Defiance of the Fall

Esmeralda reluctantly stirred, resisting the chill and exhaustion's attempts to drag her back into the comforting darkness. Bleary eyes opened, and thoughts resisted being put into a coherent order for a good while. She felt as lost as when she woke up in her next incarnation, her physical form unable to bear the weight of her consciousness. Thankfully, clarity returned much faster. It was the sixth time she’d awoken over the past weeks, and she sensed that it had been her last rest.

She once again felt shocked at the tribulations she'd been forced to endure since hitching her wagon to this ill-fated chaperone. Esmeralda was once known as an irredeemable troublemaker, but she couldn't help but feel like a layman attempting to replicate the feats of a true master. At least it looked like things had stayed stable since she fell asleep last.

The barrier still staved off most of the draconic cold, and what seeped into her shrine was turned rootless enough to become a tool for suppressing her curse. Zac also appeared in stable condition. Esmeralda could feel his current state was similar to that of plant cultivators, thoughts moving at glacial speeds as he stayed attuned to his Heavenly Path.

The calm wouldn't last much longer. She could barely see the surroundings through a dense curtain of lights, and Esmeralda didn't need to calculate Heaven's secrets to know they were just minutes from being sent away.

Esmeralda couldn't stop the cold grip of trepidation from creeping into her heart as the moment of truth drew closer. They'd been quite confident in their theories, that she could gain passage as a contracted beast, and that her age issue had been circumvented through her endless reincarnations.

What if they were wrong?

The seal suppressing the [Timescape Spiral] was only a shell after lending Zac its strength, and they were stuck in a Heaven-forgotten corner of the frontier. She was doomed if the System shut her out. She didn't even have something to barter with those greedy old bastards for another seal, should she somehow reach them in time. It had to work.

Esmeralda urgently covered herself in talismans that could obscure one's presence. She didn't hold much hope in their efficacy, but the familiar arrangement brought some comfort. She gingerly took out the ancient statue, its vibrant blood mark still pulsating. Finally, she roused her drained bloodline to temporarily add unfathomable distances between her soul and any threads of Karma.

The outside was completely consumed by the soul lanterns only moments later, and Esmeralda felt a subtle shift. She didn't dare breathe, move, or think for a good while. Minutes of comforting consistency allayed some of her fears, and she gingerly extended her senses outward. With her guide encased in draconic ice, she needed to ensure he wasn't steering them both down a cliff.

There was a powerful resistance that prevented her Soul Sense from stretching further than a few meters. Meanwhile, physical sight was still overwhelmed by a blinding light from innumerable lanterns burning with Fate fueled by Faith and ancient memories. Esmeralda grunted in annoyance and blinked rapidly. A set of runes appeared in her left eye, and distances became irrelevant. The surroundings were suddenly on full display.

Esmeralda audibly gasped as impressions almost forgotten over countless reincarnations emerged from the haze at the familiar scene. The Grand Tapestry of Time was flowing right beneath her, the river so wide that it looked like a boundless sea. She shivered at the unfathomable forces it held and added a few extra seals on the [Timescape Spiral]. She'd be in deep trouble if it were allowed to draw sustenance from those waters.

Thankfully, they were quite the distance from the River of Time, sailing down on a much smaller stream filled with glimmering soul lanterns. Peering into the waters, she spotted both familiar and unfamiliar faces. A few were covered in golden light and seemingly in trance. Others were looking back and forth, trying and failing to understand the situation.

A few strangers stood out. There was an ugly thing that stuffed a burning light into its mouth. A vicious expression appeared on its face, and Esmeralda quickly moved her gaze before it was too late. Her eyes landed on a stone-faced baldy surrounded by three illusory avatars. Each one held a lantern in its hands. The monk noticed something even faster, and Esmeralda helplessly turned away. When did youngsters become so scary? Both spotted her and were ready to strike back.

Both river and stream were moving in the same direction. It even looked like the stream of Imperial Fate used the unfailing flow of the Temporal River to advance. They ended far in the distance, where a huge continent waited like an island. The Grand Tapestry of Time was crashing right into it, causing great frothing clouds that obscured most of the continent.

Such a scene should be impossible, yet there it was. Even more surprising was that the continent was winning the clash of powers. A mysterious force kept it rooted in place, preventing it from being swept away. The river couldn't stop flowing, so it could only go around into an unknowable future.

The continent was clearly their destination, and Esmeralda used every tool available to search for clues. Unfortunately, the churning waters of time cast a shimmer that constantly changed what she saw. It was impossible to say whether she was looking at the present or a glimpse of the past.

