Chapter 1,384 – Ancient Intent

The safest option would be discarding the intent instead of passing on the buck. That route was also impossible. The Killing Intent was true to its name. It existed with immutable intention, and overruling its will was impossible at Zac’s level. Just thinking about forcibly extracting it made warning sirens go off in Zac’s mind.

Refining the intent with [Void Heart] was equally unfeasible. This batch of Killing Intent wouldn’t just blow [Void Heart] to smithereens, it would possibly wreck his personal Void. While the pure intent was closer to the intangible force of Heart Cultivation than Dao or energy, it was at a level far beyond his bloodline’s ability to control.

It was also for that reason Zac was reluctant just to throw it away. It didn’t feel like the warriors had left it with him for no reason, and interacting with such powerful yet docile Killing Intent was a huge opportunity. Even if he couldn’t control it, the intent held tremendous research value. It was giving him a masterclass in truly harnessing the power of one’s Killing Intent. Kator’s manipulation was a paltry trick in comparison to this natural command.

Hopefully his other half would see things the same way.

Zac quickly went through a series of test until figuring out a viable transfer method. Using his Earthly Dao of Defiant War as a lure, Zac attracted the intent into his Duplicity Core and Soul Aperture. From there, roughly half of it moved over to his other body on its own. Zac repeated the process over and over, each cycle lessening Saṃghāta’s crushing pressure. Better yet, Zac managed to ferry over huge amounts of Crushing Death with each cycle since it followed the intent.

Ninety-five percent proved to be the limit. Not because of a problem with his method, but because the first surge of Killing Intent—the one he received upon communicating with the Eternal Avenger—ignored his attempts at drawing it over. It doggedly continued its steady journey through his body, cycle after cycle.

Zac was exhausted at that point, and he gave up trying any further. More than fifty bones across his body had shattered under the Crushing Hell’s punishment, and his insides felt like mush. At least he was alive, and the remaining sliver of Killing Intent didn’t add enough pressure to worsen his wounds any further.

It did, however, more than double the usual pressure. Adding his weakened state from [Arcadian Crusade]’s backlash, Zac couldn’t so much as move a finger. As for finding his companions? They’d simply have to come to him. With the Sangha continuously being pushed back, his current position was possibly the safest place in Saṃghāta.

Zac only had to wait ten minutes before Tavza returned to his side. He wanted to get up and greet her, but his body may as well have been glued to the ground. Zac settled for an ugly smile that he hoped conveyed that he was better off than he looked.

At that point, the gains to his Imperial Merit had drastically slowed down. It matched the empire’s advance grinding to a halt. While the Sangha’s plot didn’t work out as hoped, they were still a force to be reckoned with. While the empire’s champions used slaughter to empower themselves, the Buddhist apparitions used their own suffering to be reborn with greater merit and deeper enlightenment.

“I’m sorry, it took us a while to find an opening,” Tavza explained.

Apart from a slightly unstable aura and weakened bloodline pressure, it didn’t look like the Sangha’s descent had caused her any major harm. Most likely, they’d retreated in time when the apparitions began appearing.

It took a moment for Zac to notice that the Draugr had brought a pale-faced Ogras with her. She held the demon by his ankle and dragged him along like a sack. While Ogras was in a better state than Zac, he had clearly suffered more since they parted. His face was as pale as a sheet, and his aura was unstable. Zac could sense lingering traces of Dharma in his shadows. Ogras clearly hadn’t managed to resist the eruption as well as Tavza, and the Karmic Energy was amplifying Saṃghāta’s pressure.

“Is this what counts as being immune to Karma?” Tavza continued with a shake of her head. “So much for escaping the falling Heavens.”

“He’s still in one piece, isn’t he?” Ogras countered with a weak grin.

Zac tried to explain his predicament was brought by something else, but all that came out of his mouth was a strained. “Auerh?”

Communicating telepathically was also a no-go. That ability along with his Soul Sense had been forced back into his aperture. It was at that point the horizon lit up with golden light. Zac frowned, sensing that one of the Eternal Avengers had fallen. It was the first and undoubtedly not the last. The spiritual automatons might have unlimited lifespan, but they were spending large amounts of energy to push back the invaders.

“I thought the baldies were supposed to be vegetarians. They’re putting up quite the fight. I guess they’re not too happy about having a second plane snatched out of their hands,” Ogras muttered. “Bastards who won’t even spare innocent bystanders.”

“This is what you get for running around harvesting lives like they’re nothing. We’re living in the Era of Order, and Balance is Heavenly Law. You won’t have to wait for the Sangha to punish you if you two keep things up,” Tavza chided.

“How about we do the sermon after we’re out of here?” Ogras said. “Girl, why are you staring at me like that? I’m sure I told you not to go falling in love.”

Tavza glanced down at Ogras. “It would be quite easy for me to kill you right now.”

“But then the lost son of the Abyssal Shores wouldn’t look on you so kindly anymore,” Ogras grinned, not the least fazed. “And then who’d take you on all these fun little escapades?”

“Eurugh,” Zac agreed with a failed attempt at a nod.

Tavza exhaled, and Zac was happy to find his treatment much better. Instead of being dragged by his ankle like a sack of garbage, Zac was hoisted under Tarvza’s free arm. Ogras muttered something about discrimination under his breath until his complaints were silenced by smacking into a piece of rubble left from the shattered boulders.

“Let’s go. I’ve already traced the source of Imperial Faith. The realmgate should be there,” Tavza said, ignoring Ogras’s loud curses.

For a moment, Zac glimpsed a trace of a smile on Tavza’s face. Then, the world turned into a blur as Tavza rushed off toward their next adventure.

————

After witnessing Sevona’s final journey and the betrayal of her closest confidante, the dream quickly turned into a nightmare. Zac was dragged through contradictory and surreal scenes one after another, which grew increasingly twisted by the corruption. From what Zac could tell, they were scenes of the real hunts, providing glimpses of the kingdom’s past.

Since Zac felt no immediate danger to his life or his mind, he allowed himself being dragged along. He hoped the taint-laden visions could provide clues of what the invaders were up to and the Lost Plane’s connection to Sevona’s Kingdom.

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