Chapter 449: Pawn of Fate (1/2)
Zac's heart hammered with horror as he plunged further and further into the abyss. He tried to find something to hold on to, but he found himself pelted by one rock after another as massive boulders detached from the walls and slammed into him with the force of a speeding truck. There was no way that this wasn't the work of the old Hayner Patriarch.
He did however notice that the old man had fallen inside as well, and he was some ways above him. But his situation didn't seem nearly as bad. The old seer was sitting on a piece of land as he sailed toward the bottom as well, but not a single boulder hit him or even came close. Zac glowered in anger at the man who had caused this mess and quickly charged up a [Chop].
However, a second after he launched the strike at the old man a massive boulder slammed into the fractal blade, resulting in mutual destruction. Zac was about to charge up another strike but just as he was thrown off-course by another boulder. Was all this really a coincidence, or was this what it was like to fight against Karmic Cultivator?
It would take more than some errant rocks to take him out though, and Zac stopped trying to hit the man and instead focused on the depths below. They had fallen for almost 15 seconds already, but Zac noticed the dive was about to have a very abrupt end as the ground below was quickly rising up to meet them.
Zac only had a second to think, and without any better options available he activated a defensive charge of his robes along with another talisman as he infused himself with the Dao of the Coffin. He couldn't actually die or get seriously hurt from just falling in standard gravity, but he didn't want to risk getting knocked out as he suspected the old man had some means to deal with the landing.
Zac landed like a comet, causing a massive crater with himself in the epicenter. Zac felt the taste of iron in his mouth, but he ignored the pain and scrambled to his feet to meet the next wave of attacks. A massive boulder had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, but Zac cut it apart just in time to see the shockwave of his own crash landing buffeting the old man's descent.
It actually allowed him to land as smoothly as if he had only jumped down from a small incline, and Zac couldn't help himself from swearing at the scene.
”You are quite adept at resisting karmic manipulations. I am Ter'Erian Hayner, former patriarch of the Hayner Clan,” the old man smiled when he noticed Zac's glare.
”Why did you do this?” Zac growled, his anger already building. ”You should have realized that trapping yourself in here with me can't end well for you.”
”Even a blind old man can see how powerful you are. My descendants aren't your match. So I nudged events a bit to create this place for us since I learned of your coming,” he said. ”Of course, nature had already laid the groundwork.”
Zac looked around, and he had to say he was pretty shocked by what a karmic cultivator could do. The hole they found themselves in was the biggest one he had ever seen. It was hundreds of meters wide, and It's edges were almost completely sheer. The sky could still be visible far above, but even he would have some trouble getting back up in short order.
”Do you have the clan-defining treasure on you?” Zac asked.
”The [Star of Aryaldar] is placed on top of a flying treasure. The flying treasure has also been reinforced with an illusion array and an isolation array, and my descendants have been instructed to keep flying across this vast continent for 23 days before returning,” the man smiled.
”Twenty-three days,” Zac repeated with an even stare.
”Indeed. The star is the core of our heritage, we cannot lose it. We sacrificed much to glean find a path out of this calamity. The longer it is hidden the better, and after 23 days the treasure will be safe. You might still be able to find the treasure if fate is on your side, but are you in a position to worry about that?”
A surge of anger flashed in Zac's mind as the pieces of oblivion seemed energized. But Zac quickly calmed down as he tried to understand the situation. The Hayner clan was obviously the real deal since they had indirectly inferred the rules of the Tower even if they didn't know about its existence. Twenty-three days was how much time remained of his climb.
The treasure would be safe in 23 days as he would have been thrown out of the Tower by then. But Zac suddenly froze when he realized what the old man had said.
”What do you mean position to worry?” Zac frowned.
”Celestial stone will fall into this hole in a short while,” the old man said, some ruthlessness finally shining through his congenial facade.
”A celestial stone?” Zac muttered with confusion until his eyes widened in alarm. ”A god damn meteor?”
”My clan worked for a thousand years to form a karmic link with one of the stones sailing about in the vast beyond, gently nudging closer to us. It became our clan-defending treasure, and when better to use it than now?”
These people were lunatics. That was the only thing Zac could think of as he looked the old man with an aghast expression. Dragging a meteor down on top of his own head to take out a threat to his clan was beyond overkill. Even if his mission succeeded he would have destroyed half his country from the impact, along with getting himself killed.
Zac also knew that there was no way that the old man would let him climb out of the hole in peace either. He could only take him out as quickly as possible and pray that he was the level guardian. A storm of energy immediately exploded around him as he activated [Hatchetman's Rage], and almost looked like a sea of flames was conjured by his wrath.
He hadn't used the skill too often since he was worried that the mental effect of the skill would synergize with the anger that the Splinter was always fanning in the background, but now was not the time to care about such things. A towering power made him feel flush with potential, and he almost welcomed the descent of the metro to test his mettle against it.
However, he quickly snapped out of it and instead focused his attention to the old man. Each upgrade of the skill had prolonged the effect of the boost by 10 full seconds, so he still had less than a minute to finish the fight before he would enter a weakened state. However, that should be more than enough to settle the fight.