Chapter 1,389 – Sabotage

“That’s new,” Esmeralda commented as she emerged from the Shrine of Kanba. “Call me a cynic, but I don’t think it’s a good omen.”

“You could say that,” Zac grunted with a hoarse voice, glancing at the sky.

The magic circle looked eight parts identical to the one he saw on the other side. Luckily, it was more of a shadow than the real thing, and it both lacked the thousands of supportive arrays and the castle that propped up the original. Still, the fraction of the power it emitted was enough to keep the clouds at bay.

The scene didn’t make sense. By all rights, the faded circle shouldn’t have the strength to hold off Sevona’s clouds. They were empowered by the island itself. What they lacked in origins compared to the magic circle, they more than made up for in raw power. Zac couldn’t be sure, but he almost felt the clouds were confused. Rather than resisting through sheer force, the circle had tricked the Natural Formations it was part of the island.

The disguise wasn’t perfect, seeing as the clouds were still pushing back with some effort, but the circle was growing stronger rather than weaker. Were the desert castles acting as tuning forks, forcing the two timelines to overlap?

‘Did you see the other side too?’ Zac asked, switching to telepathic communication just in case.

Esmeralda shook her head. ‘I sensed something happened to you, but I was busy keeping the fluctuations at a minimum.’

Esmeralda’s expression grew somber as Zac explained the situation. ‘Strings? Like the threads of countless timelines? I think… This is not just about opening a larger portal to the true dimension. The invaders are using Sevona’s Lodge as a beachhead to fight over the Omnipresence Chamber.’

‘All the more reason to stop them,’ Zac said, suddenly realizing Idiche hadn’t said a word since they passed through.

He turned around, finding her staring at empty space with glassy eyes. “Are you okay?”

When Idiche didn’t answer, Zac placed his hand on her shoulder and infused her with Void Energy and Dao. The former was freely allowed entry while the latter was fiercely rejected by something in her upper spine. It gave off the same ancient aura he’d seen in Idiche’s eyes when she was asleep. That power was now resisting the large amounts of corruption that had entered Idiche’s Soul Aperture, and it had marked Zac’s Dao of Death as an accomplice.

Zac immediately retracted his Dao before joining forces with the mysterious power. He dragged a decent chunk of corruption back into [Purity of the Void] to be refined. The parts that resisted his call were hit with Void Energy, resulting in mutual destruction. Zac erased a large swathe of madness in one go before retracting his energy. What remained should be well within Idiche’s means of dealing with herself.

“That… What…” Idiche whispered a minute later, her expression still vacant.

“Like I said, the whispers are lying.”

“But… what they said was so real,” Idiche exhaled after gathering her bearings. “It felt like the insights I had while dreaming were right within my grasp.”

“There is a seed of powerful enlightenment hidden in the corruption, and that’s how it gets you,” Zac said with a shrug. “You think you’re using it to break through your limitations, not realizing it’s already shifted the goalposts. Soon enough, you don’t recognize your old self. Finally, only its malevolence remains. You’ll understand what I mean when we finally face the invaders.”

“You seem to speak from experience,” Idiche said with suspicion. “I’ve seen how eagerly you’ve been collecting those crystals. You’d do well to remember your own warning.”

“That’s different. The princess is interested in these things,” Zac quickly said, all while knowing there was a seed of truth to what Idiche said.

Zac couldn’t get reliant on Ultom’s insight to the point he lost the ability to solve his cultivation issues on his own. Then again, taking the time to figure things out without external aid was a luxury Zac had never been afforded since embarking on the road of cultivation. Only his years in the Perennial Vastness came close to the centuries of status quo that most cultivators enjoyed.

“I don’t think our actions were exposed, but we should move out just in case,” Esmeralda said.

Zac nodded, once more taking the lead as they inched their way toward the hidden valley. They soon realized that while the ambient energy was incredibly dense, there were no Natural Formations to confound them. Progress was so effortless that they had to stop a few times to confirm that they hadn’t wandered into a powerful illusion.

They hadn’t, and it only took them ten minutes to reach a secluded slope that overlooked the valley. Most of the space was occupied by a lake that made Zac think of how his Soul Aperture looked once upon a time. Instead of seas of Life and Death crashing against each other, the lake was a mix of intensely pure corruption and equally frightening illusory water. There was even a battered island in the middle, like his Soul Core.

Judging by the altar being erected on the solitary island, Sevona’s efforts to stem the invasion were about to be undone.

“So, this is where they all ended up,” Esmeralda whispered as they observed the scene.

A few figures were putting the finishing touches on the altar while even more invaders were methodically laying out a complex array that spanned the whole island. A quick headcount put their numbers at eighteen, with six more placing array flags around the lake. They’d also expanded the canal that funneled rainwater out of the valley. Underground rivers appeared to supply some water to the lake, but the loss was clearly greater than what was replenished now that the rain had stopped.

There was no need to perform scans on this group. Not only did the altar radiate the aura of the Lost Plane, but most of the workers used corrupted energy to install the grand array. Like the group they saw outside, they clearly saw no need to hide their actions. Zac could see why. It would have required effort and some luck to reach this region without finding the shortcut beneath the mountain.

“What is it? What are they doing?” Idiche asked. “Wait, I know these people! More than half of them are from the Hastor Society.”

Zac vaguely recalled the Hastor Society. It was different from the Explorer’s Guild, which took in people from all corners of the Mercurial Courts. The society was mainly made up of descendants of Clan Hastor, with the rest being hangers-on and supporters of the family. The Mercurial Court neither condoned nor suppressed families from growing strong, and there were a few dozen who’d managed to form stable legacies within the sect.

Apparently, you’d see this phenomenon in most sects, even if having powerful families risked weakening the sect’s authority. Ventus, being one of Radiant Temple’s external recruits, had repeatedly complained about the noble families back home. The sect leadership generally looked the other way so long as the families didn’t go overboard. Of course, there was more than one sect that eventually ended up being a clan in all but name.

“Damn, when did Zorm form his Inner World? I just saw him a few months ago. He didn’t have the aura of someone accumulating for a breakthrough. Was he replaced, or was he concealing himself?” Idiche said, envy clear on her face.

Idiche was referring to the sole Monarch on the island. Seeing his burly figure and that he mostly oversaw the work, Zac suspected he leaned toward a martial path. His aura was unstable, indicating his Inner World still hadn’t fully stabilized. Even so, he posed a formidable threat.

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Suddenly, Idiche’s gaze sharpened with anger and confusion, and she spat through grit teeth, “How can he still emit Imperial Faith if he’s betrayed the empire?”

Zorm wasn’t the only one. The whole array was made from an unholy mix of Faith, Time, and the Lost Plane’s corruption.

“They probably think they’re the true inheritors of the Imperial Fate,” Zac shrugged. “You’ve felt the corruption. It can turn black to white.”

“Fine, I suppose that’s not the real issue,” Idiche slowly said. “This lineup… I don’t think we can stop them. The Hastor Society is made up of brutes. I can’t deal with too many. I might be able to delay Zorm for a minute or two, but that’s if he doesn’t use that scary energy.”

“What if you fall asleep first?” Esmeralda curiously asked.

“I’m afraid it won’t change the outcome. Our problem is not just Zorm. I feel a vague threat from someone hiding in the shadows. There should be another Monarch lurking about,” Zac said. “And different from those drakes, these people have the home-field advantage. I don’t see us winning unless we can split them up somehow.”

“I thought I’d taught you better than this. There are more answers than straightforward violence, you know,” Esmeralda complained. “Let the Great Esmeralda show you how to deal with this mess. Just get ready to mop up the aftermath.”