The more the decrepit old world resisted her inquiry, the angrier Esmeralda got. Nothing had been going her way lately. Now, even an old block of stone was looking down on her. She refused to believe she was unable to unearth any of its secrets, and her hands turned into a blur. Flashes of ancient runes appeared, echoing the long-lost power of her fully awakened bloodline.

For eons, Esmeralda had avoided using her true abilities. Instead, she’d made do with the undead shell constructed to throw off the curse’s scent. Now that things had come this far, what was the point in holding back? To accomplish her goal, she would even unseal the loop if need be. An illusory rune joined the others in Esmeralda’s eye. The curtains parted, her eyes exploded, and cracks spread from the bleeding sockets to cover her entire body.

The damage was nothing compared to the shock to her mind. If Esmeralda hadn’t maintained a sliver of her original soul’s strength, she would have been wiped from existence. Heaven’s secrets were not so easily seized. Yet Esmeralda grinned with excitement. Wasn’t this what it was all about?

For a brief moment, the continent hadn’t looked like a crumbling piece of rock holding against the flow of time. It had transformed into an altar so large it strained against the terminus, marred by innumerable scars. Place atop it was a chalice surrounded by nine unlit candles, each emitting a distinct, hair-raising aura.

The scene was majestic, but it was clear the altar was lacking something. Currently, it could at most be considered a taboo future rejected by the cosmos. The altar was suppressed by seventeen chains and four mountains hidden within the folds of reality. The altar was like an undying, unyielding beast chained down for ages. And its hidden struggle was about to bear fruit.

Seven of the chains had snapped while rust covered the rest. Meanwhile, the altar was slowly building strength, gradually coming into being. The River of Time was a sea of blood, crashing against the mountainous altar. Some of it seeped into the scars, leaving behind part of its power. Some splashed onto the still-standing chains, adding new layers of sanguine rust.

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The much smaller river of memory lanterns and Imperial Fate instead poured toward the yet-unignited candles, slowly imbuing their runes with power. Most importantly, something terrifying was growing within the chalice, something that could alter the course of history. Only, its true appearance eluded Esmeralda’s gaze even after paying such a steep price.

“Emperor Limitless, just what are you scheming?” Esmeralda gasped as small illusory spirals rippling with time appeared in her hollow eye sockets, regrowing the set she’d just lost.

At that moment, a tremendous consciousness passed over the river of Imperial Fate. It held ancient, unending power. A mere thought could extinguish the countless memory lanterns and the trialtakers they transported. Esmeralda yelped and pushed deeper into her isolating pool, activating a series of runes hidden throughout her shrine.

The river briefly shook before a film of System-controlled Destiny separated the memorial river and the outside world. It also prevented her from gauging the consciousness's identity, not that Esmeralda minded. Knowing what old bastards were hiding in the cracks to observe the battle for the Fifth Pillar wouldn't do her any good. If anything, it was the opposite.

Even some of the participants could sense her gaze, so there was no need to mention those old bastards. Worse, more than one had methods to kill through the most tenuous of connections. Such methods would have been a joke to Esmeralda at her height. Avoiding pursuit and retaliation from such beings was often more exciting than the theft itself. Now, she could only hold her temper in check.

Esmeralda’s mind was still a mess after witnessing the scene, and the many presences added to her confusion. There was no way that the observers would fail to notice what was going on. If anything, they should be able to delve much deeper. Yet none of them seemed ready to intervene. Were they so confident in overcoming Emperor Limitless’s machinations? Or was the time not yet ripe? Were they waiting for that thing inside the chalice to come into being?

The sweeps kept going, and Esmeralda soon got used to them. Curiosity and desire getting the better of her, she carefully extended her senses once more. The distant continent was drawing closer with great speed, and Esmeralda realized that the motes weren't all heading in the same direction. The soul river branched into nine rivulets, which continued into the mainland. They didn't reach much further, ending in churning clouds holding the power of displacement.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The soul lanterns were sorted and sent inland. Was their destination random? A few surreptitious calculations said no. There was a connection between land and lanterns. It all formed an exceedingly complex system related to the vision. Everything held meaning, and everything moved according to design. Even the trialtakers had become part of the machine.

Soon enough, they'd been dragged to the continent's periphery. Broken-off splinters formed bands of islands, just like you saw with any continent. The energies the islands held easily surpassed that of a C-grade continent. Thankfully, the scales were nowhere near the endless lands of Ancestral Realms or Primal Heavens, though the islands still dwarfed conventional D-grade worlds.

One island in particular exerted a great attraction, causing some of the weaker lights to split off from the river. Esmeralda didn't take the scene to heart until she saw one brat after another being dragged out of the river and toward the world. Most of them wore shocked expressions and tried various tricks to get back to the river. Nothing seemed to work.

