Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 1114: Living Dead

For a second, Zac had thought Kator wanted to extend an olive branch after their initial friction. It turned out the gesture was just another way to mess with him. The tranquility heʼd seized was almost blown away, but Zac pushed down the anger as he wordlessly stared at Kator.

”Donʼt give me that look. Want another beatdown?” Kator laughed.

”There is no way heʼd be up and walking if he was just turned,” Zac squeezed through grit teeth. ”You promised you wouldnʼt touch him until our duel. Is your word only worth this much?”

”I promised heʼd be alive and well. I never promised Iʼd keep him a Dreamer,” Kator said, scratching a small scar on the chest where Zac struck him before.

”Killing Boje and awakening a Revenant canʼt possibly be considered alive and well!”

”Oh, but I didnʼt awaken him,” Kator said before turning to the Alchemist, who had hesitantly stopped at the doorway. ”Buddy, introduce yourself.”

The man looked back and forth between Zac and Kator for a moment, fear and helplessness evident on his face. Eventually, he released a helpless sigh. ”… Iʼm Boje Zethaya,”

Zacʼs eyes thinned. There was something about his face and voice that was so familiar, and not in the eerie way heʼd seen with his enemies-turned-followers. The newcomer didnʼt seem to be lying. Revenant was really Boje Zethaya unless they had managed to steal his memories before raising a Revenant spy.

”You—” Zac slowly said, realization finally parting the clouds of anger that had built in his mind.

Heʼd heard it was technically possible to turn cultivators into Revenants while retaining their memories, but it was exceedingly difficult and expensive. Only the most talented Liches could accomplish such a feat, and it required exceedingly rare materials. Zac even doubted there was anyone in Zecia who had the skills necessary. Even then, there was a decent risk either soul or body would succumb from the transition, to the point that even living Death Cultivators were leery about taking that step.

Why would Kator do something like this? Was it really just to mess with him?

”You donʼt think I understand how your greedy little mind works?” Kator snickered upon seeing the confusion on Zacʼs face. ”You wanted a chit for the Zethaya Pill House, which you could use to further the cultivation of Zachary Atwood and the Dreamers of your faction. Something we explicitly said might work against our goals.”

Zac didnʼt bother denying it. After all, it was true that Bojeʼs access to the top-tier Pill House was an important reason heʼd shown up today. And even if it wasnʼt the only reason, so what? Should he try to explain himself like a defendant on trial? That would only make him look like a hypocrite.

”Besides, you really thought Iʼd just let a Sealbearer go?” the reaver continued. ”Youʼd send him back, but do you think those weak Alchemists would dare hang onto him? The brat would be sold off to one of the outsider factions before he could bring down a calamity on their heads. Then weʼd be left with nothing while our enemies grow stronger.”

”This kills two birds with one stone. Young Boje here is now one of us, commandments and all. Thereʼs no way for him to become part of someone elseʼs cycle. Realignment should be the optimal choice, superior to awakening or digging the seal out of his chest. After all, the seal chose this guy for one reason or another. This way, we keep the original, but in a more suitable form.”

”Three stones, maybe,” Kator added after some thought. ”Seeing your constipated face is quite a delicious bonus.”

Zac inwardly fumed but knew he had no leg to stand on. Kator had obviously twisted the meaning of his promise, but that didnʼt much matter at this point. He could have raised a stink if heʼd won, but he couldnʼt complain about Bojeʼs fate.

”Enough,” Toss said as he stepped through a crack in space. ”Our mission takes precedence over everything else. This is already a good outcome for the child.”

”Kator managed to bring a highly skilled Lich for this very purpose,” Laz added. ”Native sealbearers are expected to be more useful inside the trial zone, so weʼve spared no expense to ensure there are as few lingering drawbacks as possible on our new members.”

”I know today didnʼt go as you hoped, but donʼt let it sow seeds of doubt in your heart,” Pavina said.

