A/N: Sorry about the delay. Sometimes when it rains, it pours, and I managed to catch a cold on top of everything else.
-- -- -- -- -- --
A verse of burning Sanskrit appeared to intercept the ambush coming from the Void Realm. It would have been enough if Gimuz didn't also face an enemy within. As though attracted by the maliciousness of the approaching aura, the vajra still embedded in Gimuz's heart shuddered. The protective Sanskrit twisted, and new words were added. It altered the Sutra's meaning and caused a small hole to open up.
Gimuz reacted quickly, moving his Buddhist blade to parry. As if alive, the streak swerved around the blade. A flash of samadhi fire burned off most of the attack, yet some managed to connect to the vajra. Two sinister powers merged, and the status quo shattered. The sealed vajra roared with newfound power, and sutras holding murderous nihilism consumed the numinous clouds around Gimuz.
The monk's faith was under assault, and something was aiding the vajra from the darkness. Gimuz suddenly had his hands full preventing his faith from being twisted. Unfortunately, that didn't mean the spell on Zac was lifted, and he backed away as far as the seal on the Buddhist Kingdom would allow. Forget about taking advantage of the situation. Zac could barely follow the exchange in his current state, and he had his hands full simply staying alive from the fallout.
"Existence and non-existence; all is part of the Dharma. All persist through Buddha's grace!" Gimuz growled, his calm façade gone as he fiercely stomped his foot.
Zac felt a stabbing pain as his commandeered Void Vortex was forcibly expanded until it turned into a large panorama. The familiar darkness of his hidden realm was put on open display. It looked the same as it had since seizing the Primo's treasure. The space was filled with dense collections of Apocalyptic Death.
Absorbing the massive amounts of runoff that the eye deposited during transit was obviously beyond Zac's capacity. He'd simply drawn and discarded as much as he could until the Void Realm was no longer filled beyond its tolerance. The rest remained inside, like balls of clay that refused to be digested by the Void. Weeks later, only the surface of the globs of death had gained the familiar aura of his bloodline. It would likely take years to make all that Apocalyptic Death his own.
The illusory mountain in the sky spun until it exposed a slope made of deep-blue rock. The orbiting moon shone upon it, creating an ethereal glow that illuminated the Void. The shine unmasked an amorphous tangle of malevolence hiding in the dark. Seeing it made Zac's heart clench. As its shroud was pierced by the moonlight, a reluctant smile appeared on Zac's face.
Standing in the void was himself, or at least a copy of him. Only, his pitch-black eyes were not the darkness of the Abyssal Lake. They were swirling vortices of madness. Only the face was faithfully replicated, while the details grew more hazy the further down one went. All that didn't matter compared to what his presence represented.
There was no mistaking the aura; Zac was looking at yet another splinter of Jalach. There was only one possible explanation. The evil entity must have snuck a piece of himself into a Void Vortex during their battle without anyone noticing. It was no wonder the Beseechment Pavilion had failed to kill this bastard. Compared to Jalach, Zac didn't feel that he deserved the epithet "unkillable cockroach."
It seemed like Jalach never ran out of lives no matter how many times you killed him. It was also painfully obvious what his plan was. Jalach was preparing for a hostile takeover of his body. Whether it would be a permanent possession or just until he could use the [Pasho'Har Bell] didn't matter. Zac didn't expect to survive such an ordeal.
Nevertheless, Zac wasn't the least bit happy that Gimuz had exposed the hidden danger lurking within him. Zac's body was not a place where one could come and go as they pleased, and the price of passage was evident on Jalach's remnant. His aura was weaker than the corpse Zac destroyed, and it showed clearer signs of erosion than the globs of Apocalyptic Death.
A few days inside his Void Realm was enough to weaken Jalach's remnant to this extent, and leaving was easier said than done. If Zac hadn't opened a Void Vortex for another week or two, Jalach might have been fully refined, resolving the issue before it could become a problem. Jalach's sudden attack was likely an act of desperation. He needed to replenish, and the evil vajra should be a potent nourishment.
"What an honor for the king of Devas to grace us with his presence!" Jalach laughed. "You overestimate yourself, old thing, wanting to stop me with a mortal seed. I would have feared your true body, but the everlasting Sakra can't leave Mount Meru, can he? I know well the taste of Heaven's rejection."
As Jalach spoke, he made a seizing motion. The corrupted clouds of Buddhist Dharma poured into the Void, and Jalach's avatar immediately gained a strength approaching Monarchy. He didn't wait for his burgeoning aura to settle before rushing forth in a motion that looked a lot like [Abyssal Drive], only lacking the correct aura.
A canopy of bloody glow blotted out moonlight as Jalach emerged, and Gimuz stumbled like he'd suffered an invisible blow. Meanwhile, the sky rumbled with fury, and the firmament above Mount Meru darkened. The sky cleared the next moment as Zac's evil doppelganger was gone. Jalach had actually entered Gimuz's body, and in doing so, successfully hidden himself from Heaven's punishment.
