Defiance of the Fall

"You're planning on going out in a blaze of glory?" Zac grimaced. "There's no way out?"

Zac looked at the huge room with its hundreds of consoles, pillars, and the screens displaying the situation outside. The storm had drastically worsened since he escaped into the tower, and long streaks of broken space danced through the air. The Mystic Realm wasn't long for this world, and there was no way out?

Would he have to throw Emily and the others into a Spatial Tear and hope for the best? Or should he stop Galau's plan? Did he even have the ability to? Who knew how many arrays and settings the merchant had manipulated before they arrived?

"Don't worry, it's not quite as stupid as it sounds," Galau quickly said when he saw Zac's brooding silence. "We've arranged an escape route. It's just that it's, uh, theoretical. It's not designed to withstand the mayhem we're about to unleash."

Zac breathed out in relief. He could live with theoretical or unsafe so long as they weren't trapped. "You had me worried there. Catch me up to speed."

"Like you said, our unit was trapped here, what, four years ago? We were split up. Average and his men were stuck in the underbelly for long. Our luck was slightly better. We found ourselves in a repository containing a lot of information on the arrays that run this place. And with it, there was a mysterious opportunity."

Zac was about to tell Galau to skip to the important part, but the last word caught his interest. "An opportunity? A seal?"

"You know about it." Galau nodded. "It gave me the foundations in arrays to gradually overcome the defenses of this place. My initial plan was to find Average and then get the hell out of here. Simple enough, but it proved easier said than done. The fortress was in lockdown, and we couldn't activate the teleporters we found."

Seeing that everything was in hand, the soldiers spread out. Two took up posts by the main door while the rest left through an unlocked door on the opposite side of the hall. Only Bubbur stayed behind to keep watch over the breach and guard Galau while he continued his work on the console.

"We needed to turn off the lockdown, which could only be done from the main switch up here," Average continued with a wave. "But we weren't strong enough to enter the tower. It took us years of collecting resources and training to get here, all while dealing with this old trash heap's self-destructive tendencies."

"Only the eight of us remain," Galau sighed. "The rest gave their lives to let us reach this point. Two days ago, we finally broke into the Command Center."

"Two days ago?" Emily exclaimed. "So just before signs of the fortress appeared on the frontlines?"

"Yeah, that was probably us," Galau sighed. "The only way to undo the lockdown was to activate the fortress. We didn't expect it to cause such chaos on the outside. We believed we were still in the depths of the Million Gates Territory. A day later, people came pouring through spatial tears, and we figured the war had already spread to the region where we disappeared."

"You said you activated the fortress to use the teleporters," Zac interjected. "But the one we discovered was still sealed? It didn't work?"

"Well… It did," Average slowly said. "But Galau found something while going through these consoles. A way to deliver a painful blow to our enemies."

Zac and Emily shared a look. Could it be that Galau and company had already discovered the project and planned to activate it? Zac had to admit their sacrifice made sense if that were the case. How could the lives of a few low-grade cultivators be compared to unleashing an ancient weapon on the Kan'Tanu?

"It's the right call from what you told us. These cultist bastards are too strong. Can't let them dig any deeper into the empire," Bubbur growled. "We'll have them choke on the [Centurion Spear]."

"Unfortunately, activating the weapon drastically hastened the spatial collapse," Galau said. "The fortress understands that and has been trying to shift into a main dimension as a safety precaution. Of course, nothing works like it should on this old thing. It's essentially banging its head against the wall and registering the damage as an outside attack. It's like a snake eating its own tail."

"That's why our escape route is so dangerous?"

"Exactly. I've tried to stop it, but it's impossible. The launch sequence has been activated as an emergency and can't be interrupted by any means."

"So even if we stop this [Centurion Spear] of yours, we won't be able to safely escape?" Zac concluded.

"I'm sorry, we didn't think things would play out like this when we activated the weapon," Galau said with a helpless smile. "We planned on activating the thing before sailing off into the sunset."

"So what exactly is your plan?" Zac asked. "And how can we increase our odds of survival?"

"The [Centurion Spear] is what's destroying the fortress, but it's also our best chance at survival. If activated successfully, it'll tear a massive hole right through the dimensional storm, one large enough for the whole fortress to slip through. We plan to jump ship at that exact moment. There are escape pods in the next room."

"Jumping out in the wake of such a powerful attack is incredibly dangerous," Emily frowned. "Why not hide inside the tower a bit longer? This room should be the safest place when we fire the weapon."

"Wait, what?"

"We're throwing the whole tower at the Kan'Tanu," Average laughed. "So it won't be safe for long. It'll rapidly pick up speed until it hits a target or explodes. We need to leave before it's too late, even if it means braving the spatial turbulence."

"Can't we use the escape pods now?" Zac asked, even if he knew the answer by looking at the screen.

"They're also locked down as part of the tower's futile launch protocol," Galau said. "Besides, what good would going outside do? Space is springloaded to catapult us forward. The vessels will get ripped apart. I feel bad, but there's no way to stop our plan and let you out. We've entered the final stage, and trying to disperse the accumulated energies will probably disintegrate the whole Mystic Realm."