”Thank you,” Zac said. ”Donʼt worry about me. My cultivation path has been nothing but hiccups and roadblocks since day one. This is just another Tuesday.”

”If thereʼs nothing else, weʼll take our leave,” Laz TemʼZul said, ushering Zac and Boje from the dojo.

An unexpected scene waited on the other side. It was a huge training square where thousands of warriors fought. Only a few were Draugr, with Revenants and Corpselords having a roughly equal distribution. A bloody air covered the arena, except for a solitary spot of darkness where he found Tavza waiting. She briefly glanced at Boje before leveling an even stare at Zac.

”You knew about this?” Zac asked.

”Some battles have to be ceded for the greater picture.”

Zac snorted with displeasure, but he followed when Tavza turned around and walked toward a gate on the opposite side of the room. It was like an invisible hand pushed the combatants aside, creating a path for their small group. No one said anything for a minute until Tavza finally spoke again.

”For a moment, I thought youʼd subvert all expectations again.”

”Wasnʼt enough this time,” Zac shrugged. ”Iʼd probably be dead if it were a real battle, with escape the only other option. And there might be hundreds of people like him in the trial.”

”Hundreds? Unlikely. The deeper your foundations, the harder it is to push for Late Hegemony within a century. Besides, thereʼs a reason thereʼs only Kator and I at this level from the Empire,” Tavza said. ”All factions are fearful of diluting their fate by being greedy. While our estimates indicate thereʼll be hundreds of sealbearers, the vast majority will be Early or Middle D-grade. There shouldnʼt be more than twenty people at Katorʼs level.”

Zac nodded, but her phrasing made Zac look over with curiosity. ”Between you and Kator, whoʼd win in a spar?”

”In a spar? Kator,” Tavza said with equanimity. ”Those practicing technique will always benefit in situations limiting oneʼs other powers. In a life-and-death battle? Impossible to say.”

Zac was slightly surprised that Tavza felt confident standing toe-to-toe with Kator in a death match. A young princess of the Azon bloodline obviously wouldnʼt be weak, but Tavzaʼs role in the mission seemed more like support. She had her Domain-like Bloodline that could provide Miasma and a deep understanding of Arrays and ancient history. Meanwhile, Kator was a pure combatant.

The conversation stalled again, and Zac eventually turned to Boje, who had nervously followed a few paces behind.

”How are you feeling?”

”I am fine, thank you,” the Alchemist quickly said. ”I… May I ask for young masterʼs name?”

”You donʼt know?” Zac said with confusion.

”Boje Zethaya entered Middle D-grade just before Kator found him,” Tavza commented. ”He wouldnʼt know.”

No wonder Boje had looked like a question mark since the beginning. Zacʼs Draugr appearance was only vaguely familiar to his original features after awakening, and it was almost impossible to draw the connection unless you knew they were the same person. However, heʼd figured Boje wouldʼve figured it out through the two aliases on the ladder.

Turned out Boje didnʼt even have access to it. Less surprising was that Kator hadnʼt bothered filling the poor Alchemist in on the situation.

”Youʼre already Middle D-grade?” Zac said with surprise. ”Your cultivation is even faster than Reoluv Dravorakʼs?”

”My, ah, previous status came with some advantages,” Boje said wryly. ”The Zethaya Clan is one of the wealthiest factions in the sector, and war was coming. The Matriarch chose to pour vast amounts of resources into our people. That way, weʼd be better prepared while reducing our attraction as a target for ransacking. Then… I—”

Bojeʼs already pallid face grew even paler as he lost his words.

”The KanʼTanu forcibly raised his cultivation with taboo methods after he was captured,” Laz said.

”Then—” Zac hesitated as he glanced at Bojeʼs chest.

”No, they donʼt implant sealbearers with Heart Curses,” Tavza said upon seeing Zac looking at Bojeʼs stomach. ”We believe they are selling sealbearers to outside factions and donʼt want to spoil the goods. After all, those things feed on fate, in a sense.”

