Vilari's first thought was that her father's voice was yet another way for Jalach to toy with her or look for weaknesses in her soul. To first give her a flicker of hope before ripping it all away. However, it was hard to refute the pitch-black blade descending out of nowhere. It dug into Jalach with enough force to split mountains—literally.
Jalach's form was ripped apart by a soul-destroying force that made Vilari shudder. Four chains dripping with a dark, corrosive oil and glowing from an ethereal flame didn't spare the retreating pieces of his form. They bit into their targets like piranhas in an attempt to exhaust Jalach's spirituality further.
His incorporeal form did nothing to absorb the terrifying force imbued in the strike, which crashed into the ground unimpeded. A deafening crackle of rock being pressed beyond its breaking point reverberated through the peak as a massive scar opened in the ground. The central mound and the sinister array that it had erected had been utterly destroyed, possibly irrevocably so.
The scar continued almost all the way to the summit's edge, providing easy ingress for large amounts of pavilion despair. It poured into the central groove, erasing the evil that had infiltrated the mound. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that the despair was being attracted by the shrine that was unearthed by the attack.
It was made from a spiritual metal resembling platinum. It looked brand new, without a blemish despite being surrounded by dust and rubble. The shrine was designed like a small cupboard with both its hatches closed. Both the doors and the shrine itself were covered in engravings that retained their strength. Seeing the two largest runes triggered a vague sense of recollection in Vilari.
They were not patterns that belonged to this Era. While not exactly matching anything Vilari had seen before, they exuded Ultom's aura. One rune was placed on each hatch of the sealed shrine. The surrounding runes were written in the script of the Limitless Empire, and they sparked a much stronger sense of recognition. They belonged to the Beseechment Pavilion's heritage, somehow connecting to the Ancient Arcana.
There was no sign of the enshrined object; it filled her with a profound sense of insignificance. Somehow, she was certain that the [Pasho'Har Bell] rested within. Despite knowing she was looking at the resting place of a sealed A-grade treasure, it only held Vilari's attention for a moment. There was something far more valuable to her nearby.
The bisected pieces of Jalach fused, only marginally weakened by the direct hit. However, he barely had time to piece himself together before a scarred hand grabbed his main head. A sizzling sound was followed by a surprised grunt. Then, a second explosion shook the summit as Jalach was slammed to the ground with monstrous force.
Jalach's body shattered this time, and for good reason. That hand seemed capable of destroying anything, and just focusing on it filled Vilari's soul with a sense of primal threat. She averted her gaze, focusing instead on the broad back that filled her with a sense of security. His white hair danced without wind as he stood in the crater of his making. The air around him boiled from his unconstrained aura, forcing the ambient despair into retreat.
Bottomless murderous intent spilled from his Abyssal Eyes as his gaze roved across the field in search of his prey. His attention contained an invisible power, a pressure brought by a king overlooking his subjects. His gaze only softened upon reaching Vilari. And at that moment, she knew everything would be alright. Her father was here, more powerful than ever.
There was no time for catching up. Jalach proved himself as hard to kill as they'd feared, and the scattered pieces of his existence were already gathering yet again. Nevertheless, Zac only spared him a glance before focusing on Whydah. The fading fire of anger within him immediately reignited. There was no need for Vilari to explain the situation. He could tell with a single glance that someone else had taken over her body, which brought a different kind of warmth.
Metal rattled as four chains moved to pin Whydah down. She was slow to respond after the repeated setbacks her side had suffered.
"Wait," Vilari said, prompting him to look over in question. "I need to do this myself."
Zac agreed with a nod. "Be careful."
Whydah's eyes kept darting toward Jalach as she warily looked at Vilari. The playful arrogance in her demeanor was gone. She'd gone from a cat toying with its prey to a cornered beast. That was the time when animals were at their most dangerous, yet Vilari only felt a calm certainty in her heart as she approached. In this moment, she could overturn mountains.
"Now, where were we?"
------------------
While worried, Zac decided to respect Vilari's wishes. She was confident in victory, and he didn't quite understand the ins and outs of the situation. There'd been no time for any deep analysis before joining the fray. Esmeralda had fully exposed her presence when creating a spatial bridge between the exteriors of the Anima Court's gargantuan Memory Domain and this hidden pocket in its depths.
He'd confirmed that Vilari truly was within, and he'd sensed Jalach's aura. Before he knew it, he was already swinging his axe. He didn't want to do something that would harm Vilari's chances of reclaiming her body in a moment of anger. Besides, his toolkit wasn't the best at extracting hostile souls—at least not without harming the host body.
