Defiance of the Fall

Zac took out a Healing Pill as he took in the surroundings . It was a familiar yet foreign scene . The upper layer of the Calamity was mostly more of the same , but everything was magnified . The innumerable suns were larger and more radiant , resulting in greater ambient energies . That , in turn , generated more ferocious storms .

In such an environment , the smaller islands of the lower region wouldn’t survive for long . The upper islands were fewer but much larger , and Zac spotted three hulking Calamity Mountains floating in the distance . More importantly , he vaguely felt a hint of his target coming from somewhere above . The fluctuations were weak , but it was unmistakably Creation and Oblivion .

It could have been just a natural occurrence of the Daos . The environment was certainly energy-dense enough to form at least some hints of the upper Daos of the Peak of Chaos . The Remnants were stirring in his mind , though , confirming it wasn’t some random treasure that had been born .

Zac soon reached the island , where he was greeted by two powerful presences locking onto him . He hesitated a moment before releasing his aura . He only did so momentarily before restraining it as he ran , keeping to the shores . The pressure receded soon after , and the owners never made an appearance .

Those auras likely belonged to Middle-stage Beast Kings , but they hadn’t bothered with him after confirming he was just crossing the area . The aura he’d released was also enough to give them pause , and these beasts were smart enough to understand he wasn’t looking to take anyone’s lair like the vagabonds .

Not all beasts were so pragmatic , and Zac was forced into one pitched battle after another through his ascent . Some beasts were simply stupid and aggressive . Others wanted to gobble him up to improve their cultivation . After all , he was essentially a Supreme Natural Treasure with his attuned constitutions to the beasts of the Calamity . The constant harassment was annoying , but it wasn’t at the level of Endless Cerulean .

And the call urged him on .

It didn’t take long for the intangible feeling of the Remnants to turn into something clear . He could sense both splinter and shard above , and they seemed to be quite close to each other . A day passed , and he finally spotted the source . He’d just crossed a huge island that was more like a flat hill , possibly the broken-off base of a Calamity Mountain , and his destination was finally in full view .

It wasn’t a Calamity Mountain as he’d expected , but rather two suns locked in orbit with each other . They were slowly rotating just outside each other’s reach , like duelists circling their opponent in search of an opening . You didn’t need to have your head crammed full of ancient horrors to realize there was something different about these two suns compared to the others . The darkness of the Death-attuned star was much deeper , like the orb atop his Pillar of Desolation] .

Just looking at it left Zac’s eyes stinging , and his mind turned sluggish as the Dao within tried to erase his thoughts , even his soul . The golden sun was filled with vigor , pulsating like it was about to go supernova . It constantly released erratic solar flares that contained opalescent flames that filled Zac’s mind with ideas .

It was clear , however , that these suns weren’t purely made from Oblivion and Creation . The vast majority was still Life and Death , just like the rest of the suns in the Red Zone . Zac remembered the visions of the Heart of Oblivion and Spark of Creation . How they’d roved the universe , consuming and destroying to fuel their path . Most likely , the Remnants had entered two normal suns , attaching themselves like parasites to siphon off their energy .

There was also a smattering of small moons floating around the suns , forming a confusing pattern around their respective element . Zac wasn’t in any hurry to fly over since the island he was on was drifting closer , so he hid and observed the situation . The small moons looked inert , but they gave Zac a dangerous feeling .

As expected , something changed after two hours when a fifty-meter-long bird draped in beautiful golden feathers emerged from one of the satellites . It released a preening cry filled with the Dao of Life and hunger before jumping off . Zac frowned as the bird shot straight for the unstable sun . He wanted to intervene , but the bird was an Early Hegemon that excelled at speed .

It turned into a golden streak of light as it shot into the outer corona . A desolate cry echoed through the region before the quiet resumed . A minute later , a scorched and mutated miscreation dropped out of the flames , falling toward the storm curtain far below . Zac sighed as he looked at the burning carcass . The Remnant’s call of unfettered possibility had probably corroded its mind .