Zac had soon damaged over a dozen loopholes and destroyed four array pillars , but he was increasingly filled with misgivings . Why didn’t it work? The energy was still building , and the blank spot was being filled in with speed visible to the naked eye . His eyes turned to the puppet , or rather the elevated stage it sat upon .
It had to be the dais . It somehow maintained operations like a backup generator . The first streams of the energy tsunami outside had already started to pour into it , and Zac was no longer sure it would help even if he ripped apart the whole array . Were they too late? Had the inner array already been completed to such an extent it could perform whatever it needed to do?
Zac wracked his brain for solutions . The dais felt like an impregnable fortress . Its energy emanations were as stable as a mountain ; there were no weaknesses . Not to mention the terrifying puppet that sat atop it like a silent guardian . What if it woke up when someone invaded its personal space?
Nothing ventured , nothing gained . Zac gritted his teeth and shot forward . If there were no weaknesses , he’d just have to create one .
Verun’s Bite] was deposited into Zac’s Spatial Ring as two energy streams entered his shoulders . Meanwhile , small motes of unfettered potential were extracted from Zac’s cells , joining the two streams that continued from his shoulders into his arms . A glistening light of possibilities appeared between his hands . Destroying the array hadn’t worked as he’d hoped , so Zac switched up his tactics .
If he couldn’t stop the process , he’d corrupt it .
The Origin Mark] greedily swallowed the immense energies in the surroundings , quickly growing to the size of a cantaloupe . Zac felt himself rapidly losing control , but that was fine . With a few steps , he appeared in front of the dais , the opalescent blob between his hands having paved a path through the storm . There was no time to look for an optimal spot , so Zac urgently pushed the Origin Mark] into a random rune .
And he was immediately filled with a sense of doom as the sky darkened . Zac’s heart hammered as he glanced up , horrified to see a huge metallic face expressionlessly gaze down upon him . Zac tried to flash away with Earthstrider] , but it was like time had stopped . The puppet didn’t seem to move quickly , but Zac had no time to react before it pointed at him .
A scream of mortal peril forced Zac’s body to move on its own , and he furiously leaned to the side . Blinding agony followed , and Zac howled with pain as his left arm and shoulder were shredded .
The puppet had just lightly tapped the air , but the force was enough to launch Zac like a cannon . He slammed into the atrium walls and his vision closed in . Then , there was just darkness .
An itching fire forced the darkness away , and Zac’s eyes shot wide open . Zac’s mind was mush , and he looked around with confusion . Kruta was there . The barbarian held a small vial containing some extremely pungent liquid under his nose , which had probably forced him awake .
Wh— - Zac groaned .
The spirits outside disintegrated and were dragged here , - Kruta whispered , but he didn’t look the least bit relieved . - Did it work? -
Zac blearily turned toward the dais while trying to sense the mark he’d left .
I don’t— - Zac stammered but was interrupted by the whole platform exploding . - Uh . . . -
Kruta and Zac blankly looked on as the puppet collapsed . Meanwhile , energy flooded out of the ground and shot toward the sky as though a pressure valve had broken . Zac could barely believe it worked , but joy turned to horror as the puppet slowly stood up despite the array’s apparent collapse .
Run! - Zac screamed , but it was too late .
Not because Saeward’s coming alive , but because a new player had entered the fray . The sky rumbled , and the world practically ground to a halt . An ancient and boundless wrath suppressed the air of resentment and bloodlust . The Dao shied away , leaving an exposed puppet staring at the sky .
The Heavens had descended , and it was out for blood .
58
IMPERFECTIONS AND TRIBULATIONS
The sky roiled , and the world was filled with an intense purple light that almost veered into a bloody red . The Tribulation Lightning was reflected in the puppet’s eyes , and Zac sensed something stirring awake inside .
The intensity of the tribulation was far beyond what Zac had felt during his own , and his hair stood on end upon sensing the boundless energy inside arcs of lightning that gathered above his head . Even an errant streak would maim and possibly kill him , and he was way too close to the puppet for comfort .
Luckily , the puppet , or Saeward , was too busy preparing for his tribulation to bother with the two intruders at the atrium’s edge . It was calling all the Red Zone’s energy home , and the cyclone of resentment formed a dense barrier around it . A barrier full of imperfections .
Zac finally understood what their previous sabotage had accomplished . There were over a dozen small holes in the barrier , matching the number and locations Zac had attacked before . Furthermore , there was a larger gap in the shield , likely because the tribulation was summoned before the array could finish forming .
A barrier was only as strong as its weakest spots . Even if the loopholes were filled in by the nigh endless amounts of energy in the atrium , so what? Those sections would still crumble under the Tribulation Lightning . Zac guessed he’d accidentally made Saeward’s breakthrough far more dangerous . What if he found out?
Zac tried to move , but the pressure was overwhelming . Void Zone] was no good either . The nullification zone was ripped apart , and some of that boundless wrath targeted him momentarily before returning to the puppet . Zac felt like he’d just had a brush with death . Did the Heavens take offense to him trying to rid a region of all Dao?
What do we do? - Zac said through grit teeth , arduously turning to Kruta , who also found himself stuck against the wall .
The barbarian didn’t look too worried , which alleviated some of Zac’s own misgivings .
It’s wrong , - Kruta said with a hoarse voice . - The tribulation is far from what it should be . -
Zac understood what the Kruta meant . The crackling lightning was terrifying , but he was just an E-grade cultivator . He’d seen a few examples of a Monarch’s might , and this light was far from reaching that level . Was the Perennial Vastness blocking out the ancient Heavens? Or had it somehow modified the tribulation to create a scenario more suited for guests?
We should be fine as long as we don’t do anything stupid , - Kruta added , giving Zac a pointed look . - Don’t try to mess with the tribulation . The tribulation will only target the puppet . Saeward isn’t defending his Dao , so it should be a Two-cycle tribulation that targets his Inner World . The fallout shouldn’t affect us . However , if we interfere , we’ll be dragged into the tribulation . -
What if the puppet targets us? - Zac countered . - It blasted off my arm with a simple gesture . -
Well . . . - Kruta coughed before smiling helplessly . - Everyone’s journey has to end one way or another . -
That’s just— - Zac said , but his words were interrupted by a deafening rumble as the world turned purple .
A scream of danger warned him , in no uncertain terms , that they weren’t quite as safe as Kruta indicated , and he urgently activated Empyrean Aegis] . A golden shimmer enclosed him and Kruta , and Zac was relieved to sense that the five pillars had been conjured outside the atrium . Kruta added another layer of defense by summoning a bone bulwark , and it rose before them just in time to block out a tremendous shockwave chock-full of Conflict and Resentment .
The bone wall was shredded , having absorbed most of the initial blast . Zac and Kruta only suffered some lacerations from the condensed Dao , but Zac barely noticed it as he looked at the scene ahead . A solid pillar of lightning seemed frozen in the air , cutting his vision in two . It contained boundless energy and that ancient , punishing will .