Chapter 229: The Great Redeemer (1/2)
The man standing next to the crater was clearly the same as the one in the sky earlier, though there were some minute differences. The normal-sized one felt more lifelike, whereas the huge avatar that tried to crush the whole summit might as well have been a mask or statue.
The mysterious briefly man scrutinized the surroundings until his eyes met Zac’s. It was as though a lightning bolt went through Zac’s mind when he met the stare, and it truly felt like he would perish if he held eye contact.
He quickly looked away, and thoughts of fleeing were quickly filling his mind. But something stopped him. The aura this man emitted was on the same tier as that of Greatest, and if he truly was here there was nothing he could do. His life and death weren’t in his hands any longer.
But at the same time, they were in an enclosed space for a system-organized treasure hunt. He didn’t believe people even of that level of power would be able to break into a place like this. The rules of a System-sanctioned mystic realm were inviolable.
If there were attribute- or grade-limiters in place then there was nothing that could be done. Not even an A-ranked old monster could break in as far as Zac understood. That meant that the man in front of him might just be a powerless illusion and that the towering aura was just empty blustering. That would also explain why he only stood there. Zac grit his teeth with determination.
A huge fractal edge fell straight toward Salvation, who fearfully looked up at the edge as he hastily gathered the last remnants of his silver energies to produce a feeble defense. But Zac knew that small defense wouldn’t stop his assault as his attack was powered by the Dao of Sharpness and his very lifeforce.
But suddenly the man simply pointed a finger at the incoming attack, and it felt as though all life was drained out of his body as the fractal edge disintegrated from some unseen force.
“Insolence,” the man said with a melodic voice, and Zac couldn’t help but cough up blood as he fell back, unable to stand up again.
“It's true. I am not here in person, I am just an imprint. But my very existence is enough to ward off some baby cultivators,” the man continued as he looked down at Zac with disdain in his eyes.
It was clear though that the man was not truly there, since whatever the man did to stop Zac’s approach had drained the imprint enough to make him transparent. Zac knew that he would perhaps only be able to stop one more attack, but his body wouldn’t listen when he tried to command it to move.
“Are you my inheritor? Disappointing. This is my only intervention,” the man sighed as he looked down at the crumpled form of Salvation, but the next moment he looked over at the space on the opposite of the crater.
He didn’t say anything, only disdainfully snorted, but immediately after a pale-faced Thea emerged from nowhere coughing out blood, a slender sword in her hand. It looked like she had tried to assassinate Salvation unseen, but she couldn’t escape the gaze of Salvation’s protector.
“This unworthy one thanks you, Great Lord!” Salvation feebly coughed as he grasped his Cosmos Sack in his hand. “I will continue your bidding.”
The next moment he started fading away, but Zac was unwilling to give in to the imprint. He summoned strength he didn’t know he had, and with a roar threw [Verun’s Bite] at Salvation. He had no energy left to summon any skill, and could only pin his hopes to non-magical means.
Unfortunately, Zac was completely spent, and his aim was slightly off. The axe had quite a bit of force as it hurtled toward Salvation, but it was flying too low to hit anything lethal. But it was still a throw from someone possessing over three hundred Strength, and Salvation desperately swirled to avoid the incoming edge.
A muffled groan escaped Salvation’s mouth as the axe tore through the man’s wrist and cut off his right hand along with the Cosmic Sack that fell down on the ground. Zac could only shake his head in disappointment, and the next moment Salvation winked out of existence.
The last thing Zac saw of Salvation was two eyes that burned with madness and vengeance. The pouch that had just fallen turned into motes of light and flew into Zac’s Cosmos Sack.
The whole thing had happened in an instant, and The Redeemer was unable or unwilling to lend any further assistance to Salvation, and he instead only gazed up into the sky with some anticipation in his face. Zac knew the imprint was running out of time and hoped to gain at least some information before it disappeared.
“Who are you? Are you from the Church of Everlasting Dao?” Zac coughed.
Zac’s words brought back the attention of the quickly fading form.
“I am not one of those filthy body-peddlers. Their path toward immortality is a dead end, an empty pit of despair. I sense that my true body is still alive, which means that eons of planning are soon coming to fruition. We will meet again, little defier,” he said with a small smile as he finally was reduced to just motes of light.
Zac didn’t dare move for a few seconds even after the man dissapeared, but soon he ardously tried to get over to Thea. His vision was swimming, but he knew they couldn’t stay here. But his body was completely spent, and he helplessly was lying down on the ground. It was Thea instead who got up to her feet, fearfully looking over at the spot where the man once stood as she walked over to Zac.
“Who the hell was that?” she muttered, perhaps to herself or perhaps as a question to Zac.
“Definitely not someone from Earth,” Zac said with a frown. “He was at least a D-Grade powerhouse, likely higher.”
“I’ve read that powerful people could imprint treasures with their very essence. Somehow Salvation must have gotten his hands on such a treasure. But I don’t understand how. It’s extremely arduous to make such an imprint because you need to cut off a piece of your soul to leave the imprint. It’s rarely done,” Thea explained.
“They are usually only awarded to direct disciples and are extremely rare treasures. It’s not something the system awards either,” she continued.
“Salvation kept talking about some Great Redeemer,” Zac said, trying to keep his scattered mind focused. “Perhaps that was him. He might have gotten his hands on an inheritance or something. That kind of treasure sounds like something that might be left to an inheritor.”
“That’s impossible. This is a new world, there are no inheritances here,” Thea said with a shake of her head.
Zac scratched his face for a couple of seconds before he coughed.
“Well, it’s not completely impossible. I have a couple of them as well, got them as a reward,” he explained, his voice getting lower and lower as the intensity from Thea’s glare increased. ”And more importantly that man called Salvation his inheritor.”
She didn’t say anything only gave an annoyed huff as she surveyed the area before pulling Zac to his feet.
“I think we need to go,” she said. “The palace is destroyed, and people from all surrounding mountains should have seen the battle. None of us is in any condition to fight another battle.”
Zac was about to agree, but suddenly his vision turned slanted. It took a bit for his muddled mind to realize that he had fallen over, which made him finally realize just how bad his condition was. That last strike had used up most of his remaining lifeforce, and when it was destroyed it got even worse.
“Don’t put my body into a Cosmos Sack,” was all that Zac could say before his vision turned black.