Defiance of the Fall

Zac felt a surge of annoyance flare up at the grating voice, yet it was followed by a flicker of guilt. Brazla's sarcastic remark hinted at an undeniable truth. He had only visited Brazla twice over the past six months, having been too busy with the war. And Zac wasn't much better during his years of seclusion, despite only being a stone's toss away.

It wasn't like anyone else visited either, except for the occasional soldier trading their Atwood Empire Contribution Points for one of the repository's skills or to peruse the complete heritages. Zac couldn't help but recall the claw he and Emily found in the tower and the chaotic storm that was all that remained of the Tool Spirit's mind. Eons of loneliness until it couldn't hold on any longer, collapsing into a storm of anger and regret.

"You know, I've been thinking," Zac slowly said as he entered the Towers of Myriad Dao. "It's like you said, I'm an important person. So important that my compound has become a taboo area people don't even dare come close."

"Big talk for a child emperor of a two-planet empire," Brazla scoffed.

The Tool Spirit was still drabbed in gold and gemstones, but there was a hint of desolation hiding behind the haughtiness as he lazily floated in the air, surrounded by coruscating waves of golden lights. The scene made Zac even more certain of his sudden idea, even if he knew it would raise some waves.

"Nevertheless," Zac said. "The defenses are a necessary evil, but it also means the common populace has fewer and fewer opportunities to marvel at the wonder that is the Tower of Myriad Dao."

"What are you suggesting?" Brazla said, stopping to look down at Zac with a raised brow.

"How about we move you to the Atwood Academy instead?" Zac offered. "We can set up an identical environment there, and the 50,000 students will get the chance to interreact with you without being cleared by security and accompanied by soldiers. We could even make you a resident professor of the Academy. Who else is better suited to hold lectures and teach the next generation?"

"Hold lectures? Teach?" Brazla hummed, clearly interested.

"Isn't that what this place is all about? It's a repository of great knowledge. It's a waste to have someone of your expertise tucked away here. And haven't you always complained about the lack of good conversational partners since my sister departed?" Zac crooned. "I'm afraid those kinds of people don't grow on trees. But they could appear again if they had had the right guidance."

"Indeed, who but the great Brazla could—" the Tool Spirit muttered before looking at Zac suspiciously. "You come bearing gifts and speak sweet words. Since when were you so agreeable? What scheme have you cooked up this time?"

"I'm just trying to use our assets to their fullest," Zac said. "Though now that you mention it, there's a grave matter where only you can help."

He wasn't completely lying. The idea to have Brazla become a resident lecturer had never crossed his mind until today. However, meeting 'Senior Silver,' the powerful Array Spirit of the Dravorak Dynasty, had proved it was a viable solution. And while Zac often sang Brazla's praises to solicit help, he was undeniably very knowledgeable. Especially when it came to the inheritance of his creator.

Sending him over to the Atwood Academy would let him interact with the world again, helping his spirit stabilize while the students got access to a new source of knowledge. It was a win-win scenario that might even help heal Brazla's fractured mind.

Of course, all that didn't mean Brazla was wrong about his suspicions. Zac did have something he needed the Tool Spirit's help with.

"Spit it out."

Zac didn't put on any more pretenses and explained the situation with Vilari and the bell the best he could.

"Oh? An [Epiclesis Bell] has appeared?" Brazla scoffed. "I didn't expect to hear of that fell thing again. You're about to have a bad time."

"Do you know something?" Zac said, his heart beating with anticipation and anxiety.

"My creator mentioned it once. Such a bell appeared in our original sector, causing havoc for 30 years. Wherever it passed, misfortune followed. Crops wilted. Plagues spread. Flourishing worlds turned into wastelands, and people went insane."

"It appeared in your sector, too?" Zac frowned.

"Yes. And shortly after, the Crown of Despair inheritance was installed," Brazla nodded. "Your suspicion is likely not without merit."

"Are you able to bring a wisp of her consciousness out?" Zac asked. "Not with her power, or she might kill us both."

"Not forcibly, no. She's long since reinforced her realm, making it impossible for me to even enter," Brazla said. "But I could ask her."

"There's no need. I've heard it all."

"What!" Brazla and Zac shouted in unison, and their actions were equally synced.

Both ran for their lives, with Brazla diving for the ground while Zac ran for the door. Neither had any desire to face the Crown of Despair while the extent of her reach into the main dimension remained unknown. Zac cursed under his breath at the unreliable Tool Spirit, whose seals had been tampered with without his notice. The System, who loved repurposed items as quest rewards despite their flaws, also received a few choice words.

