It was only when the trio stopped outside the huge statue’s immediate perimeter that Bultras was made aware of their destination. She looked at the stone cauldron with mixed emotions. “Who could have thought Terren’s Cauldron has such a problem? Lord Reylan will be distraught when he…. Wait, don’t tell me?”
“It was probably Reylan Valfir who concocted this scheme in the first place. The disappearances are Reylan causing trouble from beyond the grave,” Zac confirmed.
While Zac worked with Bultras over the past few days, Esmeralda kept watch on the Elemental while gathering information. That included figuring out where the cauldron came from, and Zac was caught up by the time they arrived. The installation was quite new by Multiverse standards, only eight centuries old. It was gifted by Reylan Valfir, an up-and-coming alchemist and direct descendant of a council family, to commemorate his breakthrough.
Coincidentally, Reylan disappeared two decades ago, right around the time the cursed flame’s nourishing array was installed. Reylan was officially still alive, said to be in seclusion to study the Dao of Alchemy. In the upper circles, he was thought to be a victim of assassination since his Soul Lamp had extinguished. In reality, he’d been consumed by the flame.
With the arrangement incomplete and without a controller, it had taken the flame a few centuries of sporadic activations to gather the necessary energy to fully awaken.
“Remember, we’re dealing with an unstable flame inside a folded space,” Zac reiterated, giving Bultras a warning look. “The flame is only an outer node of the Natural Curse. Dealing with it haphazardly might very well drag the real thing to Terren’s Loom. Don’t become a sinner by playing the hero.”
Zac wasn’t too worried about the Elemental. No matter how exquisite his methods, there was a significant gap in strength. The Elemental was also acting alone, while Zac had Esmeralda and an infuriated Peak D-grade Blacksmith on his side. At worst, the target would use some hidden method to sneak away. Even that seemed unlikely with Esmeralda around.
The real headache was the volatile Bultras. Two days of planning out [Love’s Bond]’s breakthrough left him confident in her skills as a Blacksmith. Except, Zac couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t take matters into her own hands upon facing the flame. There was no real trust between the two, and their priorities were undeniably different.
The blacksmith was focused on saving her hometown and clearing her name. Meanwhile, Zac no longer cared what happened to the memory domain or about increasing his fate with the Mercurial Court. He’d sit back and let the whole city get cursed if it ensured a safe and successful ascent for Alea. If not for the Elemental throwing a wrench in their plans, Zac would have gladly waited a few more days.
Zac was unmoved. “The road of cultivation is bound to be lined with challenges. Sometimes, the safe path is a dead end. How can one hope to grasp a corner of the Heavens without daring to take a leap of faith? The road is narrow, and you need to seize the opportunities that come your way.”
“We need to hurry,” Esmeralda reminded.
Zac nodded and put on a hood and silver mask that hid his features and aura. As far as possible, Zac wanted to avoid appearing on Kaltosa Lu’s radar. The toad led them to a spatial weak spot near the statue, and [Love’s Bond] was already in Zac’s hand when their surroundings shifted. Thankfully, their arrival went unnoticed, giving the three a moment to plan things out.
There were noticeable differences in the folded space compared to Zac’s previous visit. The Elemental still floated in the center before the flame, which was now connected to a completed nurturing array. The arrangement had been further augmented by hundreds of floating Spatial runes of indeterminable purpose.
The Spiritual Flame had also seen some changes. The turquoise fire burned more intensely, and it had gained a more intense aura of Death after advancing through countless deaths. It wasn’t enough to call it a Death-attuned Spiritual Flame, but it was getting there. Taking the first step of realignment was the hardest, and Alea would be able to continue the process if she managed to absorb it.
It was a welcome bonus that would make Alea’s job easier. Still, the touch of deathly wasn’t what drew Alea to the flame. Neither was it the Spatial Curse. Like the Spiritual Flame, [Love’s Bond] was born from Sacrifice, giving the two a type of affinity. The most obvious example was Alea’s skill [Fate’s Obduracy], where she sacrificed her foundations to seal an enemy’s fate.
“That’s it! That’s the evil I’ve sensed in the other flames!” Bultras wheezed with alarm and anger. “Those are spatial runes! What is that bastard up to?”
The same question was on Zac’s mind. There’d been no time to go over everything on the short way over. Esmeralda said that the Elemental had repaired the array and planned on advancing it beyond Middle D-grade. Zac couldn’t make heads or tails of the Elemental’s arrangement. The Spatial runes were connected to the nurturing array, forming a link to the flame through it.
It didn’t look like something that’d let the Elemental control a Late D-grade Spiritual Flame. Zac’s best guess was that it was a Spatial Seal that’d let him store the upgraded flame until he was strong enough to absorb it.
“Like I said, he’s more ambitious than I gave him credit for,” Esmeralda sighed. “He’s planning on gathering enough Sacrificial Energy to open a path. He must have realized that a Middle D-grade Flame wasn’t strong enough to make that happen.”
“A path where?” Bultras asked.