Zac was all but forgotten at that point. Taking him out in his current condition would be as easy as Gimuz flicking his wrist. However, the Inner Disciple toiled under an information disadvantage. He had no idea that Zac and Jalach actually weren't allies. The monk only saw that the real threat had appeared and acted accordingly.
"Namo Buddhaya!" Gimuz roared as a halo of immense Mental Energy appeared.
It first looked like a sprawling landscape, likely representing Gimuz's original Dao, before taking the shape of a lofty Buddha statue. The vajra shattered with a snap, and a storm of madness was pushed out of his body. However, only ten percent of the sinister force was expelled before his grisly wound closed up.
Following this, the third head that Zac previously destroyed regrew, this time not blurry in the slightest. The new face had an amalgamation of mismatched characteristics. Some were borrowed from Gimuz, others from Zac, while the main theme was of an insane Buddha. He sported an unnaturally wide grin, yet his eyes were utterly devoid of emotion as he turned toward his fellow heads.
Slowly, twisted runes, just like those Zac had seen on the corrupted [Epiclesis Bells], yet holding a corrupted Buddhist Dharma, slithered toward Gimuz's other two heads. A fierce internal battle was taking place over control of Gimuz's body, and it actually looked like Jalach was winning. It seemed as though he was capable of devouring the Buddhist Energy to empower himself, which Zac couldn't understand at all. Did the vajra's remnant energy act as a converter, turning merit into mara? Zac ultimately knew too little about Jalach to understand his methods.
Zac didn't have the luxury to worry about others at the moment. A deranged smile was already plastered on his face, and the compulsion to reach for his heart was overwhelming. He decisively shut himself off from the world by activating [Void Zone] and his Void State while sealing all his senses.
Instead of observing a battle he was unqualified to join, Zac turned his attention inward. Even now, his weakened state remained, and nothing he did weakened the weird curse. Calling on his other body wouldn't make a difference. Perhaps because his senses were joined, or due to proximity, his Draugr half had suffered the fate of being downgraded to an F-grade cultivator.
Not to mention, his accessible Void Energy was severely decreased on account of his current attribute pool. Circumventing the seal of space by opening another Void Vortex inside the [Shrine of Kanba] would cost a significant chunk of Void Energy, which he could ill afford. Just maintaining [Void Zone]'s protective barrier put a huge strain on his dwindling reserves.
He would simply have to do with what he had, and his attention turned to a crude Skill Fractal on his right forearm. His mind went into overdrive as he calculated countless permutations until he had a serviceable solution. Without further ado, he began rewriting the patterns, introducing a level of complexity that normally had no place in an F-grade cultivator's pathways.
It wasn't pretty, and it wouldn't last for long. All that didn't matter. Zac just needed something that would allow him to put his thumb on the scale.
A powerful eruption of faith forced Zac to open an eye just as he was about to finish his overhaul. Rows of Sanskrit had appeared on the floating mountain, and Zac vaguely saw flashes of light pour into its slopes from every direction. Each light held nearly as much Buddhist Energy as Gimuz in his prime.
Sakra was calling on reinforcements, and the effect was immediate. A rain of literal blessings poured down on the monk, washing away the last traces of Gimuz and recasting him as a holy emissary of Buddha. Zac briefly wondered if this counted as completing his mission.
With the Deva descending in earnest, the mortal shackles of his power drastically lessened. However, a collection of Late- and Peak D-grade parcels of energy naturally couldn't give Sakra B-grade fighting power. At least it was enough to turn the battle around. The head that Jalach had grown was showing signs of instability, though that did nothing to temper his spirits. On the contrary, he welcomed the change.
"You baldies are as generous as ever!" Jalach roared with laughter, causing the Buddhist sunlight to weaken. "Gathering all your mortal seeds in one place? A feast to fuel my resurrection!"
Sakra ignored the taunt, instead arranging his hands in a complicated mudra. "When men with hearts full of evil walk the world about."
His voice gained strength with every syllable. The sutra held a powerful sway over reality, causing powerful fluctuations that couldn't be explained by the strength of a Peak Hegemon or Early Monarch. The forest shook for dozens of miles in every direction as countless geysers of ancient Mental Energy erupted. Zac had to seal his senses again to protect his soul from the storm. And yet, a powerful voice shook his mind.
"I shall call on the Black Hound then."
The sentence was the final nail in the coffin that triggered an even greater transformation. The vast amounts of Mental Energy that had gathered into the Buddhist avatar poured into Mount Meru, triggering a transformation into an even greater apparition. It felt as though the world welcomed its true master when a majestic canine beast stepped into being.
Its fur was sleek, pitch black, each strand feeling like a mysterious river traveling through the earliest days of the cosmos. It exuded the wild beauty of a being fully attuned to the Laws, to the point they were one and the same. The only thing that—in Zac's opinion—tarnished its majesty was its Buddhist adornments. Golden plates engraved with Sanskrit protected its haunches, and a large prayer bead was fastened around its neck. Bands of numinous radiance formed its whiskers, and it even wore a small ornamental crown.