Zac lunged for the still-open door but encountered an impassable barrier made from pure Mental Energy. Brazla fared no better. He may as well have taken corporeal form by his utter failure to sink into the ground. Meanwhile, an oppressive gloom spread through the halls. If not for Zac's powerful Dao Heart and Soul, he would have collapsed in abject despair.

Instead, he solemnly looked at the translucent woman who stepped out of her much-larger replica in an uncanny recreation of Leandra's descent the day she took Kenzie. Her face was shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to guess her intentions. Should he make a run for it? Zac could tell there was no way he had the strength to cut through the Mental Barrier, but that didn't mean he was out of options.

He only managed to scratch the surface of his upgraded bloodline before the Everfast Monarch interrupted his experiments. For instance, he hadn't tried infusing the Void Sigil on himself. Zac still held out hope it would let him enter an out-of-phase state like when he was breaking through. If it worked, he could step right through the barrier.

Yet he didn't move. It wasn't because of fear of the Soul Wisp of Ralz Calzood, even if it was related. Seeing the Crown of Despair in the flesh brought Vilari's plight to the forefront. He couldn't just walk away when answers were right before him.

"It can only mean one thing if one of the remaining [Epiclesis Bells] is descending without a Beseechment Ritual," Ralz calmly said as she looked at Zac. "It's hunting. An immense opportunity has appeared in the region, am I correct? Perhaps even an Eternal Heritage?"

Zac didn't answer her question, still unable to tell whether Ralz was friend or foe. "Your disciple has been taken, and this is what you're worried about?"

"Your Soul has seen remarkable tempering for a warrior, but you cannot hide the truth in your heart," Ralz said. "As expected, it all leads here."

"Is this why you set up this inheritance? To follow the bell? Did you use Vilari as bait?"

"This inheritance is but a seed of potential," Ralz frankly admitted. "Though one I hadn't initially planned on planting."

"So you set Vilari up," Zac growled.

"I knew this was a possible outcome. Suffering is inevitable on the road of cultivation," Ralz said. "Knowledge holds power and binds through Karma. Only if she can survive in the depths of despair can she face the long road ahead."

Zac took a calming breath before he lost control. It almost felt as though the Mentalist intentionally channeled the speech patterns and mannerisms of Leandra to push his mental state off-balance. Had Ralz Calzood been spying since day one? Perhaps she hoped to create a weakness to target. Perhaps it was only a quirk connected to her path, like Yrial's narcissism.

"I came here hoping you could help me save her."

"By your account, she entered the bell willingly," Ralz said with a shake of her head. "Taking her out will do more harm than good. The [Epiclesis Bells] holds the true heritage of the Beseechment Pavilion."

"The what?" Zac asked. "Is that the force you belong to?"

"Alas, no," Ralz said. "The Beseechment Pavilion is long gone, destroyed by their pursuit. An ancestor of mine found a fragmented heritage and some accounts of the pavilion. It became both the blessing and curse of House Calzood."

"Please, anything you could do to help me get her back," Zac pleaded. "I'm not sure if you encountered the same bell before leaving your imprint here. You can't imagine the evil that hid within. There's no heritage to find in that darkness."

"I believe in your daughter's discernment and conviction," Ralz said. "And fate is working in her favor. I can feel the storm of destiny descending on this region. You seem untouched, yet you are the eye of the storm. You and my disciple are embroiled in the struggle for the Eternal Heritage. As long as that is the case, Vilari will be safe."

"What's the [Epiclesis Bell] and Beseechment Pavilion got to do with the Eternal Heritage?" Zac frowned.

"It's an ancient story, one of which I have limited knowledge," Ralz said. "As I said, my heritage is incomplete, and millions of years of effort did little to fill those gaps. All it left us with was misfortune and despair."

"Still."

"Wery well. Time will tell whether your fate can withstand the curse of knowledge," Ralz nodded. "The Beseechment Pavilion was a powerful faction from the age of the Limitless Empire. Despite their great strength, they failed to emerge from the great darkness. No true lineage remains today."

"How can you know that if you just stumbled onto a remnant?"

"Because they didn't slowly fade away during the darkness like the other factions. Desperate, they brought about their own destruction when faced with a dying Cosmos. The remnant we found was left by a 'Grand Caller' of the pavilion, scribbling down notes while fighting the throes of madness. The rest had already met similar ends to the men you described before.

Ralz turned to look up at her statue, which held her head in her hands. "Only by reaching profound levels of despair could he stave off the joyful madness long enough to leave a flickering flame for the future."

Zac took a shuddering breath as his eyes widened in realization. Was that what the Crown of Despair-heritage referred to? It wasn't just cultivating the soul by witnessing and experiencing the woes of the world. It was a way of defense against the terrifying evil that made people dig out their hearts with a smile.

