Defiance of the Fall

The world suddenly stilled , and even the Late-stage Beast Kings halted their advance . It was like an ancestor had descended upon the realm , and the Calamity’s Dao offered obeisance . It didn’t dare create a scene when faced with the true Terminus of its existence . Zac’s body no longer mirrored the world outside . One was calm ; the other was in absolute disorder .

The vast amounts of energy had formed a fourth Glimpse of Chaos , and all his breakthroughs since the Orom World had done little to withstand its effect . He could only hold on to it for a short window , and he needed to make it count . Thousands of possibilities and urges filled his mind , but he held onto a seed of clarity as he corralled the drained Remnants back into their prison .

He could tell this was the last time . The cage was teetering on the brink of collapse , with the runes barely having withstood six Remnants fighting for a minute . Four sets would be able to break out anytime they wanted after they’d recovered from the extraction . Hopefully , they wouldn’t figure that out before Zac found the fifth pair and was ready for Atavism .

Whatever happened at that point would break the status quo of the past two decades . One is an eternal curse , two is a calamity . Five is Atavism , where five lingering resentments form a consciousness . He didn’t know why he knew , but that would be a tipping point . He would either take control of the Remnants or be consumed by their immortal will . No matter the outcome , there would be no need for a prison .

The people in the visions had known the same thing and felt it was an unavoidable tribulation to accomplish their goals . Was that the trap within those visions? Were the Remnants trying to give him a false sense of security , all the while leading him to his doom? Zac shook his head . He’d still keep going even if it were a trap . He believed Be’Zi wasn’t trying to harm him when she gave him that mission .

More importantly , he believed in himself and his ability to turn a disaster into an opportunity . In either case , it was a worry for later . He had decades to shore up his heart and soul before the deadline . The ethereal tranquility of the Calamity only lasted a moment before a boundless presence forced its way into the scene . Gold and black flames were pushed away as clouds painted in blue and the imperial gold of the System descended .

The System’s presence subdued the Dao itself , and the Calamity fully ground to a halt . The remnant energies of the broken stars turned into two dense clouds about to form a hurricane . Zac could picture the kind of mayhem such a development would bring to the Calamity . Between such vast amounts of amassed energy and the infusion of Creation and Oblivion , it wouldn’t be too surprising if another source of Chaos was born .

Of course , Zac could tell it wasn’t fated to be .

Chaos raged through his body , his efforts at containing it in his chest almost useless . It left immense damage in its wake , but the torture brought a temporary state of clarity . The Remnants had slowly transformed the stars , but they were still over 90% Life and Death . And the Oblivion and Creation it held was fractured , incomplete . It wouldn’t be enough to converge into one .

The hurricane was destined to collapse before it formed , unleashing an unprecedented storm . The insight filled Zac with lamentation . The situation was an expression of the difficulty of his chosen path , a reminder of the dangers he’d face even if he’d finally reached this step . But the scene held the seed of possibility , a small ray of hope .

Zac’s gaze turned , peering through endless layers of restrictions and energy . Far in the distance , a much greater storm raged . A storm that would make even Autarch tread with care , where Oblivion and Creation were more common than Life and Death—the true face of the Calamity .

The Dao of Chaos allowed him to see the whole picture . Of course , he wasn’t the System’s only source of Chaos . The whole Calamity was a huge Chaos Generator that occasionally exposed a piece of the tapestry before destabilizing . Zac’s attention shifted to the two tyrants who floated a few hundred meters away .

Their bodies trembled under his gaze , but they could not leave when held in place by the System .

I’m sorry . You are innocent bystanders in this , - Zac said . - I ruined your home and cut off your cultivation . But in a way , I saved you from a tragedy down the road . As such , our Karma has concluded . -

A rumble in the sky expressed the System’s impatience , and Zac looked up with a smile as the Glimpse of Chaos emerged from his chest . - You know the rules . This time , I’m not asking for much . -