Zac also understood how some matters needed to be dealt with by oneself. The soul that had snatched Vilari's body undeniably held some similarities. At the same time, they weren't dealing with another doppelganger. Rather than the First Era's corruption, this being was molded from Jalach's evil. That wasn't to say he wouldn't step in if things went south.
Until then, he had his own fish to fry.
Streaks of evil had already fused back into a vaguely humanoid shape not far away. Its body kept changing, and different faces appeared one after another. The unstable state corroborated Vilari's theory that Jalach was made from a mélange of evil spirits. It could also just be part of Jalach's means of attack. His appearance somehow managed to elicit a tremble of fear in someone as battle-hardened as Zac.
Ultimately, the pang of distress was nothing compared to the smoldering fury Zac had carried for years. Jalach had kidnapped his child and tormented her for years. Neither of them had been given closure, either. He was still out there somewhere, lurking in the shadows. And to this day, he was still trying to mess with Vilari.
With Jalach's current form having fallen so far that it couldn't even be considered C-grade, today was the perfect opportunity to collect interest. The only question was how. While Jalach looked like a spectral, his form had proven far more tenacious than any ghost or elemental Zac had faced. [Inexorable Subjugation] and Alea's Spirit Fire barely had any effect on him. [Fatehew] fared a little better, though not to the level he'd hoped.
Only the smash infused with [Void Mountain]'s Dao-annihilating seal had proven decently effective, but would Jalach allow him to keep slapping him with his Bloodline Talent? It was a shame that Zac still hadn't figured out a way to attach the Bloodline Talent to his skills or weapons. With things as they stood, Zac could only keep Jalach occupied while looking for openings.
Two curtains of Miasma poured out, filling the ruins in the blink of an eye. It was the layered domains of [Fields of Despair] and [Deathmark]. The former would blind his enemies while incidentally providing Vilari with a more comfortable environment. The latter would help wear Jalach down. Or so he thought.
Zac urgently deactivated both skills just as the first set of Axe Wraiths appeared. They didn't target Jalach as they were meant to. Instead, one focused on Zac while the other rushed toward Vilari. Zac annihilated one with a Dao-annihilating blast while the other was ripped to shreds by [Love's Bond]. By that time, the domains had already been dismantled, and there was no way for them to reform.
"Quick reflexes," Jalach snickered as his mouth unhinged to absorb the remnants of Zac's skills. "Such dense providence—you'll be the perfect treat to celebrate my awakening!"
An internal scan for issues yielded nothing. Zac's Skill Fractals were in perfect condition and carried no trace of manipulation. That was not what Zac had hoped to see, because the alternative was much worse. Somehow, Jalach had hijacked both of his skills in record time. If Zac had deactivated them just a second slower, Jalach might have seized control entirely.
Zac had no idea how the feat was accomplished, making it near impossible to defend against. That also meant that his non-instant skills couldn't be used against Jalach. Even Zac would be in trouble if a skill like [Eye of Desolation] was turned against him, not to mention Vilari. Unfortunately, most of the skills for his Undead Class were in the persistent category.
Jalach didn't give Zac time to figure out the next best approach. His body engorged, swallowing everything in the blink of an eye. Zac suddenly felt as if he were back in the [Epiclesis Bell], like when he extracted Vilari outside the Imperial Graveyard. The darkness was absolute, covering all his senses. But different from Tavza's Abyssal domain, there were countless whispers in this darkness.
They burrowed into his body and began festering like an infected wound. His newly opened Heart Realm grew overcast, as though massive thunderclouds were gathering overhead. However, three small beacons of light in the form of his Warbringer idols surrounded the pergola. They resisted Jalach's darkness, creating a safe sanctuary for his heart.
Zac thanked his lucky stars. His latest breakthrough was already paying dividends. He could tell that his mental state would have been a mess if he had faced this attack just a few weeks ago. Now, it didn't impede his operations in the slightest. Jalach soon realized as much, forcing him to change gear.
The world shifted, and Zac suddenly stood on a familiar battlefield. Zac's army faced a swarm of Kan'Tanu elites with only a ragtag mix of forces by their side. It was the battle where Zac was almost killed by an ambush of deathsworn before escaping through a spatial tear. And while Zac ended up in the Centurion Lighthouse, Vilari was taken away.
"Her outcome was set in stone this day," a chorus of deranged laughter spread through the battlefield, causing Zac's Heart Realm to shudder. "The seed has been planted, and—"
"You talk too much," Zac spat before disappearing.
The next moment, he appeared in an empty spot, his left hand tearing through the air like a claw. His actions were pure instinct. Something was striking at his Heart Realm, and he'd traced the source to this specific location. It was pure gut feeling that was confirmed the moment he struck something soft.