Zac drew a sharp breath upon sensing its aura. Beneath the outer veneer of Buddhist truth, there was an unmistakable aura that he'd felt more than once. It was the untamable force that powered the fae nights, the source of the despair that shrouded Beseechment Mountain. It was the Daynight Dreamer.
The Daynight Dreamer's eyes were currently closed. Part of it was no doubt due to the Sangha's seal on its consciousness, but Zac sensed it might also be a matter of its nature. The Daynight Dreamer was an Innate Existence whose path centered around duality and cycles. When its eyes were closed, it embodied the mysteries of the night. When awake, it would exhibit a more spiritual nature.
Holding secret meetings to proselytize and convert Servant Disciples? What a joke. The Sangha's ambitions were clearly much greater. They were trying to convert the Daynight Dreamer's remnant soul, perhaps even reanimate it to act as a Dharmic Guardian. Zac's thoughts went to the returning flashes of light and Jalach's words, and a picture formed.
There were likely plenty of temples hidden across Anima Court, and holding sermons served another purpose than spreading the faith. They needed to increase their numbers to enact their true plan. These new followers would later return home and start chanting scripture, all within the Daynight Dreamer's soul.
Zac had already seen the effect of Buddhist chants back on Earth. Abbot Everlasting Peace's mountain had gained a spiritual nature just from the prayers of mortals. The effect of D-grade cultivators would naturally be much greater. With enough people joining hands, they would eventually convert the ancient soul.
Zac had sensed that Gimuz's controller didn't fear death before. There had been no sign of him calling back his mortal seed even when he stood on the precipice of defeat. And why would he? Gimuz was evidently only one of the Sangha's tools, if a somewhat important one.
Jalach's appearance had changed this for some reason. Perhaps the Deva sensed that if one mortal seed was absorbed by the evil entity, then all the other seeds would be in danger. As such, he was forced to take this risk to root out the threat. And now, all the Sangha's hidden cards were gathered in one spot.
The development was by no means good news to Zac. His goal was never to thwart the Sangha's plot. He only needed to kill Gimuz to get his hands on the recommendation. There was nothing to be gained from Sakra descending with his full power. Because no matter which side won, Zac would lose. Either he would have to face a newly fed Jalach or a true aspect of an ancient Deva.
The Daynight Dreamer howled, and the firmament shook. While Zac frantically made the finishing touches on his skill fractal, the hound descended on Gimuz's possessed body. It looked like it planned on swallowing him whole on Sakra's order. Meanwhile, a dangerous light shone in Jalach's eyes as he formed a series of unfamiliar sutras. With his burgeoning aura and ability to taint Buddhist Dharma, he still had a chance of eking out a victory.
When three forces converged, Zac finally made his move. All but forgotten, Zac activated his redrawn skill with the last of his Void Energy. Immediately, a huge hand appeared above the ruined temple. It was [Nature's Punishment], his old skill which, through fusions and upgrades, eventually became [Arcadia's Judgment].
After Zac's modifications, it looked like a simplified version of the E-grade skill that fused [Deforestation] and [Nature's Punishment]. Rather than just a hand like in the F-grade skill, the conjured hand gripped an axe. However, that was where the similarities to his old skill ended. Rather than a wooden hand holding a blade made of nature, it was Zac's very own hand grasping a copy of [Verun's Bite].
It was the only way Zac could think of to exhibit real strength in his sealed state. Instead of relying on an abstract imagery of paradise, Zac rewrote the fractals to simply point inward. He was summoning himself. And while incredibly unstable, the skill actually exhibited a quarter of his Peak D-grade strength.
A quarter of his original strength was not enough to throw his hat into the ring in the battle between Jalach and Sakra. It was, however, just enough to tear through the Sanskrit that kept his Void Vortex open. The pitch-black panorama lost its support, and Zac immediately closed it before the vortex could be recaptured.
The decisive act came at a cost. Zac fell to his knees as his right arm exploded into a bloody mist. It was a small price to pay for unleashing power far beyond his current limit. It also helped divert attention away from him for his final gambit. Bells tolled as a temple of evil rose around Sakra, creating a barrier against the pounce of the Divine Beast.
Fighting delirium and the all-consuming desire to rip his heart out, Zac grasped the feathery ball in his backpack. The pain helped him maintain clarity just long enough to tear off a small section, just enough to open a gap the size of a pin needle. In Zac's mind, doing so should unleash a beam just large enough to take out his enemies in one go.
Reality quickly slapped Zac in the face.
Neither Sakra nor Jalach got the chance to react before the whole realm was swallowed by utter darkness. Zac's eyes were wide with fear as he watched an unbridled wave of Apocalyptic Death continue without end, tearing Anima Court in two. He had severely underestimated just how much energy the eye had managed to accumulate in its sealed state.
Then, there was only darkness, as Zac's head was obliterated by an errant streak of Death.