Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 882: Black Heart

The sun covered half the sky, and its warm rays felt like a caress on her skin. For a moment, it was almost enough to forget that the Heavens were shrouded in this corner of space. But the illusion broke as the sound of a door opening broke the tranquility.“I am sorry for the interruption, but I have gathered the information young miss requested,” Kvalk said as he stepped onto the terrace.

“Oh?” Iz exclaimed with anticipation as she opened her eyes.

“As young miss had gathered from your, ah, re

"These dumb brutes don't dare to go inside, and there is a big pile of dust right by the gates. Entry means death for these things," K'Rav snickered before he pointedly looked at Ogras' arm. "But not necessarily for you."

"Let me guess, I should just rush through these beasts and jump headfirst through the gates - in the hopes the brand on my arm will keep me safe?" Ogras asked with a roll of his eyes. "What's next, should I slather myself in grease and tasty Natural Treasures for good luck as well?"

"You asked my opinion, so there it is," K'Rav said. "I've said it before and I've said it again. Nothing great will come without taking some risks. If my idea works, you will pass through in one piece and get your hands on a true relic of the Lost Plane. If it fails, you'll quickly and probably painlessly turn into a pile of dust.

"And don't tell me there isn't logic to my plan. You didn't so much as glance at those other temples we passed, including the one that looked a lot fancier than this one. You clearly believe this place is related to you."

"So, why are you being so helpful all of a sudden?" Ogras said with thin eyes.

"I can't reason with a paranoid rogue like you," K'Rav spat as he flew back into the flag in Ogras' robes. "Do what you want. I almost hope it fails - that way I'll finally get some peace and quiet."

"Unless I haunt you in the afterlife," Ogras snorted as his gaze turned to the valley full of beasts sitting in reverie.

Even if the goblin's idea worked, there was still the issue of getting through the sea of creatures. These things weren't like the dumb zombies they had lured away with some Miasma Crystals back on Earth - these things were pretty hard to trick because of their energy sensitivity. There were also the leaders at the front - six Beast Kings as far as he could tell, each one of them possessing strength well above the average power of a Beast King.

Even then, with all he had accomplished over the past decade, it should be possible - as long as he dared enter that courtyard.

He hesitated for a few minutes, but Ogras ultimately steeled his heart. It was just like the long-nosed little bastard said. Power or death, there was no in-between. If he died, he died - just another forgotten warrior on the path of cultivation. As far as he knew, everyone on the outside believed him dead already, so what did it matter?

Ogras turned to shadows as he slithered down a crack in the mountain wall. He slowly inched his way closer to the outer perimeter of the beasts, wanting to advance as far as possible before he was exposed. Eventually, a few of the humanoids started sniffing the air and looking around, realizing something was amiss. That was his cue - and Ogras exploded into action.

Two rapid teleportations left him in the heart of the horde, but when he tried to flash forward with [Darkside] a third time, the dense auras from the beasts barred his path. Even then, it was better than Ogras had dared hope for, and a sea of darkness spread out with himself as the epicenter.

Since [Sea of Shadows] had been upgraded to E-grade and pushed to Late Mastery, its lethality was simply tremendous, and wails echoed out in every direction. However, the domain didn't even last a second before it was ripped apart by the sheer number of enemies, exposing six identical copies rushing toward the gate of the temple.

One by one they were struck down, but when the final copy was about to fall, it took out a spear and swiped in a wide arc around him. Over a hundred E-grade beasts were felled in one go, and the void allowed Ogras to activate his movement skill once more. Now, there was only one barrier between himself and the temple - the Beast Kings and their direct underlings.

Ogras waved the [Shadewar Flag], and screams from the depths of the underworld echoed through the hollow as over a hundred specters appeared. They formed a vanguard as Ogras melded into the shadows, his eyes never leaving the closest Beast King who blocked the gate with a massive Dao Field.

The ghosts swarmed the humanoid beasts with wild abandon, but they were being torn to shred at a rapid pace, unable to withstand the sharp claws of these things. Ogras didn't care - the moment the spirits were released, he had already resigned himself to the loss. But he could collect new souls for the flag as long as he made it through this.

A lance of hyper-condensed shadows, surrounded by circles of esoteric runes, shot toward the final guardian, the force contained in the attack far surpassing the F-grade [Shadowlance] it had evolved from. The brutal-looking beast wasn't worried though, and it unleashed a cascading shockwave with a roar.

The attack destroyed everything in its wake as it swallowed Ogras' skill, but a pained screech suddenly echoed out when a lance of darkness pierced through its body - from behind. With [Mirage Lance], real was false, and false was real. The Beast King's keen energy perception had worked against it - it instantly realized that the attack from behind was an illusion.

However, as a fusion of smoke and mirrors, reality was malleable with his evolved skill, and real and illusion switched places just before they struck. Ogras knew the attack was far from enough to deal with these incredibly durable bastards, but the infusion of his Dao had interrupted the Beast King's Dao Field for a moment.

And a moment was all that Ogras needed.

With a flash, shadows swapped places, and Ogras found himself right next to the wounded humanoid beast. Even if it was in pain, it reacted instantaneously with a ferocious swipe that left spatial tears in its wake. The claws tore straight through his body, or rather the body of the mirage that had replaced Ogras the moment he appeared.

As for Ogras himself, he appeared right in front of the temple, where his appearance kicked up a cloud of dust. There was no time for hesitation or second thoughts - the beast kings had already destroyed the specters and were already bearing on him with madness in their black eyes. He leaped forward through the gate and landed square inside the temple's courtyard.

The cobblestones beneath his feet oozed antiquity and the solemn atmosphere quieted Ogras' beating heart in an instant. However, the ethereal state didn't even last for a second before his mind screamed of disastrous danger. Two of the Beast Kings had actually jumped through the gate in their fury, and their claws were about to strike him down.

Ogras was set to evade the attacks, but a sudden pulse from within the temple froze him in place. He briefly felt an odd ripple on his arm and his mind immediately blanked out, overloaded with a rapid succession of images. The first beast king descended on him a moment later, its claw going straight for Ogras' forehead.

However, while there was death, there was no blood. The instant the claw touched Ogras' forehead, a shudder went through the Beast King and it was reduced to dust in a flash along with its brother. Ogras was fine, and he took a shuddering breath as he woke up from his stupor. It worked - the Voidbrand had granted him access.

He threw a teasing smile at the furious beasts stuck at the other side of the gate, but by the time he turned his gaze toward the decaying temple, his eyes were full of solemnity. The images that had suddenly crammed into his head were scattered and hazy, but one thing was clear; this place had far surpassed his expectations.

It had far surpassed his realm of comprehension.

"Ultom..."