeralda heroically sacrificing herself to save the day, even if it couldn’t be further from the truth. Zac knew what the old thief was up to the second she explained the Elemental’s plan. Sure, Esmeralda would have helped without any expectation of a reward. Would she hold back when there were valuables to steal? Certainly not.
Esmeralda was probably busy extracting the memory domain’s true treasures at this very moment. Zac didn’t mind. Esmeralda had gone above and beyond already, and stealing the curse core might well be the true mission of the memory domain. Her greed had a decent chance of increasing their contribution more than simply taking away the Spiritual Flame.
“Then… A leap of faith?” Bultras said, looking at [Love’s Bond] with expectation.
Zac smiled as piles of priceless materials appeared around them.
Comments
David Ballantyne
Zac knew it was a guise - can't use guise like that. Say ruse instead
David Ballantyne
Still, the touch of deathly wasn’t what drew Alea to the flame - touch of deathly what?
Lex Luther S
Bruhh
Porter
I'm ready.
Tyler
Well, I'm excited
Jeff McCulley
I apologize. Having eye problems since before Christmas. Csn barely see. Will post when I can.
Owen Stevens
yeah lol. He said he'd be back today, but I am guilty of checking last friday. What can I say I'm addicted.🤷♂️
Booksaregood
Anyone else checking every day 😂😂😂?
Grant Prater
I dont think he can meet his family (leandra) until he's an autarch at least unless something changes, or she would just kill him
MythWizard
I always look forward to reading your thorough analysis, Jeff, given that TFD has turned these chapters into an advanced course in quantum physics. LOL.
Owen Stevens
Zach already has a protoworld of sorts. Remember his bloodline has created a large void pocket nurturing and realigning the treasures he's eaten. I think he'll become a half step monarch by choice rather than by accident because of a failed attempt. It's likely his bloodline will require it. Maybe his bloodline will also provide a way to grow his protospace by consuming treasures and allow him to ascend to monarchy that way.
EsoEasy
Ok. Got it. Now can do some good theory-crafting. Since Alea said she wants to “reforge” herself, I hope the upgrade allows her to be the most amazing war regalia AND a more active participant during battles (side-by-side maybe). But I think it more likely that she’s gonna go for shorter but more powerful skills at the expense of longer cooldown (maybe even dashing Zac’s hope to bring her back to life altogether). That would fit “sacrifice” theme.
Lex Luther S
The skill uses her soul as fuel. Zac rarely uses it, and I doubt that will change. The stronger the person and fate he wants her to seal, the more damage to her soul, risking even dissipating it all together. An enemy that would require him to use it would be a coin toss on if her soul crumbles or not since it'd likely be an eonic seed. So, in a way, it is using her foundations to power it as tool spirits need to reach a certain level of strength to progress properly.
Omiso
When Zac fought with Valsa, during the Perenial Vastness Arc. Zac used Alea's [Fate’s Obduracy] to paralyze her to deal a blow. As a result Alea lost strength and could not be used again during the fight but the loss was recoverable. Think of it as similar to Thea's escape Fractal Skill that consumed her levels to avoid a lethal blow. Prolonged used could result in irrecoverable damage, Zac however has been very conscious of it and never went too far using it.
Omiso
They DID have a cornucopia and anyone who says otherwise is WRONG! Back on topic yes I agree TFD is doing a great job with the novel and like you said the complexity makes you forget some details, I sometimes reread previous arcs to refresh my memory. I don't know if Zac will get a protoworld but this is one of the most exciting cultivation novels I've read and as long as its fun to read I'll keep reading.
Mike Naka
just noticed...is this your passive aggressive way of saying fruit of the loom did have a cornucopia in the 80s? anyway...totally dig how tfd weaves characters throughout the story. only problem is that the story is so complex now that i forget & confuse some of the details even though i've been through most of it twice. i 'think' i maybe the only one who thinks uona's family will try to hit back at zac in the future. maybe he could get a technique from them to advance his 1,000 axeman avatar. hey, that's a lottery ticket. lol zac's only downtime seems to be the amount of time it takes the system to set up his next challenge. zac's only 'escape' has been the time capsules. hopefully, our boi will get more than 3 normal years to strengthen his foundations more before pushing toward monarchy, butt i have a 'feeling' zac may experience an accidental protoworld creation b/c he's too op which will push him into his next adventure- overcoming 1/2 step issues. could force zac to find his mum and arcaz the abyssal shores leading to the sidris clan and his biological pops helping him go back to one to eventually defend his dao. butt that's just stream of consciousness spit ballin' lol
EsoEasy
Can anybody explain this line “The most obvious example was Alea’s skill [Fate’s Obduracy], where she sacrificed her foundations to seal an enemy’s fate”? I don’t remember how this skill caused Alea to somehow lose her foundations.
