Defiance of the Fall

Suddenly, there was a break in the monotony, and Stormstar opened her eyes upon hearing a clank in the distance. Did they think a short stint of solitude would make her dance to their tune? These filthy-rich strangers were really newly integrated rubes. She was born from the stars, accustomed to the vast silence. Let alone sitting around for a couple of days. She could do a year standing on her head if need be.

Of course, she would have preferred a better environment than a prison made from Sinkstone. The ceilings, the walls—everything acted like a natural sponge, stealing any energy before it reached her. Well, almost all energy. The Sinkstones and Prison Arrays might work on these inexperienced natives, but how could the settlers of the Ragged Expanse not have some tricks up their sleeves?

Every day came with the threat of running into anything from Kan'Tanu slavers to competing vessels, and you better be ready for a desperate attempt at escape before they brought you to their bases. Her former crew could testify to that. The memory filled her heart with annoyance. It had taken her four decades to assemble her crew after assassinating her old captain and commandeering her ship. All that hard work down the drain.

Not that it mattered now. She had been chosen for greatness, becoming a Skybreaker of Ultom and shedding her old life. Who cared about being locked in a dungeon? If anything, they were welcome to leave her down here. The mortal food they provided to replace Cosmic Energy was decent enough, and they seemed to be far from any of the crazy cultists that had hounded her nightmares since she was old enough to have them. She would be more than happy to wait out the timer and let the inheritance whisk her away.

But how could these people leave her to her own devices? They probably had no idea what the inheritance was, but a week should have been enough to make some inquiries. That prospect was cause for constant worry. Considering the gear these people were sporting, they probably had some good channels. Good enough for their inquiries to reach the mighty figures hiding in the shadows.

Stormstar didn't know whether she wanted to be discovered or not. It would be nice to grab onto a nice juicy thigh and enjoy the benefits being a lackey brought, but she knew she wasn't even dirt in the eyes of those lords. Who knew, there might even be ways for them to snatch her opportunity, then where would she be? No, better stick to what she knew; stake it out on her own, and fish in the muddy waters.

So she needed to make her move before these people tried to copy the idea of her previous captor.

Stormstar kept her face impassive, but she was ready to strike the moment the door opened. It had taken over a month of effort, but she had finally managed to accumulate enough energy for, well, something. The Kan'Tanu lord was too worried about his scheme being exposed that he couldn't properly contain her in their real dungeons, and these guys seemed to think sealing a Hegemon's Cosmic Core was enough. Had they forgotten they'd all stored energy through their bodies until reaching the D-grade? Only fools wouldn't have backup reservoirs hidden somewhere in their bodies.

The steps drew closer, and she slowly placed her wrist against the small spike she'd managed to form. Shattering the bracelet would probably cost her a hand, but the [Stormfiend Codex] would let her regrow it in a year or so. The reinforced door opened, and a stranger walked inside.

The stranger was a man of great contrasts. He had one of the most impressive physiques she'd ever seen, with well-defined muscles that gave off a refreshing aura. He should be a Body Cultivator just like herself. Too bad his appearance was average at best. Even worse was the tell-tale lack of spirituality in his eyes and features. Even if he exuded a decently strong aura, his future was bound to be limited.

What a waste. Even with a slightly Dao-touched face, he'd be able to make a name for himself as a kept consort of the Pirate Empress or on one of the pleasure ships of the Seven Secrets Carnival.

Stormstar tried to look confused and scared, but she inwardly sneered when this newcomer failed to close the door behind him—big mistake.

"Stormstar, I presume?" the man said as he took out a chair and sat down. Strike two.

"Who're you? The custodian?"

"I guess you could say I'm the big boss," he said. "You can call me Zac."

"Big boss?" Stormstar laughed. "Don't let that scary black-eyed zombie hear that."

The man only smiled at the taunt. "I hear you've been chosen for an opportunity.

"That's true, that's true," Stormstar eagerly nodded. "A sage came to me in my dreams and said we have great fate. He imparted me with an ancient seal, explaining it was the key to a great opportunity. I'm sure you've heard of the powerful outsiders by now. They're here for the opportunity my senior is guarding."

"Someone visited your dreams?" the man said with a raised brow.

"I know it sounds corny, but it's true," Stormstar lied. "He said he'd return soon again. I can request an additional slot in exchange for freedom and some resources. Hell, I'll even ask to bring your friend over there if it gets me out of this place."

"Who are you—" the man said and turned around.

Strike three.

Stormstar exploded into action, lunging for her target while unleashing everything she'd stockpiled. There was no thought of conserving energy. This bastard had multiple Spatial Rings on his hands; there were bound to be crystals and pills to replenish her stockpiles.

