Chapter 761: Eruptions (1/2)

Zac dove into the Twilight Ocean and the scenery above was immediately replaced by a subaquatic hellscape. He had already been somewhat prepared considering the spectacle he had caused, but the pandemonium that met him was even beyond what he expected.

The whole ocean was a bubbling cauldron as tens of thousands of superheated boulders dropped into the waters from above. The falling debris was filled with fiery energy, and the rapid cooling by the ocean caused them to crack one by one, causing cataclysmic explosions that spread in deadly chain reactions.

Meanwhile, gouts of lava shot out from the hundreds of cracks in the volcano itself, turning into giant spears that decimated anything in their path. Zac could only keep going, desperately avoiding the mayhem best as he could. Even then, he was constantly wounded by flying shrapnel or boulders slamming into the waters from above.

If not for the abundant creation energy coursing through his body, he would be covered in wounds after just a minute.

Zac really missed [Profane Exponents] at this moment, his three loyal followers whose defensive properties were leagues beyond [Innate Ward] which he had gotten from his Dao Repository. He really needed to find a way to upgrade [Hatchetman’s Spirit] soon, and it seemed like focusing on its defensive capabilities would be the smartest course of action.

The visibility was all but null from the soot and the fact that the ocean was boiling, so Zac was shocked to suddenly find himself in front of a squad of almost 20 undead warriors who had formed a protective circle. Most of them were Revenants, with five of them being Corpselords. It looked like they had decided to investigate the area but had gotten caught up by the chaos.

They had sacrificed speed to maintain a defensive shield as they moved further away from the volcano. Zac wanted nothing to do with them, but the opportunity to slip away had already passed since he almost entered their formation by accident, placing him just a few meters away from the undead warriors.

“You! What happened here? We hear-“ one of the Revenants exclaimed, but his eyes widened after a second. “That bounty! Arcaz Black!”

“He’s human?!” one of the Corpselords blurted, and the whole group stared in confusion, seemingly even forgetting the chaos that raged around them.

The confusion only lasted a moment though, with some of them charging attacks while others turned to run for their lives, not wanting to test their mettle against the first-place holder on the ladder. But they were too slow. An enormous wooden hand appeared through the boiling waters, the axe in its hand axe slamming down in their midst. Its edge radiated a blinding sharpness, but there was something different about [Arcadia's Judgement] this time.

Thick golden veins covered the wooden hand, adding a second set of inscriptions on top of those that seemingly naturally formed in the bark. The golden tendrils didn’t stop at the hands either, but they covered the enormous axe as well, imbuing it with a unique power – the power of Creation.

Zac was normally unable to infuse his skills with the energy from his remnants, except for his newly created [Pillar of Desolation], but this time it had happened without him even trying. Perhaps it was unavoidable, with his Soul Aperture being filled with Creation Energy.

Adding the Branch of the Axe would probably have been enough to deal with this group of bog-common trial-takers, and more than ten streams of energy entered Zac as their bodies were turned to shreds from the initial swing. A few had almost managed to activate escape talismans by that point, but the second stage of the skill would soon take care of them.

Or that was what would normally happen.

Instead, a dense maze of golden scars shot out from the axe and covered the area, passing right through everything from boulders to corpses, and through the unlucky few who had survived the initial swing. Zac grimaced as he knew what would happen next, and a group of pained wails echoed out as the cultivators started to suffer horrifying transformations.

A few turned into grotesque clumps of uncoordinated flesh, others turned into base materials. Creation had entered their bodies, and there was no turning back for them. A series of fractal leaves flashed through the crowd as Zac ended the lives of the rest of the members, as much to ease their suffering as to protect his secrets.

Still, Zac wasn’t very happy, either with being forced to slaughter a bunch of people or upon learning that there were cultivators in the area. He immediately swam away, afraid that the commotion would attract more people. As he fled, he looked inward to get a better understanding of the situation.

As expected, some Creation Energy had slipped through his Mental Energy cage when activating [Arcadia's Judgement]. He had tried to maintain a solid barrier around the still-hostile shard, but his ability to focus on multiple things at once was still just awful. His control had been loosened a bit when infusing his Dao into the attack, and a stream of Creation Energy had slipped through the cracks even if the shard was still held in place.

Some of it entered his skill, while some entered the golden ocean in his mind. However, most of it escaped his Soul Aperture, much to the delight of the various vortices in his body. It was a bit of a pain in the ass, but Zac believed it was unavoidable. He could see how the shard was already recuperating.

The two other remnants were able to conjure energy out of nowhere while locked away by both the System and Be’Zi, so it was no surprise that his newly-acquired remnant could do the same. He would probably have to occasionally release the valves, so to speak, and expel some energy. Otherwise, his Soul Aperture was bound to blow up.

Luckily, the initial eruptions had only exhausted half of the life force locked inside the gemstone, meaning he wouldn’t have to waste his own lifespan in the short run. Furthermore, he would only have to do this for a few months until he got his hands on the splinter. At that point, he would drain both remnants with a Glimpse of Chaos, and then shove them into the cage to join their siblings if all went according to plan.

Zac kept going for another fifteen minutes, utilizing [Earthstrider] to put more distance between himself and the volcano. Thankfully, it didn't seem his skills would get infected with creation unless he tried infusing it with his Dao, allowing him to use the movement skill without worry. Soon enough he had left the direct danger zone of the volcano, and he immediately took out his submersible.

The large spiraled shell appeared next to him, and he quickly jumped into it and sped off before anyone else could spot him and his human form. He hadn't encountered anyone after that group of unlucky explorers, but the area was bound to be swarming with people soon enough. A lot of trial takers were gathering in the vicinity to the City of Ancients, but even more cherished their lives and stayed far away.

These people instead put their efforts into collecting the various herbs and treasures strewn across the ocean, and they might come this way to investigate. Zac's ears were still ringing from the eruption, and it could probably both be felt and heard across huge distances. A mortal might try to get as far away from an active volcano as possible, but cultivators were the opposite.

Who knew what kind of valuable metals and other treasures would be dragged from the depths when a volcano this massive erupted? Zac wouldn't be surprised if those explosive stones that had fallen into the ocean contained all kinds of nice things. Of course, it wasn't enough to pique Zac's interest. Instead, he immediately set course for the ravine marked on his [Ocean Chart].

The vessel was essentially put on autopilot, with Zac splitting his attention between monitoring the shard and keeping watch for an ambush. After some consideration, Zac decided to stay in his human form for the time being. He would probably have to use his Draugr form to enter the ravine if that place was anything like the volcano, but for now, it felt like an unnecessary risk to rock the boat by entering a weakened state.

Seeing that the situation had calmed down, he opened the ladder with some curiosity. He had only gained 30,000 contribution points for destroying that mysterious valley back in the Twilight Chasm, a pittance compared to what he thought he should have gained. That place held so many insights into Twilight, but he still only got what looked like a bounty by the System.

This time around, the result was thankfully a lot better.

[Arcaz Black – Contribution: 1,754,274 Rank: 1. Value: 175,000 (Bounty)]