”His cultivation was already resource-heavy, and the ritual damaged his foundations even further,” Laz said before turning to Boje. ”Donʼt consume more treasures or gain any levels over the next three years. Focus on purification and learning what we imparted.”

”I—I understand,” Boje stuttered, clearly unnerved by the gaze of the Draugr Monarch.

Zac was about to explain the situation, but they had reached the teleportation square—or rather, one looking mostly like it, except for a few minor differences. Zac guessed there were dozens of them in the sprawling mansion of the Kavriel Clan.

Boje was surprised to hear they were leaving the Kavriel Clanʼs ancestral manor, but he welcomed the news. It almost looked like he didnʼt care where they were going, so long as it was away from all the scary overlords of the Undead Empire.

Zac exchanged a few words with Laz before activating the teleporter, indicating Boje to get inside. Just as they were about to leave, Zac heard Tavzaʼs emotionless voice in his mind.

ʼDonʼt return to Kavista before the mission. The situation has gone out of control.ʼ

The teleporter swallowed him and Boje before Zac had the chance to react to Tavzaʼs message, and they soon appeared by his Nexus Hub. Boje curiously looked around, his brows slowly scrunching together as he sensed the environment outside.

”Whatʼs this?” Boje muttered. ”I sense something sinister… No, wait… is that—”

”Itʼs the Dao of Life,” Zac sighed. ”Youʼll get used to the change in perspective. Trust me, I know.”

”You—”

”I know you have questions. Iʼll explain everything, but letʼs relocate before anything else,” Zac said with a shake of his head.

The two teleported once more, appearing in Zacʼs Compound. All the while, Boje only got increasingly confused as he observed the surroundings. Finally, they settled in his Death-attuned compound, where Triv served refreshments before retreating.

”Weʼre not on Kavista anymore, are we?”

”No. Not in the Kavriel Province at all, in fact,” Zac explained. ”I guess I should introduce myself. Iʼm Arcaz UmbriʼZi, but you know me better as one of my aliases—Zac Piker.”

”Ah, of course, I—WHAT!” Boje blurted a storm of emotions fluctuating across his face. It took him over a minute to recollect himself, at which point he looked at Zac with a complicated expression. ”They got you too? No wonder we havenʼt heard from you lately.”

”No,” Zac said with a wry smile. ”Well, not in the same sense. My situation is more complicated. I was already Half-Draugr when we met the first time. I had something similar to a deviation when entering hegemony and was split in two. The half youʼre more familiar with should currently be leading another campaign for the Atwood Empire.”

”So thatʼs where we are,” Boje said, his eyes widening in comprehension. ”I recall reading a missive mentioning your world had pockets of Death after the Undead Incursion. To think it was to this extent.”

”The System turned it into a Dual-attuned world after we passed the integration,” Zac said. ”Now, weʼre the only life-death faction in Zecia.”

Zac spent the next ten minutes broadly explaining the situation and catching Boje up to speed.

”I understand,” Boje said, blankly looking up at the blue sky and the warm suns above. He said nothing more, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

”Are you okay?” Zac eventually asked after the silence had dragged on for a minute.

The Alchemist was dragged out of his stupor and looked over.

”The past couple of months have been…” Boje said, slowly shaking his head. ”Itʼs ironic.”

”What?”

”I met the Matriarch a few years ago. She told me I wasnʼt suited for the path of Death and should focus on Life instead. I wonder what she would think if she saw me now.”

There was a smile on Bojeʼs face, but even Zac could see the mania hiding beneath the surface. He said nothing, letting Boje continue.

”I followed her suggestion. After our meeting, I shifted my direction toward healing while continuing my studies of Alchemy. I normally stayed far from the fighting, healing our soldiers from within our battlements. But the quest required me to follow the army into the KanʼTanu Sector, and I got greedy.”

Zac could guess the rest. They met a strong opponent, and Bojeʼs army was killed or captured. ”Did you get the seal during the war?”