“To the heart of the Curse. He’s probably after its core. Its value is far greater than a D-grade mutated flame, especially for an Array Master,” the toad said. “That’s why we had to go early. He’s altered the nurturing array. He’ll trigger all the curses in one go to flood the flame with Sacrificial Energy. The flame will be forced into the next stage and collapse from the overload, turning it into a temporary spatial gate.”
“Are you confident you can keep the flame under control while I deal with the Array Master?” Zac asked.
“I’ll do it even if I can’t,” Bultras grunted.
“Be careful. He’s strengthened the spatial bond to the Natural Curse. Don’t do anything with it before I’ve cut the connection,” Esmeralda said before turning to Zac. “The sooner you deal with the flameling, the better. I’ll assist, so avoid your usual approach. Remember, a thief comes and goes with none the wiser.”
“I know,” Zac said.
There was nothing else to say. Zac shot out like a bullet, heading straight for his target. The Elemental reacted extremely quickly, making Zac wonder if they’d been exposed when they snuck inside. Dozens of hidden array disks activated, and the short distance between Zac and the cave’s center became a vast chasm of fragile space. From the cracks, rivers of angry flames poured out.
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Having experienced a similar situation countless times more harrowing just weeks ago, Zac didn’t so much as blink. He dove into the first salvo like an ancient god, crushing manmade Spatial Tears with his body until [Profane Exponents] had time to form. At that point, Zac’s Duplicity Core was already burning hot.
The Elemental wasn’t only using his own power. He was drawing from the cursed Spiritual Flame. The Natural Curse’s Karmic bond ignored the coffin pygmy’s defensive barrier, repeatedly trying to mark Zac. The drain wasn’t that big of a deal, but Zac couldn’t delay. There was no obvious loophole to the array, so Zac unleashed a herculean swing empowered by [Spiritual Void].
Space shattered like a mirror, and the sea of flames parted, allowing Zac to step back into the hidden cave. However, it was completely empty. There was no sign of the flame or anyone else, yet Zac’s Danger Sense picked up a growing threat.
‘It’s a duplicate layer!’ Esmeralda’s voice emerged in Zac’s mind, along with a secondary stream of images.
Zac suddenly saw eight spatial folds layered like a cake, with Zac standing in the lowest one. Some of his essence leaked into the closest layers, creating a vague outline matching his appearance. The original spatial fold was all the way on the other end, with six empty spaces separating them. The concept was just like the split spaces of Zac’s [Eye of Desolation]. Except this time, Zac was the one trapped.
Esmeralda’s vantage was a huge help, allowing Zac to directly target the borders. The Elemental only seemed to possess one Earthly Dao, and it was related to arrays. His Spatial Dao was a Peak Branch, which wasn’t nearly enough to enforce the spatial separation. A well-aimed swing was enough to tear a hole in the wall between layers, but Zac swore upon finding himself back at the same spot after jumping through.
The layers were moving as he navigated through them, and the damage he created swiftly mended. Zac barely managed to get closer when he rushed, so he switched up his tactics. [Deathmark]’s ominous shroud rapidly spread through the folded spaces, corroding its way through the Elemental’s array. It didn’t matter how space rearranged itself if all spaces were filled with Zac’s attack.
The Elemental wouldn’t wait around while his spatial domain was infiltrated and corroded. Dozens of array disks appeared around the cursed flame, drawing on its tainted powers to channel a devastating strike. He didn’t get far before a massive hammer filled with righteous wrath interrupted his plan.
The attack was courtesy of Bultras, who’d been carried through the spatial maze by Esmeralda. The swing was more than enough to threaten the Middle D-grade Elemental’s life, and he urgently shifted into a neighboring spatial layer to avoid the attack. Bultras clearly wanted to pursue, but she gritted her teeth and released a fiery net to contain the cursed flame instead.
Half the battle was already won now that the enemy had been forced away from the Spiritual Flame, and the elemental already showed signs of wanting to escape. Zac couldn’t wait for Esmeralda to carry him through the spatial layers, and [Deathmark] would need a few seconds to reach the last spatial layer. Void of Life poured out of [Spiritual Void], andZac fused with the darkness as he slipped through the cracks ungoverned by Dao.
Zac could feel the elemental’s horror upon seeing Zac silently shift through dimensions like a Spatial Cultivator. A primordial fire ignited inside the hollow of the donut-shaped Elemental, and he suddenly split into identical incarnations on four adjoining floors. Each took out hundreds of ancient array disks made from clay. They immediately harmonized into a dimension-spanning array that emitted far greater might than the earlier attacks.
Desperate, the Elemental had brought out one of his strongest killing blows. Judging by Zac’s screaming Danger Sense, the ancient formation could even threaten him. Zac didn’t get the opportunity to find out if he was right. Just when the array was about to activate, the ancient disks controlled by the elemental’s third clone disappeared. With a full quarter of the array flags missing, the formation collapsed, releasing an explosive backlash.
“No!” the Elemental wailed as he was consumed by a spatial conflagration.
