Chapter 504: Broken (1/2)
Zac took another look around before he released [Profane Seal] as he gazed down at the corpse of the Lich King. This wretched half-man half-corpse had caused so much trouble for Earth, but he hadn’t even been able to resist one attack of his new Spirit Tool. He couldn’t help but shake his head as he bent down to look for treasure.
He pried a low-quality Spatial Ring from the man's hand and found a top-quality Cosmos Sack hidden within his robes before he threw the body into his Spatial Ring. He walked over to the ghost next, which had turned into a pile of shimmering sand upon dying.
It felt a bit weird digging around in a pile of ghost ashes, but Zac found a spatial pouch and a set of throwing darts inside. He popped a healing pill next as he explored the chamber, and he could quickly confirm there were only two points of interest apart from the numerous inscribed pillars. The first was a pedestal holding a large black rock, and the second was a proper entrance in the direction of the palace.
It didn't require a genius in formations to figure out the pedestal, or rather the rock, was the core of the array, but Zac left it alone so that Kenzie could look at it instead. As for the entrance, it was sealed shut, and Zac had more pressing things to do than to look for treasure in the palace. A massive amount of energy coursed through his body after his two kills.
The Lich might have been the highest leveled individual on Earth apart from the Dominators, and the amount of energy he had gained from the kill was staggering. This energy alone was more than all the kills above-ground, and it would probably take him weeks to grind the equivalent with any targets he could find on Earth.
He really needed to make sure everything was okay on the surface though, and he ran back to the hole in the ceiling, speeding against the clock as the accumulated energy already had started to dissipate from his body. But he froze just as he was about to jump up before he looked down at his chest.
The wound to his lung had mostly healed by now thanks to the pill, and he activated his duplicity core again. With [Profane Seal] expended his undead form was severely weakened, not to mention there might still be curious eyes upstairs. He felt a stabbing pain in his chest when the transformation completed, but it wasn’t too bad.
Zac jumped up through the entrance he came from, and soon enough found himself back in the open air. It wasn’t too different from how he left it, but he saw a clear change as he jumped up on one of the tallest buildings that were still standing after the battle. Streams of the surviving undead were rushing toward the Incursion Pillar, and the fortress was fast losing its population.
This was just how it usually went. The invaders all got a warning the leader was dead, and the countdown before the Nexus Hub closed had begun. A glance over in his sister’s direction showed they had moved away even further from the fortress, and the unthinking zombies seemed to have lost interest in them by now.
Perhaps they were unsure what to do after having lost connection to the Lich King.
“Good job,” a bloodied Ogras said as he emerged from the shadows. “That girl suddenly lost her composure, I’m guessing she got the prompt of her leader’s untimely demise.”
“I dealt with the other General as well. There should be no more threats, but are you okay to guard the others for a bit?” Zac asked. “I think I found the array, but let these people clear out a bit before I bring Kenzie over. I want to use the energy to break open a node before it’s too late.”
“These guys don’t seem to have any fight left in them,” the demon nodded as he looked around. “Go ahead, I’ll look after things.”
Zac nodded and entered the building he stood on, finding a secluded spot. There was no point in him going after the fleeing Revenants and Corpse Lords, as that would only result in a net loss of accumulated energy with the speed he was losing energy from killing the Lich King.
He only hesitated for a second before he sat down on his prayer mat. The fighting above had only left him with some grazes, and the stab wasn't too bad either. Most of the danger had come from the torrent of miasma, which had been completely neutralized and absorbed moment he turned into a Draugr. Apart from having spent most of his big skills he was essentially in good condition.
He couldn't discard this opportunity to become stronger, and he directly started pushing the remaining energy toward the node in his left leg. The Undead Empire was dealt with, but he still needed every advantage he could get in the upcoming fight against the Dominators. He needed to break open a few more nodes, and he turned his vision inward.
The node in his leg was just like before; partially opened and chock-full of energy while still impeding energy circulation. Seeing that nothing had changed from swapping classes back and forth he started to forcibly infuse it, and the pain quickly grew to uncomfortable levels.
The minutes passed and Zac started to brace himself for what was coming, but even he hadn't expected the extreme agony when the node finally exploded. His white robes got drenched in blood as his a chunk of his leg exploded as well to the point that bone was exposed. But that pain was still nothing compared to the agony he felt on a spiritual level.
The nodes were something between corporeal and intangible, fixed on what Ogras called a Spirit Body. It was essentially an energy copy that perfectly matched your physical form, and it was the housing of the pathways. And now this Spirit Body was wounded from the explosion, causing the pathways in his legs to become messed up.
He finally understood the difference between opening a node the normal way and forcing it open. The normal way was akin to unclogging a drain by pouring down some solvent before snaking it dislodge whatever caused the bad flow. Forcing a node open was rather like throwing a stick of dynamite down the drain and blowing up the clog, along with half your house.
This self-inflicted carnage did not only hurt a lot, but Zac also realized it had weakened him drastically. His Energy circulation was all out of control, even in the parts of his body that weren't harmed. He immediately took out another pill, this one intended to heal souls.
It helped with the pain somewhat, but there was no time for him to properly heal as an immense pressure suddenly descended upon him. Zac barely had time to get on his feet before a blinding golden light bled through the cracks in the wall, and then he was falling as the building collapsed.
A blistering heat was pushing down from above as well, almost immediately making the stones to burn upon the slightest touch. A new set of shallow wounds covered his body as he was buried in an avalanche of stones, but he immediately started to dig himself out. But there were just golden flames and smoke all around him, robbing him of his visibility. He didn’t even know if he was digging in the right direction.
Worry gripped his heart as Zac pushed the heated stones out of the way. What the hell was going on?
The strength required to unleash an attack with that kind of impact was not something anyone in his group could deal with, and it didn't look like something that the undead would use. There was only one group who could conjure something like this.