"I get it," Zac said. "Might as well go for it and see if you can take out some cultists. But how will you throw the tower at them? Even I have no idea where the Kan'Tanu bases and motherships are hiding. You're just as likely to hit our own as our enemies."

"This navigation room was the final missing piece," Average explained. "We have records of the Kan'Tanu's cursed aura, and Galau is installing a module that'll train the spear on the strongest matching source within range. We originally hoped to blow up the Space Gate that way, or at least the base protecting it. Now that we're outside the Million Gates Territory, we'll probably have to settle for some of their frontline bases."

"We had to take a risk forcing the door open when we noticed there had been a breach," Galau said. "Luckily, it was just you. How did you tear a hole through the floor, by the way?"

"Not me. I killed a guy who turned out to be a sealbearer. The seal did the rest."

"That'd do it," Bubbur grunted. "We saw one of those things take out an entire building."

"What kind of range are we talking about here?" Zac asked. "There should be a C-grade base and motherships in the region, but there's nothing like that in this solar system."

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"Solar system?" Galau said with a ruthless grin. "There's no place in Zecia the [Centurion Spear] can't reach."

Zac shuddered, and he looked at the merchant with shock. The Limitless Empire was really not playing around when it came to war.

"Well, that's if it was still working order," Galau added. "Now? Who knows? It might blow up before accomplishing anything, taking us with it. We still thought it was worth pursuing."

"No, I'm all for it," Zac said as a smile appeared on his face. "I'm just shocked at how much you've changed. Every little thing made you have a panic attack back then."

"Ha! Don't trust that disguise," Bubbur guffawed. "Did you know this shifty bastard tricked you and your friend? He told us all about it the day we emptied the last of our drink."

"What?"

"Why are you talking about unnecessary things," Galau glared. "In fact, why are you just standing there? Don't you think this guy can guard the breach? Go look at the pods to see if there's anything else you can do."

"Not much I can do about those things, though," Bubbur said as he scratched his chin. "Up to the Heavens now, really."

"How long—urgh," Zac groaned as he fell to his knees.

Repeatedly using his bloodline during the final dash had come at a price. The hunger was overwhelming, forcing Zac to shut out everything to keep it in check. Only a few breaths later did his body calm down, and he unsteadily got back to his feet.

"Not sure how reliable this guy is," Bubbur muttered, quickly raising his hands in defeat when Emily and Galau glared at him. "I'm kidding. Repairs, right? I guess I can't make things worse."

Zac took a few deep breaths as he retracted his senses. They had spread out to the resources on the floor below, and he almost opened another vortex. He'd managed to stop it, but it was still there, calling him.

Finding Galau and Average was a blessing, though one that complicated his situation. He'd envisioned himself pushing some big stop button and sending off Emily before beginning his breakthrough. Now, he was stuck waiting for Galau to install the last pieces of a Kan'Tanu-seeking tower bomb.

"What the hell were those energies? Never felt anything like it, and that's after finding all kinds of odd things in here," Average said with round eyes. "You'll explode if you keep forcing it down. Why not just break through?"

"The process is extremely energy-hungry. There's a high risk I'll accidentally extract all energy-dense materials nearby," Zac sighed as he pointedly looked at Average's stomach.

"Damn, you're still doing crazy things," Average muttered and took another step back.

"How much longer?" Zac asked again.

"Ten minutes, tops," Galau said fearfully. "Can you—"

"I'll manage," Zac grunted. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Help the others strengthen the shields on the escape pods," Galau said without hesitation. "They don't even need to be stable. We're all Hegemons. It's fine even if the ship blows up, so long as it takes us through the energy storm. Do you know anything about barriers or Cosmic Vessels?"

"Not even a little. I only know how to hit things with my axe," Zac said, which awarded him a nod of approval from Average.

"Then how did you get this far?" Galau asked with a confused look.

"I found a Limitless Empire authority token," Zac explained, fudging the truth since the true nature of the [Court Cycle Token] couldn't be made public. Even if their cockeyed plan worked, they'd definitely be interrogated after leaving. "Emily might be able to help, though."

"I have a few things in my ring that might work," Emily nodded before walking over to Zac to whisper. "What about you? You're not thinking of staying behind, right?"

"I—" Zac hesitated.

Thanks to the Tribulation Throne, he wasn't strictly required to stay behind. A new source of treasure and energy had appeared on the home front, spreading around his Draugr half. The view from atop the monolith was drastically different after he came to, and not just because he suddenly found himself hundreds of meters higher up.

The monolith no longer stood in the city's central square but atop the central dome of an enormous complex that stretched a few miles in every direction. Zac had missed its appearance because of the lightning, but it didn't seem like the building had risen from the ground. It felt more like it had appeared from a spatial fold.

The whole city had undergone a tremendous change, where dozens of grand buildings untouched by the mark of time had joined the root-covered ruins. Despite that, there were no signs of buildings being destroyed or pushed aside to make room.