Zac knew it was a guise, thanks to Esmeralda’s discerning gaze. A carefully hidden spatial pocket had silently appeared in a corner. It was an isolated space holding nothing but a rune flickering with the power of teleportation. While a fake elemental was struggling against the ancient array’s backlash, the real one was sneaking away through the cracks of space.
It wasn’t meant to be. Like the array disks, the rune suddenly disappeared like it had winked out of existence. Not giving up, the elemental brought out an ancient escape talisman that held some Imperial Faith. The faith didn’t save the talisman from Esmeralda’s sticky fingers. It was nabbed just like the rest, gone before it could be used. At that point, Zac had already caught up.
“No honor!” the Elemental wheezed with fury and despair.
Zac somewhat pitied the Elemental for being dealt such an unfair hand. That didn’t stop him from destroying the Elemental’s core with a swing of his axe before flooding his energy body with rampant Dao of Death. Zac didn’t stop there, repeatedly cutting into the unusual form until he couldn’t sense a hint of life. So what if they were dishonorable? This wasn’t a gentleman’s duel.
In lieu of Kill Energy, the trial provided another form of confirmation for the trial taker’s demise. Two streaks of pure light emerged from the Elemental’s torn body. Each was a stored identity and part of a Mercurial Court seal. As expected, the elemental hadn’t appeared in the area by coincidence. Zac looked at the identities with interest, sensing that he could directly seize them without going through a trial.
One of the identities was wholly unremarkable, giving Zac nothing tangible to go on. It was the second that was interesting, since it held a hint of the Mercurial Court’s aura. However, Zac didn’t feel any strong connection to it, and Esmeralda was similarly unimpressed.
‘The call is much weaker than the lantern I saw before,’ she commented.
‘Skip it?’
‘Let’s wait for a better one,’ Esmeralda agreed.
Like the identities could hear their discussion, they dispersed on their own, fusing with the memory domain’s ambient faith. However, Zac didn’t miss that a sliver of their energy entered the seal on his hand, augmenting the stockpiled Imperial Fate. The addition was significantly weaker than from the events in Dipper Seven, but it proved that killing trial takers allowed you to literally steal some of their fate.
Zac didn’t feel bad in the slightest for tag teaming a much weaker opponent. The only reason the Elemental managed to live that long was Zac’s fear of exposing their location. He could have ended the battle instantly with [Eye of Desolation] or [Desperation’s End]. Either was strong enough to shatter all the Elemental’s stratagems through raw strength, but activating such powerful skills might have damaged the folded space.
Esmeralda was an average combatant at best, lacking both interest and endowment. That didn’t mean her abilities were useless in a fight. She’d proven herself an absolute nightmare for a Spatial Array Master like the Elemental, turning the battle into a joke. She’d stolen his formation disks, his teleporter, and his talisman. If he’d taken out something else, Esmeralda would have stolen that, too.
There was no time to celebrate the quick and easy victory. The Elemental’s death left the altered nurturing array without a controller, and Zac’s growing sense of unease indicated the flickering Spatial runes wouldn’t go quietly. They were doing something to the Spiritual Flame, and Bultras was fast losing control.
“Follow my lead!” Esmeralda shouted and took charge of the situation.
The three spent the next half-hour extracting the Spatial Energies the Elemental had infused. Esmeralda was still doing the heavy lifting while Bultras used her own Spiritual Flame to keep its younger cousin in check. Zac’s job was the easiest. Whenever a piece of the Natural Curse or embedded Spatial Energies went out of control, he’d extinguish it with [Void Mountain].
“Not good! It’s going out of control. Don’t worry about me. I’ll drag the storm away from here,” Esmeralda suddenly shouted before disappearing with the Spatial Runes in a blinding flash.
“It’s stabilized!” Bultras exclaimed, looking at the gently swaying Spiritual Flame with surprise. “The connection to the curse is almost fully severed. It’s become rootless. This is the best time to absorb it.”
“Good. We’ll go with the standard approach,” Zac said.
“Wait, what about your mentor? Shouldn’t we help her? She risked her life to bring the danger away,” Bultras said.
“She’s a real hero, alright,” Zac said, having a hard time keeping the sarcasm out of his voice. “Don’t worry about her. She’ll survive even if the sky collapses.”
There was no point in ruining Bultras’s image of Esmeralda heroically sacrificing herself to save the day, even if it couldn’t be further from the truth. Zac knew what the old thief was up to the second she explained the Elemental’s plan. Sure, Esmeralda would have helped without any expectation of a reward. Would she hold back when there were valuables to steal? Certainly not.
Esmeralda was probably busy extracting the memory domain’s true treasures at this very moment. Zac didn’t mind. Esmeralda had gone above and beyond already, and stealing the curse core might well be the true mission of the memory domain. Her greed had a decent chance of increasing their contribution more than simply taking away the Spiritual Flame.
“Then… A leap of faith?” Bultras said, looking at [Love’s Bond] with expectation.
Zac smiled as piles of priceless materials appeared around them.