Defiance of the Fall

ergy congeal right behind his head.
He was forced to lunge forward to avoid a huge red brand that had appeared in the air, the first time those arrays didn ’t form attached to Kaldor ’s limbs.

The brand immediately erupted, ripping space apart before releasing a tumultuous shockwave.
If Zac had retreated into that thing, his head would have been blown right off.
The scene thoroughly infuriated Zac, the dark swirls of oblivion gathered in his mind as he readied himself to fight fire with fire.

But it took time forming even the smallest of Annihilation Spheres, and the detonation had pushed Zac right into Kaldor ’s waiting arms.
Zac desperately swung his axe to force the reaver into defense, but another large array appeared like a shield while a killing strike continued toward Zac unimpeded.
There was just no time, and Zac went with the only solution he could think of.

The red haze suddenly dispersed within a meter and a half from Zac, and Kaldor ’s two arrays sputtered and died out.
The churning Daos in Kaldor ’s body had been muted as well according to Zac ’s [Cosmic Gaze], and the skeleton stopped in his tracks for an instant.

Zac saw his opportunity, and he immediately gave up on activating [Abyssal Phase] with Void Energy.
Instead, he slightly altered the trajectory of his axe, passing right through the spot once guarded by the sanguine barrier.
At the same time, Zac used all four chains to delay Kaldor from resetting his punch, which was no longer powered by his killing intent.

One attack sped up while one slowed down.

Crackling sounds echoed out as fetters snapped, but they were joined by a blissful clang as Zac ’s axehead slammed straight into Kaldor ’s chest, prompting sparks to fly.
The strike contained everything Zac had to give, but the exoskeleton was just too hard.
Not even a scratch was left on its alabaster surface, yet it almost felt like Zac ’s wrist would snap from the rebound.

Zac didn ’t fight the powerful counterforce and instead used it, along with Kaldor ’s delayed punch, to create a ten-meter distance between the two.
Kaldor didn ’t move after the exchange, and the red haze around him slowly dissipated as the two combatants stared at each other in silence.
One silent and brooding, the other panting and covered in wounds and black ichor.

“It’s my victory,” both suddenly concluded.

“Your victory? Have you lost your mind?” Zac immediately swore, losing all decorum as he felt another wave of anger growing in his chest.
”There ’s a limit to how shameless you can be. ”

The reaver was already cheating by using extremely refined Arrays in this duel, both empowering his strikes and using them like actual skills.
Even then, Zac had completed his task and landed a hit, only to hear he had lost? Had Kaldor ever planned to give him the Splinter? Or had he become obsessed with it, wanting to keep it for his own?

’

”You have guts kid, talking to me like that, ” Kaldor snorted as the last of the red haze reentered his bones.
”This is obviously my victory, with you using that weird skill. ”

“What skill?” Zac countered.
“I never used a skill.
It ’s my Draugr Bloodline, and you never said anything about those.”

”Little bastard, you think you ’re the first Draugr I ’ve met? Since when did your kind have that kind of bloodline talent? ”

”Go visit the Abyssal Shores if you ’re curious, ” Zac shrugged as he ate a healing pill, still angry with the shameless reaver even if he had calmed down by now.

”Don ’t you think I know you ’re some sort of aboriginal outside the Empire ’s purview, brat? ” Kaldor laughed.
”But fine, It might not have been a skill.
So, what did you do? If I was at your grade my Dao would have been completely suppressed, cut off from the heavens themselves. ”

Zac only shrugged in response without any intention of explaining what he did.
”Since it ’s not a skill, why not honor your part of the bargain before anything else? Where is the splinter? ”

Kaldor had given in, but Zac still felt cheated.
Even if the Izh ’Rak reaver lacked any facial expressions, Zac could tell that Kaldor was quite pleased even after having lost.
It really looked like Kaldor had been going overboard to dig into Zac ’s secrets rather than going mad, and he had succeeded.