Esmeralda cursed when the pull on her frozen ferryman grew stronger, prompting them to sink deeper into the river. The thing she sought definitely wouldn't be found on some minor world. Thankfully, she had various measures to mitigate most forces that would try to bind her down or trap her.

A light coming from a hidden spot near the Shrine of Kanba's entrance in Zac's chest preempted her resistance. They stabilized, continuing on their journey. Esmeralda spotted a few others avoiding being dragged under, including most of Zac's subordinates. She looked at the falling cultivators, putting two and two together.

"Should've worked harder," Esmeralda sniggered.

Those being pulled down were no doubt the trial takers who'd failed to assemble a complete entrance ticket. Esmeralda wouldn't be surprised if a bloody gauntlet waited for them below, a final chance to complete their seals and join the real trial. She didn't care. There were bigger fish to fry.

Esmeralda turned her attention to the splitting river mouths. The first trialtakers were already being split up, and it was clear their treatment differed. Those enclosed in lights were gently guided to specific rivulets, while those without were simply dragged into the closest one. A scant few managed to change river through special means while most were unable to resist the river's pull.

With nine branches, each should represent one of the lower courts, one of the candles waiting to be lit. Entering the wrong one wouldn't necessarily ruin her plans, but it would definitely make her life harder. But which one to pick? They all looked the same, and none emitted any special aura. Activating her special vision again was out of the question. This close to the continent, the backlash would be far greater.

The continent remained obscured, giving no further clues to go by. The deadline grew closer and she frantically looked around her. The lanterns were the key, but she wasn't a trialtaker. She could barely gain anything from observing the lights. With so many bobbing about, discovering the right one was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Esmeralda wouldn't give up because of that. Overcoming all odds and overturning fate were the fundamentals of cultivation, and she was destined for greatness. She'd suffered for eons because of one little mistake, and the universe owed her reparations. Eyes bloodshot, her senses roved over the surrounding lights, using the scant energies she'd recovered to glimpse their secrets.

It was there! Esmeralda almost jumped out of the shrine on instinct as her full attention honed onto a lantern that shone much brighter than the surrounding lanterns, only stopping herself at the last moment. She was just sensing a memory of what she sought, not the real thing. That was enough. Whoever that lantern represented had come in contact with the item she sought, and the encounter had left an indelible mark on their soul.

Eyes wild, Esmeralda made a grasping motion. Nothing happened. [Nab], the amazing innate ability that had accompanied her from a tadpole to the peak, grasped nothing but air. The radiant lantern continued its journey, drifting further and further away. Increasingly desperate, Esmeralda tried various methods, finally even extending her tongue to wrap it up.

Worse, she could tell it was moving toward a different branch than herself. Should she jump out and follow it? No, something about her status was clearly lacking. More likely than not, she'd fall right through the lanterns and be swallowed by the temporal river below. Provided none of the old bastards noticed the item on her first. She needed help.

Stamping with anxiety, she shouted with her Daovoice, hoping Zac could hear it in his current state. "I found a clue, but I can't get it alone!"

After a brief silence, Esmeralda got the answer she'd hoped for in the form of a distant 'go.' A series of runes appeared on the unmoving Draugr, adjusting his course before accelerating toward the escaping lantern.

Further up the river, Zac slowly roused from his slumber. With the chill holding him in its grip having become rootless, the balance was already breaking. The flames of Life were gradually expelling the cold while his Soul Cores creaked, showing the first signs of movement in over a week. The process would take a while, though he could still vaguely sense how Esmeralda led his Draugr half into the dense cloud in pursuit of whatever clue she'd found.

Already, Zac could tell what would emerge from the ice wasn't the same as what went into it. Only scraps remained from the glaring light assailing his Soul Aperture, and the fiendish energy tearing his bodies apart was just an echo of its former self. He'd managed to hold onto his Void State, instinctively channeling the [Void Emperor Apotheosis] throughout hisrest.

As such, the Law-imbued treasures he'd consumed just before freezing himself were almost fully absorbed, becoming nourishment and progress. Zac even sensed he could forcibly accelerate his recovery if need be. He didn't. Zac would have to resume his core formation the second the ice failed to fully seal his Quantum Space, and the journey wasn't over.

The quantum connection trembled as his Draugr half sailed into a churning cloud, and an opaque haze covered his shared senses. Zac had no time to ponder the implications. At that moment, a radiant mote pushed its weaker neighbors aside and slammed into his forehead. The sudden intrusion shook his turbid mind, and his first instinct was to rebuff it. However, a familiar scent made him stay his hand, and a golden light soon ensconced him.

A series of memories came pouring in as he floated down another path, guided by history and fate.