Defiance of the Fall

It was as though the world turned white with that swing , and nothing existed except its almighty arc expanding outward . Nothing could withstand it . The celestial soldiers were dismembered without managing to even muster up a defense .

The pillars shattered , and the Titans roared and tried to defend against the wave with their superior physiques . It was to no avail as they crumbled when the wave passed through them .

Some of the leaders frantically summoned awe-inspiring amounts of cosmic energy to muster up defenses that left Zac in shock . Others ripped open tears in the air itself to escape , shock and horror visible on their faces . But the blade arc pushed through and crushed the defenses like dry twigs , annihilating the last remnants of the army . Soon after even the void was split apart and dismembered body parts were thrown out of jagged rifts , and Zac could see it was the leaders that had tried fleeing through the void .

Zac’s vision started to blur , but the last thing he saw before everything faded was a hideous scar on the ground that stretched to the horizon . It looked like the world itself was maimed , and vast amounts of cosmic energy bled through the gash .

Zac’s vision returned to the canyon and the huge axe . Only now he understood it wasn’t a canyon , but the rift caused by that endlessly powerful axe-swing . The once celestial vision he had seen during the battle was gone , replaced with the empty desolation of a dead world .

Zac’s emotions were in turmoil after the battle . He had become steady as a rock after over a thousand battles on the island , but he wasn’t prepared for what he had seen . Who was that man , and why was that army trying to fight him?

Was that how a war in the multi-verse looked? If so , then earth was well and truly screwed . If someone arrived on earth with only a fraction of the power of the man with the axe , then there was nothing the earthlings could do . It would be like ants trying to stop a tank .

Furthermore , he didn’t understand why he was shown this vision . He had just gotten the skill Axe Mastery and suddenly was transported here .

As he was pondering what it all meant the gigantic axe started emitting a blinding light . When he turned his eyes over to the weapon the light intensified and suddenly the axe was gone .

In its place was a large fractal that shared the same general outline as the axe . It also emitted extreme pressure , making Zac feel as though he could somehow be cleaved in two from this pattern as well .

The fractal didn’t stay still for long , and suddenly started to shrink . When it had shrunk into the size of his palm it suddenly shot toward him like a bullet . Aghast Zac tried to dodge . It truly felt like the monstrous axe was charging at him .

It was to no avail however , and it slammed right into his forehead . Zac froze , not daring to move an inch .

Luckily the release of death didn’t arrive , and he found out he was completely fine . The fractal hadn’t cut him but somehow entered his head instead . He could now sense its existence in his mind , and it hovered there now seemingly inert .

Finally , he bit his finger making a small bleeding wound , and willed himself back to reality . He opened his eyes , still sitting in his small hideout . He was shocked to notice that he was completely soaked in sweat and drained of cosmic energy . It also seemed that hours had passed , rather than minutes as it had felt like , since the suns had moved quite a distance in the sky . But as he looked down on his finger it was whole and without any wound .

It seemed that the experience had truly been an illusion . He was already somewhat sure of that but had cut his finger just to be certain . He knew the System was no stranger to teleportation from how it sent away Hannah and her friends , and needed to know if he was in actual danger if it happened again .

For a final test , he tried to enter the mystic space once more , but nothing happened . It seemed it was a one-time opportunity he had received . He was at least happy to notice that the mysterious axe fractal actually had remained in his mind , as he could still perceive it outside of the illusion .

He was quite sure that the new fractal was the axe mastery skill that he had received , but he had no idea how to utilize it as of yet . He had initially planned on heading back to camp to finish his Chop quest as well , but he changed his mind .

He believed he saw those scenes for a reason and wanted to go over it while the memories were still fresh . So instead he rested his back against the tree trunk and once again closed his eyes .

Chapter 38 - Insight

Zac’s instincts told him that what he had seen had been important . So he tried to burn every feeling and impression to his memory .