Chapter 1394 - A Buzzling Abundant Palace

The Palace of Abundance was truly buzzing with activity as the majordomo was busy welcoming so many guests who’d all arrived at the same time. Given the limited time of the Abundant Emperor, the selection of who was allowed an audience was naturally quite a strict endeavor, and thus many were busy deciding who would stand before the master of the palace in many different antechambers.

Many theorized about the criteria for who entered which antechamber. Was it based on how quickly one passed the prior stages? Power? Number of Prima Credits or treasures held? Some other deciding factor that only the system knew? So many theories, yet the truth was rather disappointing.

Random. There was no deep calculation. No assessment of the individual. One was simply randomly assigned to an antechamber, with the only pseudo-random factor being that all the antechambers were filled with a roughly equal number of people, though even that was quite lax, with the number swinging by over a dozen between the most and least populated one.

This naturally led to many antechambers having vastly different levels of power and individuals with different mindsets about the event. The fight was bound to be brutal, though some weren’t very interested in even taking part.

Within one, a giant spaceworm appeared, curious to see what treasures there were to be borrowed or what food there was on offer. Unfortunately, neither was offered, and instead, Sandy smelled that smelly smell of a big fight coming, so when given the chance to return to the Altar of Abundance while skipping the fight, the big worm naturally took it, avoiding the ensuing slaughter. Probably a wise decision, as Sandy’s only real strategy would have been to wait out the timer and see what would happen.

Other antechambers surprisingly found themselves dry of talent, courtesy of the luck of the draw. When the Sword Saint appeared in his, he saw only a few familiar faces, including a True Dragon he faintly remembered the name of and some other minor yet slightly notable figures from other major factions.

When it was revealed that only one person would be moving on, the Sword Saint was unsure if he’d gotten lucky or not. He would have loved a good bout with powerful foes, but alas, he found himself without proper competition, showing that some antechambers were foregone conclusions before the fighting even started. Even if they teamed up to face him – something not all of them even dared to do, fearing he would bear a grudge – their chances would have been slim to none, allowing the old man to rather easily get an audience with the Abundant Emperor.

Most antechambers simply had an average level of talent, not really swinging wildly to either side. The Golden Forest King found himself within one of those. Right as he appeared, he took note of several powerful people present, including two Chosen of mid-tier gods from the Holy Church, a Chosen from the Azure Dragonflight, and overall, just a relatively high level of power from everyone there. The Unique Lifeform had heard of many of those present, including an elf from the Altmar Empire whom several people were throwing nervous glances at.

He even spotted a female Behemoth that resembled how Jake had described his Vassal looked like. Perhaps it was her, and if it were, she would fit in, since many in the room were like her. They were figures who hadn’t competed in Nevermore, but were B-grade masters who’d been in the grade for thousands of years with refined Paths and skills, allowing them to show power far beyond most who’d only recently evolved.

There were many threats, and while the Unique Lifeform could in no way guarantee his success, he had confidence. Then again, wasn’t the Golden Forest King always confident in himself? Only time would tell if it was warranted, though, as given the power of those who’d made it to this stage of the event, even a chamber considered average was far from weak.

As with the antechamber Jake and Caleb had found themselves in, some were the exact opposite of the Sword Saint’s antechamber, swinging wildly in the direction of having too many talents. Jake’s had five people of significant note, including two Chosen of top-level figures of the multiverse, with three of those present from the top 10 Nevermore Leaderboards.

Jake’s antechamber was thus considered very powerful; however, it wasn’t the one with the most talents. Not even close. By far, one chamber had more notable figures than any other. Sylphie, Carmen, Casper, and Tramon – the naturally evolved True Dragon – were just those from Earth, while Lopas, the Saintess of the Holy Church who’d ranked 11th on the Nevermore Leaderboards along with the High Templar from the 10th spot on the universe Leaderboards, had also gotten fortunate to be in the same antechamber. In fact, they were even joined by three others from their faction, allowing them to form a full party with the Saintess at the center. In total, one could count eight Chosen in that one chamber, more than any other by a fair margin. The majority of them were beings like the Archfiend and Behemoth, making them more than capable of competing for the sole slot to move on.

