The world-ending clashes of Life and Death outside shook the Calamity as the two broken stars collided . The unique energy signature of Creation encountered Oblivion all around him , and he almost felt like he and the stars were one . Was this how Catheya felt upon harmonizing with the world?
Possibly , though Zac knew it wasn’t the same . Harmonization was likely impossible for him to begin with . How would you possibly connect with the Heavens without any affinities? His perception was from having his soul overloaded by Oblivion and Creation , just like the stars had been for centuries .
Thousands of eruptions added to the turmoil around him every second , each powerful enough to rip Beast Kings to shreds . The orbiting moons had already collapsed , and Zac could guess the fates of their inhabitants . Only the two leaders remained , but not even they were able to easily endure the explosions . Yet they pressed toward him , their killing intent dense enough to twist the air .
With the shard snatched just like the splinter , the Gwyllygi no longer had any reason to impede its nemesis . Instead , they found themselves in the same boat and teamed up to deal with him . Zac guessed they wanted to make him spit out the Remnants before moving them to a new set of suns . Or perhaps finally consume the items themselves .
They were much too late for that .
The storm raged , the sky rumbled , yet Zac was removed from it all . He was a storm unto his own , where his latent energy emanations kept the much larger tempest at bay . At first , it had been an unstable mix of Oblivion and Creation , but that changed as the opposing forces were reluctantly fused into one . A broken peak was temporarily made whole as Chaos graced the Calamity with its presence .
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 . -
He extracted a mote from the churning ball of Chaos , infusing it with his desire as he let it drift out from him . A gate appeared , and Zac wordlessly stepped through , leaving the Calamity behind . He found himself standing on the peak of Mount Illumination . The sky was already overcast and full of lightning , as though the System had anticipated his move .
Zac wasn’t sure if the gate was made possible through the Dao of Chaos or the System’s approval . The true nature of Chaos was ultimately too difficult to grasp . He was only awarded glimpses of the truth , but the truth wasn’t what it seemed when it came to this particular peak . All was flux .
That was fine . He hadn’t been sure if his idea would work , but he’d figured if Chaos could take him from the Orom to Zecia , then surely a short skip back to his mansion would be easy . If it failed , he would simply have jumped down toward the exit , though that would have delayed him by at least an hour . And there was no telling how the two tyrants would act after the System got what it wanted and left .
That wasn’t a headache he needed while advancing to the next step .
Being temporarily connected to the Dao of Chaos confirmed the validity of his idea , but he didn’t have much time . Zac extracted a second Chaos Mote from the ball and gently dragged it into his body , toward his Duplicity Core .
Chaos was the key to forming his core , but that didn’t mean he’d suddenly decided to form a Chaos Core . His blueprint was still the same Trinity Core , Quantum Core , or Void Core , depending on which aspect you wanted to focus on . And before the Chaos Mote could be added to that plan , it needed to be transformed .