Defiance of the Fall

It was lucky as well , as a huge taloned claw tore into the star right at his heels . A whole section of the Oblivion Sun was ripped out , exposing the local tyrant . It was a skeletal monstrosity over one hundred meters long , its bones covered in black flames that resembled fur . It reminded Zac of the Gwyllgi back home , except for its size and two wings made of burning bones that didn’t seem attached to its main body .

Zac didn’t know if it had been raised from the bones of a fallen beast or if it was something that was naturally born that way . Either case , the Beast King emitted a murderous aura , and it wasn’t sparing any effort to deal with him . It was willing to carve off a good chunk of the star to kill Zac .

Thankfully , it wasn’t quick enough , and Zac appeared at the edge of the scar just as the claw passed . Deep wounds covered his whole body after forcibly using his movement skill in such an unstable environment , but surface wounds beat being swiped by a Late-stage Beast King .

A deadly flame grew in the Gwyllgi’s maw , but Zac didn’t bother activating any defensive layers . Only Pillar of Desolation] had a chance at withstanding the thing , and that skill couldn’t be activated in this environment . Zac desperately dug on as more Oblivion was extracted from his mind .

A second Annihilation Sphere] tore through the inner core while swallowing the ambient Oblivion . Zac was fast losing control , but he furiously held onto his will . The splinter was just ahead , and Zac grinned upon sensing it had detached itself from the sun’s core . Did it feel its siblings , perhaps , and wanted to swim over?

Zac was soon forced to throw away the Annihilation Sphere] , and it erased a huge swathe of the magma barring his path . His mind screamed of danger , and not because of the sun rapidly destabilizing from the punishment it had been forced to endure . The Gwyllgi’s all-out attack was fast drawing closer .

Zac wouldn’t make it in time , so he forcibly activated Abyssal Phase] again , even if he knew it would damage the fractal .

It was narrowly enough to cross the void created by his outburst of Oblivion . On the other side was a smooth sphere of solid black . Zac didn’t know exactly what it was , but he suspected it was a special shell protecting the sun’s core—a shell that was now cracked , leaking vast amounts of energy . Zac could feel it just on the other side , and his arm squeezed into the crack . The world slowed as extinction poured into his arm , and a smile spread across Zac’s lips .

So far , so good .

74

ALL FOR ONE’S DREAM

The usually crowded Road of Repentance was abandoned . The hawkers had abandoned their stalls where they stood , and the enshrined patrons were without reverend attendants . A suffocating silence held the road in its grip , and his approach only amplified it . The sound of his boots stepping on the glazed tiles were annihilated , creating the illusion of illusion .

The same was true for the birdcage hanging from a chain wrapped around his left arm . Oblivion swept away the anguished screams of the men and women trapped inside . They only got to live on in his mind for a brief instant before being forever erased from the river of time . Some thought him a ghost , and while his corporeity was still there , they weren’t exactly wrong . Since he accepted this path , he’d become the ghost of future’s sin .

It all had to be torn down before it was too late .

The walls of Emyr’s Sanctuary rose toward the sky , a bastion of salvation that served as a both administrative and spiritual capital for eons . False salvation , certainly , but he still felt a muted pang of sorrow that his path led him back here . The fact he felt anything at all proved the centuries spent inside these vermillion walls weren’t so easily erased .

Atop the ramparts stood the Celestial Guard , thousands of them decked in glistening armor . He could feel the fear , the hatred , the despair . The four outer sanctuaries had already fallen by his hands , where utter nothingness was left in his wake . Yet they stood tall , remembering their training and their oaths .

Above the central gate floated a vaguely familiar face , her expression marred by sorrow rather than the mixed bag of the soldiers below her . He tried to remember who this priestess was , but he couldn’t match it with those he knew during his years in Emyr’s Sanctuary . Then again , it was all so blurry . She clearly recognized him yet dared to fly out of the protective barrier to speak with him .

Lord Norosa , you have to stop! -

Norosa . . . A name I haven’t heard in a long time , - he spoke , his voice gravelly from disuse .

It’s not too late to turn back . You are inviting a Calamity . On yourself , on the citizens of the Holy Empire! - the priestess entreated . - You said the core tenet of the clergy was to serve . Is this how you serve? -

So , it was her .