It was enough for Sylphie, Tramon, Carmen, and Casper to naturally gravitate towards one another with the intent of working together. If a fight were to break out, it would be utterly brutal, and everyone knew it and was preparing for it. People were confident, though, including Sylphie, who always believed she was the bestest birb there ever was. Especially with trustworthy allies by her side.

Everyone believed in themselves, and all had confidence that their groups or factions would stand a chance... until the final person appeared in the room. His aura was nonthreatening, and most people wrote him off as insignificant on first impression until they double-checked and realized who it was. A person few had ever encountered, yet all had been warned about by the higher-ups of their factions:

The Eastbound Monk.

--

Yeah... Caleb really hadn’t ever stood a chance, huh? He’d tried his best and gone beyond his own limits, yet all he’d accomplished was to make his opponent spend a lot of energy to deal with him. With his final suicide move, he’d hoped to, at the very least, inflict some serious soul damage, but it had utterly failed.

Failed so much that the suicide attack hadn’t even succeeded in killing Caleb.

“I tried,” Caleb muttered as he felt his body utterly empty of energy as he barely held onto life. Both his arms were gone, replaced by wounds covered by glowing crystals that sealed his entire body in place as he hung there in the Shadow Realm, suspended in the middle of nothing.

The Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord nodded in agreement with Caleb’s statement as she floated not too far away while using a small handkerchief to clean the blood that dripped out of her nose. In front of her, the ring of light allowing one to see the world outside the Shadow Realm had returned as she spent most of her attention observing the fight between Jake and Azal. The woman from the Sword Palace was gone, probably killed while he and the Heartsoul Cultivator had battled, and based on how the fight outside was progressing, Jake was quickly pushing his advantage.

Caleb could only watch, unable to move at all as the crystal constantly absorbed the little energy he regenerated. The only reason he was even alive was that his death would mean leaving the Shadow Realm, and the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord seemed to prefer staying there for now until the fight outside wrapped up.

Reflecting on what had happened after she’d said the word Homebound. With that one word, the Dark Heavens had been washed away, and he’d seen the domain that Heartsoul Cultivators were so famous for, and all he could do in that moment was hope that Jake could at least deal with it.

Because Caleb hadn’t lasted more than a few seconds before the domain was dispelled again and he found himself in his current state of being. Barely alive and used as nothing more than a way to stay in the Shadow Realm. At least she was nice enough to allow him to watch the fight outside, and surprisingly, he didn’t feel any pain despite his horrid condition.

The Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord carefully studied the fight between Azal and Jake while focusing on recovering as much damage as she could. Caleb felt a little nervous seeing the wounds covering Jake’s body, as it was clear he was entering the next stage of this fight in a worse state than the Heartsoul Cultivator.

Based on the Court’s intelligence, Azal also had far more to show than he’d displayed so far, including a trump card or two. With those, he would likely be able to inflict even more injuries, only furthering the cultivator’s advantage.

Of course, Jake also had more to give, but truthfully, Caleb didn’t know how much. He knew about some of his brother’s skills, which he seemed to keep under wraps for now, but Caleb was fully aware he didn’t have a full grasp on Jake’s abilities. All he could hope was that they were enough to face one of the most talented B-grade Heartsoul Cultivators ever seen in the multiverse while being significantly injured and definitely lower than her in the resource department.

Narrowing his eyes, Caleb closed them for a second as he focused on the last thing he could do. After a little while, he opened them, right in time to see Azal stab himself in the chest and turn into blue wisps of energy, shocking him quite a bit, with the Chosen in front of him also looking surprised.

“Wait, that was spiteful as hell, wasn’t it? preferring to kill himself over revealing all he can do,” Caleb muttered. “Then again, I guess he reckoned that he wasn’t going to win no matter what. Even if he miraculously did, you would be waiting to fight him afterward, and even if he did so while in top form, I would still bet on you coming out on top.”

The Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord flashed him a smile and nodded as she raised her hand and gave him a final apologetic look. Caleb understood as he closed his eyes in surrender, knowing she was about to finish him off to get out of the Shadow Realm.

A spear pierced his chest a second later, meaning to reap his life. It would no doubt do so, but before it could, the Judge dug deep. He was exhausted, out of energy, his boosting skill deactivated, and he couldn’t even lift a finger, given he didn’t have any arms.

Moments before the final remnants of life left his body, Caleb’s eyes suddenly opened wide, both replaced with deep, dark clouds. Throughout their fight, she had dictated reality and imposed her will upon the world, but as a final act, Caleb would be the one to do so, speaking one final time as he looked towards her, the entire Shadow Realm darkening by several degrees as his voice echoed throughout, followed by the deep rumbling of thunder in the distance.

“Dark Heaven Retribution.”

The next thing he knew, Caleb found himself waking up within a Seat of the Exalted Prima, naturally having died. He cracked his neck, feeling a little sore while enjoying having arms again, and despite having just lost his life and effectively gotten a thirty-day ban from the most realistic virtual reality game he’d ever played, the Judge couldn’t help but smile.

“I hope she appreciates my final gift. Jake, too.”

--

Jake internally cursed Azal for denying him so many Prima Credits, so annoyed that he only briefly skimmed the kill notification he got, which only brought further surprise and annoyance.

*You have slain [Risen – lvl ? / ??? / ???] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level.

One thing Jake had hoped to at least console himself with was to at least know the class or profession name of the Risen, but nope, even that had been denied. Jake didn’t even know how one denied that, as it was something he’d never come across before. Was it even possible? Wouldn’t all skills stop working when one died, including those meant to hide one’s information?

Maybe it was because this was a simulation, and Azal was technically still alive. That, or maybe it just was possible. Actually, thinking about it, wouldn’t Shroud even hide his information after death? The skill was related to the Malefic Viper, so perhaps the Records of the Viper would be what hid the information in the skill notification. If that were true, maybe Azal had something similar he’d been given by the Blightfather.

Either way, Jake turned his head to look in the direction where he felt himself being observed from. He was a little surprised that both of them were still alive and had watched the battle between him and Azal together, but then again, if Caleb had died, the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord would have instantly been thrown out of the Shadow Realm.

Then he felt the observation of one person disappear, and Jake let out a silent sigh, knowing it was his brother. He had expected to see the other Chosen slowly fade into the real world from the Shadow Realm, but that wasn’t quite what he got.

Instead, he suddenly felt an immense pressure fall upon him, one he’d felt before when sparring with his brother. Jake’s knees nearly buckled as a massive rift in reality cracked open, shooting out a bolt of black lightning that descended alongside a single humanoid figure.

From within the rift, Jake saw the roaring Dark Heavens, seemingly filled with anger, as it unleashed everything it had, its pressure reducing with every passing moment. Jake frowned as the rift slowly closed, and he turned his attention towards the large crater created by the figure that had been forcefully expelled from the Shadow Realm by a furious Dark Heavens.

“Seems like he didn’t go out easy,” Jake muttered as he saw the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord slowly rise from within the crater, her robe torn and burnt as she looked a mix of surprised and impressed.

The black electricity lingered on her body, having clearly done a number on her, making Jake feel quite proud of his little brother for having managed to go out with a bang. A small part of him was a little miffed that he’d weakened her, even if he knew logically that he was already in a far worse state than her and might need the help.

“Seeing as my boosting skill is already going... let’s not dally needlessly,” Jake said as he whipped out his bow and instantly nocked an arrow, making the other Chosen react in kind as the broken tile she was standing on started rising into the air, as thousands of stone fragments followed suit while being compressed into small pellets.

With a thought, the pellets were shot towards Jake as he also unleashed an Arcane Arrow Storm, as the two Chosen were both intending to get that audience with the Abundant Emperor.