A gory explosion shook the cell when she ripped off her sealed hand. It didn't even slow her down. She had become the storm, and the winds that had been sealed in her blood flooded her remaining hand. It all gathered into a lethal blade aimed at her target's neck.

The world shifted, and Stormstar almost felt like her soul had been knocked out of her body when her face crashed into the ground with enough force to crack her jaw and knock out a few teeth. She couldn't understand what had just happened. One moment, he'd been turned away. The next, her head was in his hand, crashing toward the ground.

However, the pain was nothing when faced with the horror of the aura suddenly filled the room. She'd thought the Remoulded was scary, but it was simply a joke in the face of the roaring killing intent released from the stranger's body. It felt like she was staring up at an actual Primordial Fiendgod, the mythological creature that was the source of inspiration for her Body Tempering Manual.

The whole prison seemed to quake when faced with the brutality of his aura. How could this level of oppression come from a commoner like this? Stormstar doubted that even the feared Reincarnators could reach this level.

She couldn't move; she couldn't breathe. She'd named herself after the mysterious wind-attuned star where she'd chanced upon the Seal of the Hollow Court. Now, he was the storm while she was the candle at the precipice of being snuffed out.

"Decent try. I was wondering if you'd dare make a move."

"Mercy! I submit," she croaked, looking as pitiful as possible as she peered up from the ground. "I'll do anything! Please, spare me!"

There wasn't even a trickle of blood. It was a relief now that things had come to this, but it still filled her with irreconciliation.

The pressure subsided, but Stormstar didn't dare move so much as a finger. First and foremost, she was a survivor. She was only 90 years old, but she knew when to advance and when to back down. It was the whole reason she'd managed to become a captain at such young age.

"Enough nonsense with the sages and dreams. You should recognize this rune, right?" the man said, and Stormstar's heart sank even further upon seeing the box in his hand.

It was there, the mysterious rune that had given her a new lease of life. However, it was only one of many; hers wasn't even in the prime position. It proved she might not be as fated as she'd thought, or that the opportunity was as simple as she initially believed.

Stormstar inwardly grumbled. Why did this plain-looking bastard have to pretend to be the sheep? She had bet the ship that he was a rube, only to find out he knew even more than her.

The box opened, displaying a blank piece of metal within. It didn't look like much, not nearly as attention-grabbing as the brutal axe that appeared in the man's hand. The killing intent leaking from its gleaming edge made Stormstar's hair stand on end. She couldn't imagine the number of lives it had reaped to gain such a brutal aura. At least she'd have some company in the afterlife.

No! She was chosen, picked by the ancient inheritance that had driven everyone crazy. She wasn't fated to die in some cage. She wracked her brain to remember that feeling from before, to display some knowledge and showcase her value. But she was coming up woefully short. What in the stars was she supposed to do with a blank piece of metal?

"Use your connection to the Hollow Court to activate this thing. If you fail, we'll have a different sort of conversation."

------------------

The oppressive atmosphere of the Imperial Prison lingered in Zac's heart as he teleported back to Port Atwood. It was his first visit, and seeing just how many high-risk prisoners they'd accumulated over the years was sobering. Especially so considering how cheap life was in the Multiverse, where many who would be imprisoned before were simply killed on the spot or executed later.

The fall of civilization during the Integration had led to a drastic loss of order, where scum like Roger saw their chance to live out their twisted ambitions. The situation had gradually improved since, but the war had set them back by a depressing degree. The main cities were all quite safe, but the same couldn't be said for smaller and remote settlements. Those strong enough to become peacekeeping guards in this era had been sent to the frontlines, exposing the home front to society's dark underbelly.

There were even problems within his army. Infighting and killing for resources were all-too-common, and some soldiers had acted like beasts on the conquered worlds.

Unfortunately, his meeting with Stormstar hadn't given him anything to improve his mood. They'd known from the beginning that she had an emergency stockpile, and he'd wanted to see what she would do with it. Unfortunately, she chose to ambush him the second he showed a small opening, dispelling any thoughts of recruiting her to his faction.

His experiment didn't fare any better. Zac sighed as he gazed down at the Court Cycle Token in his hand, properly inspecting it again. No matter how he looked at the quest reward, it was the same as before. Zac would have mistaken it for something crafted with mortal materials if not for the fact the small token weighed as much as a boulder and was utterly impossible to bend or scratch.

He'd hoped the token would react upon encountering a sealbearer, but there hadn't been any response. The pirate had been so desperate to follow his request she'd actually tried to force it into her forehead when all else failed, creating a crack in her skull before Zac could stop her. Yet nothing she'd done had elicited any response. Zac still had no idea what the token's purpose was. They'd already confirmed with the arrays that Stormstar really was a sealbearer, so that wasn't the issue either.