"Caller… Beseechment," Zac hesitated. "Were they Summoners?"

"In a sense," Ralz nodded. "However, not of the spirits of the lower planes. They were summoning God."

"God?" Zac said with confusion. "Which one?"

"The hand behind the curtain," Ralz said. "The Beseechment Pavilion had glimpsed the Terminus and concluded that no Cultivator could ever hope to cross that threshold. Only a grand Creator could wield such power, and only such a being could give birth to our reality. So instead of fighting against nature, they decided to ask for help."

"They reasoned that the Multiverse would be no more than a speck of dust to such a transcendent existence. They might not even realize civilizations had grown in the shade of their glory. The pavilion wished to create a bell that could be heard beyond the curtain, to garner God's attention so that they could beseech his teachings and salvation."

"I'm guessing it didn't work," Zac snorted.

"But it did."

"What? Impossible!"

Zac would have to be crazy to reject the notion of an even greater existence when Cultivators more powerful than Gods walked the lands. What was Sendor, if not a God? However, there was no way this Beseechement Pavilion would succeed when far greater factions failed to overcome the Terminus.

Not to mention, Zac had seen what waited beyond the edge of reality when he visited the Void Mountain. There was no higher Heaven beyond the curtain. There was only nothingness, a desolation so profound it had almost destroyed Zac's mind.

"Of course, not the way they intended," Ralz said. "The pavilion had sought their creator's attention for eons without success. The fall of the Limitless Empire and Heaven's demise became the source of despair and desperate hope. They believed they had one final opportunity to toll the bells before it was over. One final Beseechment Ritual whose song wouldn't be blocked by the Heavenly Dao.

"They rang, and something answered," Ralz said. "You've seen a wisp of it first-hand."

Zac nodded, having expected that outcome.

"They had no idea what they'd attracted, but they knew it wasn't God. If anything, it was the Devil. Horrified at what they'd unleashed on the world, the upper echelon trapped most of its spirit in the main bell and sacrificed themselves to destroy it. But it spread like a plague through the 72 subsidiary bells and lives on to this day."

"So why is this remnant spirit looking for the Eternal Heritage?" Zac asked.

"This matter is outside the scope of our original heritage, and its answer is solely a deduction of House Calzood. We found records of [Epiclesis Bells] while searching for more remnants of our heritage. There were two common denominators. One, misfortune follows in their wake. The bells feed on providence to survive, so they target rising factions and flourishing lands.

"Secondly, destroying a bell will call forth an immense Heavenly Tribulation. The records detailed seas of purple and gold."

"Both the System and the Heavens work together to attack the spirit?" Zac exclaimed. "How did it draw such ire?"

"I believe it's an invader," Ralz said. "The Beseechment Pavilion managed to guide something from beyond the Terminus, and the Heavens cannot abide its existence. The bell can hide its aura from the Heavens, but they are old and damaged. If it recovers too much energy, it'll be exposed. Only unique environments such as Eternal Heritages can hide its existence and allow it to recover."

Zac slowly nodded. It was impossible to say whether what she said was true or false, but it was suspicious how she'd put the card on the table without any fight. While Leandra was a zealot, she was still his mother. If that wasn't enough, she still needed Zac's help. So what did Ralz Calzood need?

"Why are you telling me all this?" Zac asked. "What's your objective?"

"House Calzood has fallen. Only me and a few others are holding on," Ralz said. "I came to the frontier based on a clue. Before the Beseechment Pavilion fell, they were drafted by the Limitless Empire for one of its undertakings. They had to build something to stabilize a 'pillar.' We believe it was related to the System itself. I can tell you d,o too."

Zac inwardly swore. He'd held onto his Void Heart since being exposed before, yet it proved useless before this old expert. Her guess was right on the mark. The pavilion's situation sounded all too familiar. The same thing happened to the Primo, according to Lova. Laondio had demanded he help build the Hollow Court, even leaving behind a supreme treasure of his.

"We're looking for lost pieces of the Beseechment Pavilion's heritage to rid ourselves of the curse of joy that has infiltrated our bloodline. I believe the pavilion left something behind when stabilizing the pillar. I want it."

Veins throbbed on Zac's forehead as yet another task was added to his Ultom Itinerary.

"I can't promise anything," Zac said. "You're right; I'm chosen for a trial set up by the System that involves the pillar. That doesn't mean I'll come across the thing you're looking for. And I'm not looking for anything while Vilari remains trapped by that thing. Help me get her out first, and we'll do our best to find your heritage."

"I can teach you a modified Beseechment Ritual used to call the [Epiclesis Bell]. The Heavens will do the rest so long as you damage it. However, to beseech the Devil, you must embrace the Devil. Are you willing to pay the price?"