That final blast right behind Zac ’s head was probably meticulously planned rather than an unfortunate coincidence, a gambit to force Zac into showcasing any secret techniques he had.

Still, Zac didn’t dare complain as he activated the five seals he had formed with his late-mastery [Undying Mark], the healing skill that he had gotten ample experience using over the past few years.
The situation was unfair, but there was ultimately nothing he could do about it at the moment.

Kaldor was so far beyond himself no matter if you talked strength or standing, so complaining would do him no good.
Furthermore, Zac was asking the reaver to hand over a priceless treasure, which meant breaking the rules of the Orom World.
For now, Zac could only pray that him showing off one of his Bloodline Talents wouldn ’t cause any issues down the road, and thank the lucky stars he didn ’t need to use the far-more-conspicuous [Force of the Void].

“Now, don’t look so glum,” Kaldor laughed, clearly understanding Zac’s misgivings.
“Well, this can be considered my bad.
I’ve been bored the past few millennia and got a bit too excited.
How about this? In addition to that accursed item, I ’ll provide something else.
Ask me one question, and I’ll do my best to answer without holding back.”

Zac’s heart shuddered, and he looked at Kaldor with surprise.
This was a precious opportunity, even if Zac didn ’t feel it matched up to being exploited like this.
Pavina hadn’t divulged too much about Kaldor ’s origins over the past years, but he had managed to piece together a few things.
First of all, Kaldor was from a faction of equal standing to the Umbri’Zi Clan, though it was more of an army than a clan.

’

Secondly, Kaldor had arrived in the Orom World as an early Monarch, meaning the skeleton had at least some real standing even before he was caught.
Why the Orom had actually dared swallow him was unclear, and perhaps only Kaldor himself knew the answer to that question.
In either case, Kaldor should possess a lot of information, no matter if it was on cultivation, the Undead Empire, or the wider world.

He needed to make this question count.

“What’s the real reason members of the Undead Empire can ’t cultivate the Path of Pure Death?” Zac eventually asked.

This was the most pertinent question he could think of, where Kaldor also had a decent chance of knowing the answer.
Asking about cultivation wasn’t too urgent since he didn ’t have any pressing issues in that regard.
The only exception was how to form a core in his unique situation, but why would Kaldor have an answer to that? Besides, he would be able to meet Yrial soon enough, someone who walked a path of duality who was probably more experienced in this regard.

Zac wanted to find out more about the six Profundity Empire and the origin of Leandra’s faction, but it wasn’t that was urgent either.
Even if he got the answers he was looking for, he was way too weak to do anything about it.
He did, however, need to know more about the weird rule of the Undead Empire.

His identity was already sensitive considering not only his actions in the Twilight Harbor, but also because of him being an Edgewalker.
If there were some hidden issues with walking the Path of Pure Death or Oblivion in addition to all that, he needed to know.
It would be critical for his future relationship with the Undead Empire, whether he would ultimately dare go there or not.

“Brat, are you trying to get me killed?” Kaldor muttered, and Zac looked on with confusion as he took out a bottle of white mixture that he started covering his head with.

“Do you know how the Undead Empire was founded?” Kaldor asked as he started covering his neck and chest following his head.

“The ancient undead factions banded together to find refuge during the Dark Ages,” Zac slowly said, not understanding why the skeleton was oiling himself up.
“You eventually found the Heartlands and settled down.”

“Our ancestors found no Heartlands,” Kaldor snorted as he steadied himself.
“We found what’s now called the Heart of the Empire. ”

”The Heart of the Empire? ” Zac repeated, drawing a complete blank.
Catheya had never mentioned that thing before, and neither was it mentioned in any of the missives he had read in the Twilight Harbor.

”I doubt you ’ve heard of it, considering it ’s the core of our power, ” Kaldor sighed as cracks suddenly appeared all over his body.
”After all, it ’s an Eternal Heritage holding the key to Death. ”