”No, shortly before,” Boje said. ”The Zethaya have some clandestine… ventures... inside the Million Gates Territory. That chaotic space has a lot of resources you canʼt find elsewhere. I was sent there after we started hearing the rumors of war and opportunities.”

”Should you be spilling the beans on those kinds of secrets?” Zac said with a raised brow.

”It doesnʼt matter now,” Boje sighed. ”Those channels are all liquidated. Besides, Iʼm not even part of my family anymore.”

”Those orders…”

”Itʼs not just that,” Boje said, looking up at Zac. ”I canʼt return anymore. That skeleton jerk was right in one thing. My family canʼt withstand holding onto someone related to the Left Imperial Palace. I kept my situation hidden out of fear of becoming a bargaining chip. Now, my situation is even worse. Besides… I canʼt face my family like this…”

Zac understood what he meant. Boje was caught in a nightmarish situation where he currently didnʼt quite belong to either side. The Zethaya Clan might not even believe he was who he said he was. His first thought was also that Boje was a spy. Hearing the motivations and seeing Tavza and Lazʼs reactions wasnʼt enough to fully dispel the thought. Realignment was simply too rare, to the point that it never happened on the frontier.

”Well, I shouldnʼt complain,” Boje eventually said. ”So many people have died in this war, including people Iʼve known my whole life. My situation is much better than that, especially now that Iʼm out of the eyes of that IzhʼRak Reaver.

”Iʼd like to send a message back home, with your permission. Just explain the situation to my parents. I wonʼt mention the matter of the Left Imperial Palace, of course. Iʼll say something like they recognized my potential was too good to awaken conventionally and chose realignment instead.”

”Sure,” Zac nodded. ”Howʼs your situation in that regard? Can you still practice alchemy?”

”Well, I have some relearning to do. Thankfully, I donʼt cultivate the Dao of Life like some healers,” Boje said. ”Iʼm cultivating the Daos of Fire, Herbalism, and Alchemy. The Empire also provided resources and manuals to allow me to continue my cultivation with Miasma instead of Cosmic Energy.”

”Let me know if you need anything else,” Zac said. ”My Atwood Empire canʼt compare to the Zethaya in terms of riches, but you might be surprised by the stuff we have in our stores. Much of it comes from outside Zecia.”

The two talked for another hour, catching up and planning for the future. Zac had to admit, Kator had set everything up quite nicely for the Alchemist. Apart from Cultivation Manuals and Alchemy techniques, Boje had even been provided with a large batch of practice resources and information missives related to his path of study. The Undead Empire unsurprisingly had ample experience taking Alchemic Recipies from the outside and reworking them to suit their races.

It was almost impossible for an Undead to create pills that could be used for the living. After all, the foundation of their pills would be made with Miasma rather than Cosmic Energy, which would leave an indelible core of Death within. For the undead, that energy would simply bolster the effect of the pills. For the living, taking the pill would be akin to inviting Death. A few might be fine, but any more, and theyʼd face the same situation as the cultivators who had stayed within the Dead Zone too long.

Boje was quite eager to start working on the proprietary Zethaya recipes. In his words, he wouldnʼt be breaking any of his old family rules if he reworked them into undead pills. They could technically be considered entirely new pills.

Zac could still sense the panic beneath the excitement, but there wasnʼt much Zac could do about it. The trauma heʼd been through wouldnʼt magically heal after a short conversation with an old acquaintance. Hopefully, staying in the Atwood Empire would let him process what heʼd been through. Seeing the undead and living working together might make it easier to deal with his situation.

”Excuse me, young master. You have guests,” a voice said from outside, and Zac mentally opened the gates to let Triv inside.

Accompanying him was Joanna and a couple of Revenants who would take Boje to get settled. Soon only Zac and Joanna remained, and he shared the events of his visit.

”That reaver was so strong that not even you could defeat him?” Joanna frowned. ”I knew the trial would be deadly, but this...”

”We still have some time to catch up.”

”Whatʼs next?”

”More of the same,” Zac said. ”These are going to be a bloody few years.”