The buildings below appeared spiritual rather than military. Most of the subsidiary buildings were large temples, with a few possibly being the homes of nobility. Even the enormous citadel below should be a cathedral, though the line between clergy and nobility had to be blurry when the Emperor was considered both an earthly leader and a heavenly deity.

The transformation made Zac think of a paper fortune teller. His best guess was that the whole region was crisscrossed by spatial folds that had eluded their investigations. Activating the monolith had unraveled them all in one go, exposing their hidden fortunes. At least Zac assumed the activation had unraveled all folds, but who knew? There might be even grander buildings waiting to be unsealed.

There was not much point in doing so, though. The buildings that had appeared were all protected by immense barriers reinforced by Imperial Faith. Zac wasn't confident he'd be able to force his way inside even after reaching Peak Hegemony. Their appearance felt more like a liability, considering how the alliance had reacted upon discovering the fortress.

More to the point, dozens of treasures emitting fate's pull had appeared among the buildings while the ambient energy was rapidly rising. If it came to it, he could use the Ensolus Ruins as a main energy source for his breakthrough.

However, Zac was incredibly reluctant to do so, especially after learning of the [Centurion Spear]. Why ruin a huge opportunity he could collect when things had calmed down when he could use the tower treasures instead? It wasn't like the stockpiled materials or hidden treasures were needed for Galau's plan to work. Leaving them behind felt like setting fire to a mountain of money.

Besides, what if the armies waited on the other side? He would be breaking through right in front of a bunch of Monarchs.

Better do it inside the tower if possible. Any lingering evidence would disappear when the [Centurion Spear] did. The question was, could he escape the tower after the weapon had activated, and was he confident he could control his breakthrough well enough not to ruin Galau's plan? The answer to both was a resounding maybe.

"Don't worry, I'll figure something out," Zac said. "For now, help—"

His words were interrupted by a deep thump, and Zac whirled around with his axe at the ready. The sound came from the door in the distance. The soldiers guarding it were tense, but one eventually gave them a thumbs up.

"What the hell was that?" Zac said. "Are people trying to break in?"

"For the last couple of hours," Galau sighed. "Usually not by force, though. They should know better. I've done my best to block their tampering, but I'm running out of tricks. We'll have to pray the doors will hold until I'm done. At that point, it doesn't matter if they break inside. It'll be impossible to stop or redirect the attack."

"Is it the Technocrats? Are they after the [Centurion Spear]?"

"It might be them, but it's not their main goal," Average said. "We've followed their movements. First, they broke into a subsidiary control station for the Scouting Division. That's how we noticed we had company. Actually, they arrived even before the others came falling out of spatial tears."

"They targeted the scanners? They didn't try to hijack the tower?"

"Weirdly enough, they only extracted a bunch of old logs before moving on," Galau said. "They didn't even try to access the main systems, as far as I can tell."

"Are they in the project operations wing now?"

"Oh, you found out about that as well?" Galau exclaimed with surprise, briefly looking up from the confusing mesh within the console.

"Do you know the details?"

"I'm afraid not. We only found some bits and pieces over the years. This place is called the Sixth Centurion Lighthouse. There are supposedly seven more, but who knows if they're still around. All eight were involved in a secret weapons research project at the empire's edge. They had to keep a rotation because the environment in the experiment's dimension was extremely dangerous.

"We tried to extract their research before leaving. We'd be immortalized as Zecia's heroes if we brought back that kind of firepower," Average said with frustration. "We lost three men before we were forced to give up. I don't understand how those heretic bastards made it past the defenses so quickly. That wing is like a fortress within a fortress."

"I heard that the Technocrats were one of the main enemies of the Limitless Empire," Zac said.Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by ɴoᴠel ꜰɪre.nᴇt

"No wonder," Average spat. "No one knows you as well as your greatest enemy."

Zac nodded before turning to Emily. "For now, see if you can help patching up the ships. No matter how things shake up, we'll need them in perfect condition."

Emily nodded, and Average led her to the corridor the soldiers entered earlier. Zac was left alone with Galau, who furiously engraved new paths to hotwire an Array Disk into the navigation console. Zac stayed close to the doorway of the side room, where he could keep watch on the breach and the door that had just been attacked.

The minutes passed in silence. Zac was left alone to fight his personal war, a war he was rapidly losing. The Void was already moving on its own. He could feel its hidden tendrils spread through the tower, floor by floor, in search of sustenance. He'd become like a small tree with a root network the size of a city. He'd given up on all else, settling for keeping the vortices shut just a little longer.

Zac could feel his body gradually exerting a stronger pull, and his mind twisted as his gaze stopped at the merchant. Galau had a treasure within his body, and who knew what kind of items he'd stockpiled during his years of stay. He was a walking pill that could push him toward...

An excited exclamation thankfully interrupted that taboo line of thought.

"I'm done! It's all set!"

Zac exhaled and got to his feet. He'd made it. Now, he just needed to get these people as far away from him as possible. Because like a tree, Zac knew he was stuck. The Void wouldn't let go of the riches it had discovered.

Like it or not, he'd have to break through inside a rocket hurled at the strongest cultists in Zecia.