So one slipped through the cracks , after all , - Zac sighed .
Well , him running for his life toward the exit should help with the next part , - Null commented .
Not as much as his corpse would have , - Zac countered , turning to the unmoving bodies of the three fallen warriors .
Normally , the Mentalist wouldn’t have left a corpse after being captured by Pillar of Desolation] . However , Zac opted to decapitate him before he was turned into another statue , leaving him with a body almost a match to Vilari’s . Perhaps this one could become a disciple of hers after being awakened .
The trio joined the growing collection in his Corpse Sack while their rings entered one of his pockets . There was no time to go through his windfall right now . Anyone within miles would have been able to sense their battle , and Zac didn’t want to stick around in case a third party arrived to fish in muddy waters .
He briefly scanned his body as he ate a Pseudo D-grade Soldier Pill . He was actually in a pretty good state . His opponents this time were simply too unlucky . Their turtle strategy might have worked against most . Zac guessed less than fifty people in the Perennial Vastness would be able to break open that formation before they could finish their preparations .
But when faced with someone like Zac , they’d become sitting ducks locked on a path toward their doom . His body only suffered some fractures from fighting against the false god’s pressure . His soul was actually better off from when the fight began , as the Soulhaze Lily]’s energies still hadn’t been exhausted .
Zac gave the cave a quick look before flashing away , appearing at the exit . The storm still raged , which wasn’t a surprise considering less than three minutes had passed since he entered the cave . After scanning the surroundings with his soul and other senses , he stepped into the madness , continuing his journey toward the island’s edge .
He’d fought off the first wave of profiteers , but this tribulation was far from over . Even discounting the parties waiting on the other shores , there was one more enemy he had to deal with .
The Calamity itself and the vast chasm between him and the exit .
32
FINAL GAUNTLET
The air screamed , and a series of explosions ripped open a set of new wounds before Zac’s blood calmed the storm in his immediate vicinity . He was almost dragged to the sky , but he took out his bar of Nightblight Alloy] to anchor himself to the ground . The huge block was twisted and bent , with most of its spirituality gone . It had become scrap , but it was still heavy enough to serve its purpose .
It should last him until he left this place . And if not , he had more heavy materials prepared in his Spatial Ring .
As Zac expected , he didn’t need to travel far before reaching the island’s edge . Visibility was so bad he couldn’t even see a few meters ahead . He would probably have run right off the edge if not for his spiritual domain . The storm was more ferocious at the shores , where the downdraft agitated the immense amounts of energy around him . Unsurprisingly , neither beasts nor cultivators were waiting for him , like when he first jumped islands .
Just scanning the immediate vicinity was difficult , so spotting the starter island far in the distance was downright impossible . The chaotic storm drowned out all sounds and energy . There could be an all-out war raging on the other shores for all he knew .
Zac found a crevasse partly protected from the storm , and his ichor helped it become a temporary harbor against the madness . The idea was to use the shrouding effect of the storm to his advantage as he made his way to the teleporter . He was confident in being able to elude most people in this environment . And even if he were spotted , he could probably outrun them when utilizing the calming effect of his blood .
It was disallowed to stay in the immediate vicinity of the teleportation pillar for more than ten minutes . So long as he made it within a few hundred meters , he’d be safe . As far as he was concerned , the biggest hurdle was the vast gulf between himself and the next island . The problem was the same as what he’d encountered in the Twilight Chasm .
Jumping between the mountains had been a dangerous venture , where he risked being dragged into the depths by the powerful and erratic currents . Here , he faced a similar issue , and he didn’t have a bunch of throwaway flying treasures that could take the brunt of the impact . He had three gliders—the main one and two spares—but he didn’t expect them to last more than a few seconds before being ripped apart by the winds .
That didn’t mean the crossing was impossible . He’d considered this problem since the storm descended . This time , he hadn’t been dragged into the air like when he entered , and he’d already come up with multiple solutions . Still , Zac didn’t move , opting to observe the storm for a bit longer .
The more Zac looked , the more he felt there was an order to the madness of the Calamity . Perhaps order was the wrong term , but there were rules to the lack of rules in the endless war between Life and Death . Zac couldn’t pinpoint any patterns , it was more an instinctual thing . He didn’t know if it was intuition awarded by his path or lingering comprehension from the times he’d held true Chaos in his body . Either case , he felt a weak connection to the everchanging vista , a connection which grew stronger as time passed .
Nothing special happened for the next ten minutes . Zac saw no one cross the chasm , and no cultivators had passed by his hideout . Neither was there any news forthcoming from the Earth cultivator who managed to escape . If he hadn’t gotten any Kill Energy by this point , he had most likely survived . He hadn’t opted to send out a message like the leader of that other coalition he’d butted heads with . Which was a shame . Zac was a tad disappointed . A global message saying a lone Draugr was carrying the Calamity Core] would have been a good misdirect .
Suddenly , Zac’s eyes widened and he shot forward , the Void Energy in his body instantly transforming him into an abyssal wraith . It was intangible and the reasons were unclear , but this was his window of opportunity . Even the fierce winds slowed as the Calamity was reduced to a dour monochrome hue . His intangible form moved with speed and precision , weaving an intricate web between the greater accumulations of energy as he followed the guiding beacon of the teleportation pillar .
One thing was different since he’d taken the leap of faith between the mountains of the Twilight Chasm , apart from his strength being far greater . He’d since gained his Draugr Hidden Nodes , of which Adamance of Eoz] was incredibly useful in this situation . The gales and unstable energies tried to destabilize his skill and rip him apart , but he refused to give in .
The Hidden Node made him an immovable stone in a surging river . The effect had even grown more pronounced after he’d improved his Heart Cultivation . Zac had long since realized that the Draugr Nodes resonated with emotion . The more purpose that pushed you forward , the more the Abyss would provide .
It allowed Zac to resist having his vulnerable spectral form destroyed as he moved across the gulf . Even then , he had to endure an agonizing baptism for every meter he advanced . Eventually , he couldn’t hold on any longer , even if he hadn’t moved more than half the distance . At that very moment , the surroundings darkened , and a bloodied Zac appeared in the air , grinning upon seeing a huge piece of rock falling toward his location .
The boulder was hundreds of meters across , its sheer mass subduing the storm around it as it fell toward him . Whatever kept the mountains and islands afloat was still acting upon the massive boulder , and it descended with less than half the expected speed . This was exactly what he thought he’d sensed in the storm and why he shot out from his hiding place . His instincts proved him right , even if his position was slightly off .