Zac had eventually been forced to give up. Of course, he hadn't killed her and only told her to come up with the solution before the next time he visited—a small payback for trying to lob off his head. In reality, he wasn't sure what to do about the pirate-turned-raider.

Stormstar had spouted nonsense since he entered the cell and pounced when she saw an opening—not exactly someone you could trust your back to inside the trial. Perhaps it was better to move the incomplete seal to one of his own. Ogras still lacked one piece to complete his, but perhaps it was better for sealbearers to follow the quest chain. If nothing else, it came with additional bursts of enlightenment. He also needed a second Skybreaker if he planned to form two cycles before the inheritance began.

Then again, Stormstar had been chosen by the seal, meaning she had some sort of affinity with the outer court. Zac strongly suspected that the natural sealbearers would have an advantage over those who stole the opportunities from the hands of others. There was also the option of selling her to the Undead Empire. A sealbearer of the Hollow Court was an extremely valuable asset to the mission, and he'd be able to trade a whole lot of resources for her seal.

In either case, Zac wasn't in a hurry to decide. More than a dozen layers of protection were hidden across the island. There was even a huge array installed underwater, which could seal off the whole region. Even a Late Hegemon would have a hard time breaking in or out of Purgatory before reinforcements arrived. Stormstar wasn't going anywhere, even if her gambit had worked.

Zac was more concerned about the Court Cycle Token and felt it too early to throw it into some corner of his Spatial Ring until the trial started. It was possible the captive wasn't considered part of his cycle, which could have prevented the token from doing something. And as luck would have it, he had a backup guinea pig to test this theory on.

It was time to visit Jaol, his resident Technocrat navigator.

Jaol had stayed on Earth since he and Zac came to an agreement where he'd help replace Jaol's bionic body parts with ones of flesh. He was even part of the army, though he had not officially registered for the war. With multiple technocrat components installed throughout his body, Zac and the officials aware of Jaol's situation hesitated to integrate him into a battalion.

It was no secret what the System thought of the Technocrats, or rather the Selvari Empire. Zac wouldn't be surprised if the System arranged deadlier opponents if it found Technocrats hiding within an army. Besides, it wasn't like the navigator would be much use on the battlefield.

Jaol had been attached to the Atwood Army Research Department, located in a newly built annex of his academy. The Research Department had already surpassed the academy in size and continuously expanded along the island's eastern shores. Most of his talented academics and craftsmen had been transferred over, ranging from the old scholars of the Technocrat Research Base to the Ishiate Tinkerers.

The department also consumed more money and resources than even his elite armies. It was a necessary expenditure. The Research Department worked on hundreds of projects to strengthen his armies and decrease his dependence on outside resources. The sooner his Empire could produce D-grade equipment, pills, and War Machines in-house, the better.

Jaol fit much better in that environment and was currently helping with projects for the Atwood Navy. Most of his knowledge of navigation and spaceflight couldn't be directly translated into something suitable for a faction reliant on orthodox cultivation, but some things could. He'd already created a few gadgets that were installed on the Atwood Empire's Creator Vessels, adding handy features.

He'd also made a few improvements to the adapters that let old earth technology and Arrays communicate, continuing the work Kenzie had begun. It was only a limited research direction, set up for convenience's sake. For example, letting citizens use common old-world home appliances and having Gathering Arrays convert excess energy into electricity.

It wasn't like the Multiverse lacked the type of commodities that Old Earth possessed. They generally ran on ambient Cosmic Energy, which meant limitless clean energy. However, a young faction like the Atwood Empire lacked the infrastructure, be it factories or inscribers, to produce all these daily necessities. It was easier to repurpose the old manufacturing during a transitionary period, and it wouldn't attract the System's ire so long as the technology lacked any form of spirituality.

Zac found the navigator in a restricted workshop in front of multiple large monitors that presented rows of data with dizzying speed.

"Did you bring the—" Jaol mumbled as the door slid open, but the words caught in his throat upon realizing it wasn't some assistant that had returned. "What are you doing here?"

"Just passing by," Zac said, throwing over the metal token. "Hey, have you seen something like this before? Is it something of your kin?"

"Hmm, it resembles an alloy, but it's not. If anything, it feels ancient," Jaol muttered as his bionic eyes whirred. "Wait, wha—!"

A streak of light had been dragged out of Jaol's body and entered the token. The shocked navigator threw away the token as though it was scalding, but Zac was ready to catch it. Finally, there was a change. A small rune of the Farsee Court had appeared on one of the sides, seemingly engraved. Better yet, it released a weak aura. It was just a whisper, but Zac would be able to recognize it anywhere.

The aura of Ultom.