Knowing he'd found his target, Zac immediately activated [Void Zone]. The conjured memory lost its color as its source was severed. Jalach was exposed, his head caved in by a swipe of [Void Mountain]. Zac wasn't finished there. Chains wrapped around Jalach's body to keep him trapped a little longer while he slashed down over and over like a veteran butcher.
While his right hand was busy carving Jalach into pieces with [Fatehew], his left hand poured as much Void Energy into his Dao-annihilating seal as his body allowed. Each attack only destroyed a fraction of Jalach's existence, but so what? He had plenty of energy to spare.
Jalach tried to scatter like before, but the combination of [Void Zone] and the grappling chain created a deadly delay. Zac managed to annihilate a full 20% of Jalach in his furious blitz before his mind screamed of danger. Following his instinct, Zac lunged to the right with a Void-activated [Abyssal Drive].
He still experienced a flash of agony as the mirage shattered. His arm was left in a twisted and withered state from an unseen attack. Zac could barely operate his limb, and his body's natural recovery seemed unable to do anything about it. Worse, his Constitution and Hidden Nodes failed to stop the spread of condensed malice from seeping into the rest of his body. Only by a concerted push with Void Energy did he reach a tenuous stalemate.
Zac exhaled as he turned around, knowing his extraordinary Danger Sense had saved him yet again. If he'd been just a breath slower, that strike would have hit him square in the chest. That deadly power would have flooded his Quantum Space, where both his Cosmic Core and Soul resided. Even if he survived that, he would've been left helpless before the new threat that had appeared.
The desiccated body was covered in rotten tatters. His skin was pitch-black, neither from natural pigmentation nor decay. Layers upon layers of garish symbols covered every inch of his skin, countless runes made of madness manifest. Lingering at any spot was nearly enough to drag Zac's soul into a deadly spiral.
Its face was no exception. All its features were covered in the same marks. Zac would have mistaken it for a puppet if not for the powerful aura of death. The most ominous was the large hole in the corpse's chest. Within was a nexus made of pure darkness. Countless strings the width of a strand of hair connected it to the body.
"As I said, always have a backup plan," Jalach calmly said, his voice coming from the nucleus rather than the corpse.
Zac could tell that Jalach wasn't as casual as he let on. There was tension behind the words, and the murderous intent leaking from him felt personal. It might be misdirection, but Zac felt that Jalach had been left slightly unraveled after losing significant parts of himself. Zac didn't exactly know what happened before he entered, but it was an enormous explosion that exposed their location to Esmeralda's senses. Judging by the lingering traces of Imperial Faith, Jalach had almost been taken out by some safeguard before he arrived.
Another point of interest was that the anger didn't appear to be directed just at Zac. Jalach originally didn't want to exhume this body. It could possibly be related to how the Beseechment Pavilion's despair was automatically drawn to that ball of darkness. Considering their location, the corpse no doubt belonged to a member of the pavilion. Perhaps the body was instinctively fighting back by targeting Jalach's nucleus. Then again, the ball evidently was able to absorb the despair.
Either way, Zac couldn't sit around and let Jalach act as he pleased. With most of his skills inaccessible, Zac opted for the most straightforward approach. He shot forth, sparing a glance at Vilari. She was locked in an invisible soul battle with her counterpart. They were rooted in place, insensate to their surroundings. Zac kept two chains ready to protect her in case of an emergency. The rest moved to trap Jalach, which should be much easier now that he'd taken a physical form.
Not that Jalach showed any indication of moving. He welcomed Zac's approach, even extending his arms in an open embrace. The act was bizarre to the point that Zac had to change up his approach. He didn't want to eat another one of those withering attacks. Instead of targeting the nucleus, Zac opted to probe one of Jalach's arms.
At the same time, a small Void Vortex silently opened behind Jalach. Two chains emerged and pierced the core with lightning speed. There was next to no effect on the weird nucleus, and it was Alea who was forced to frantically disconnect her chains. Zac was no different, urgently closing the vortex before the taint could sneak into his Void Realm.
Zac still completed his swing, but the result was not much better. The rebound almost snapped Zac's wrist clear off. The corpse must have belonged to a high-grade cultivator once upon a time because his flesh was as hard as divine metal. [Fatehew] only managed to leave a gash less than an inch deep. Jalach laughed, and he finally moved with inhuman speed.
Zac only managed to dodge the swipe by infusing his Inexorable Stance with the Void of Life. He stepped onto a hidden path, narrowly dodging four streaks of utter darkness that made his hair stand on end. Not backing down, Zac used the element of surprise to strike out a few more times against Jalach's neck and head.
Still no luck, and Alea started to show signs of corruption from the repeated contact. It was clear his current approach wasn't enough to bring down his opponent. Zac's expression grew somber as he replaced his axe with a small mountain covered in golden runes. It was time to bring out the big guns.