Mike Naka
@jeff looking forward to any crackpot theories ya got!
Rabauke
Where?
King Nereus
TFTC! Happy Holidays!
Jeff McCulley
And the Left Imperial Expanse is a LIE. Sheer coincidence, I’m sure.
Jeff McCulley
I am currently wondering whether we get a front row seat for Alea’s upgrade, or whether TFD considers this mini-arc a fait accompli, and moves on to the next. Just a reminder, I’m planning to post various analyses over the next couple of weeks. I’m probably wrong about lots of stuff, but it’s still fun to try. Thanks, TFD. Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to all!
Jeff McCulley
I would guess that Zac can bring the corpses of trial takers out of memory domains, but not the actual denizens. It might be interesting to see him try stashing them not in his Corpse Sack, but inside the Fuxi Gate to get them out. I think it would take a really interesting corpse to risk exhausting the Imperial Faith, though.
Owen Stevens
Left Imperial Palace
Michael Kawesa
What is "LIP"?
Timothy Dana
Maybe cosmic forge could allow for. mavai demons to be made into revenants
Omiso
An interesting question, I supposed it depends on the type of elemental and the proficiency of the lich that gets his hands on it. That said not all corpses can be brought back. Mavai Demons cannot be resurrected regardless of the state of their bodies, their inherent life attunement makes it impossible to add death into them. Other similarly attuned bodies, even with other Daos, might experience the same effect.
Omiso
"Sometimes, the safe path is a dead end. The road is narrow, and you need to seize the opportunities that come your way.” Reminds me of what happened to Reoluv Dravorak who despite being talented, motivated and well trained he chose strengthen himself as much as possible before the war began only to lose a chance to be in the top 10 and the quest it offered to Zac due to his lack of pre-war merit. Zac might not have a smooth and structured path of progression but he's always moving forward and making the best he can with the hands Fate deals him.
Markus
Does an elemental leaves a corpse behind and can Zac make undead elementals? Furthermore, can he bring corpses out of memory domains?
Jeff McCulley
I’ll blame autocorrect on Lex’s behalf. Though where Yonk came from, I’m too tired to Google right now
Chewbacchus
Typo: 'his teleporter, and his teleporter.'
Bailey Tucker
Only because you spelled it the same way twice, I believe the word is "yoink" to suddenly grab something
Chewbacchus
Edit suggestion: 'the touch of death[ly] wasn’t' either needs another word after deathly or to remove the ly
Joshua Little
Happy holidays, have a good one. See you next year. Thanks for the chapter.
Edgar Segura
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years I can't wait till you come back.
J L
you are one of the most consistent writers out there! happy holidays to all!
Azulmar
Big weapon upgrade cliff. The perfect gift for the holidays. Merry Christmas ya filthy animals.
Tommy
TFTC Enjoy the Xmas Break TFD. See y’all in 2025!
Amogh Lele
YOINK
Andrew
Thank you!
Lex Luther S
Ohhhhh seems I was right. An easy clean-up of the elemental while the real reason for this specific domain is to upgrade Alea. Can't wait to see the power loves bond will bring when upgraded to Middle D grade. I must say it was pretty funny seeing everything the elemental take out to combat zac just being "yonked" without him being able to do anything. She might be limited in her current form but she truly can steal anything from 90% of the trial takers with only the eonic monsters like Iz, the primordial and that baldie being the only few that could stop her. And in the end Esmeralda is also going to Yonk the curses true core too. Truly she is insatiable. Guess that's why she and zac have such good chemistry lol. Welp, from this Monday we'll have 2 weeks till the next chapter. Enjoy your break TFD. Look forward to Aleas breakthrough upon Defiance of the falls return.
Dominic Fox
Ehhhhhhhhh
Qybalt
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE
Qybalt
YES
