Zac’s mind screamed of danger as the remnant energies of the Dao Braid were ripped to shreds without putting up much of a fight . Zac acted on instinct as he activated Void Zone] just before the pillar of red hit him . A zone separated from the Heavens was erected , and the blinding light dimmed as it entered .
Not even the Void Emperor’s abilities could deal with the second bolt of Tribulation Lightning . It forced its way through the Void , and the meter-wide pillar condensed to the width of a finger that hit Zac square on his forehead .
The pain was instantaneous and ubiquitous . His Soul Aperture crackled , his pathways were turned into conducive copper wiring , and the vortices in his cells and nodes fluctuated precariously from being overwhelmed by the sudden influx of energy . The only thing unscathed was the Duplicity Core .
The lightning ignored it for some reason , though that didn’t apply to the Cosmic Core within . If anything , it was the Tribulation Lightning’s main target , and it flooded the core through the still-open hatch . The core that had just stabilized after months of eruptions ran amok as the punishing lightning squeezed into its every crevasse .
The whole thing shuddered as it was forced into a brutal struggle for survival of fighting fire with fire , and a pain Zac had never felt before made him keel over and lose control of his flight . He crashed into the flat peak of Mount Illumination , but the collision was nothing compared to the punishment his body endured from within .
Everything was set aflame and breaking apart . Every part of his body was about to be destroyed , and the Tribulation Lightning may as well have been a bottomless ocean . Zac tried to withstand the onslaught using the Void and his Daos , but it wasn’t enough .
He was inviting disaster but saw no option but to release his Void Heart] . It was the only part of his body that seemed excited by the sudden presence of such unique energy , and it pounced on the Tribulation Lightning the second it was released . A deep thud cut the lightning’s momentum in half , and a second ground it to a halt .
A third dragged a large chunk of red lightning over , and Zac witnessed a familiar scene . The lightning had met its nemesis and suddenly wanted to escape rather than advance . This time , there was a startling difference . Some Tribulation Lightning entered the Hidden Node , but Zac was shocked to see mysterious patterns appear on the Duplicity Core as it swallowed even more than Void Heart] .
Between the two , not a spark managed to escape Zac’s body before the Tribulation Lightning was consumed . Only the Cosmic Core’s lightning was left alone , and it soon exhausted the invading force after it became rootless . Zac could feel something had shifted within the core from the experience , but he had no chance to investigate what because a lot of things happened at once .
For one , stabbing pain in his chest confirmed his fear and the reason he wanted to hold off on using his Void Heart] . The Hidden Node had bested the second bolt , but it was completely stuffed . The tribulation held far more destructive force than the previous ones , and a few sparks leaked out of the vortex before it stabilized . There was no way it could help him with the final and most dangerous attack .
The Duplicity Core didn’t seem to have the same trouble , but it acted out in a different way . It released foreign ripples that bounced around inside its hollow center , and the runes across its surface writhed like they’d come alive . Zac was worried for a second that the Specialty Core was going out of control after finding Zac’s blueprint hadn’t followed Kayar-Elu’s original plan for their experiment .
However , it soon became apparent the Technocrat housing was scanning the newly formed core and was rearranging itself to fit the creation , using the tribulation as fuel for the process . Zac was happy to see it work as he’d hoped , but why now? Couldn’t it have waited a bit longer?
The Heavens hadn’t expected its second attack to be dealt with so swiftly , but it was already gearing up for its final punishment . Furthermore , there was no doubt the Heavens had taken offense to having its punishment become fodder . Unfathomable pressure built above Zac’s head , looking like a red sun of utter destruction that tried to break through the clouds . It formed a convex bulge of pure lightning , pushing down toward Mount Illumination .
The Duplicity Core had bought some time , but that didn’t solve his issue . Zac’s trump card against the final bolt was gone , leaving him utterly exposed . Surviving the force accumulating above his head with grit and willpower was impossible . Zac scrambled for a solution , reluctantly turning to the two spirals in his Soul Aperture .
The aperture had been annealed by the lightning just like the rest of his body , but that wasn’t what Zac was interested in . He was rather thinking about the hidden reserves of Creation and Oblivion Energy locked inside the nebulous spirals around his Soul Cores . Some had been refined and turned into nourishment for his soul and body over the past three months , but most of it remained .
Forcibly using all that energy would come at a high cost , and he had no idea if it would even be effective against the Tribulation Lightning . But what else could he do? Zac mentally prepared himself to unleash the same thing he’d once used to deal with the Qriz’Ul King—fusing Oblivion and Creation into an unstable bomb of false Chaos .
The force of such a thing would far surpass his previous experiment , considering it would be powered by all the excess energy from the Remnants . If there was anything in his repertoire that could rebuff the ultimate judgement of the Heavens , it was that . Of course , he didn’t have much more confidence he’d survive his own attack than the tribulation .
Just as Zac was about to drag the energy out of the spirals , another shift occurred in his body . The Duplicity Core stopped rearranging itself and released a powerful force containing hints of the Tribulation Lightning itself . This pulse wasn’t like the earlier toll and stopped just five meters away from Zac’s body , forming a solid barrier that looked like a perfect replica of the Duplicity Core itself .
Zac looked up at the barrier with shock , recognizing its origin . Some of it came from the energy within the Duplicity Core , but it was the array his mother had gifted him to hide his situation . It had always rested by his Duplicity Core , invisible even to him , to the point he mostly forgot it was there . Today , it created a last bastion of protection against the Heavens .
Looking at the barrier filled Zac with a confusing mix of emotions . Its appearance dragged out thoughts he’d sealed away until he had the power to look for Kenzie and Leandra in earnest . Was Leandra protecting him , her son , or was it a safeguard to protect her investment?
A clap of furious thunder pushed those thoughts back to the recesses of Zac’s mind , and innumerable wounds opened across his body . The sense of being targeted was rapidly weakening , and the ball of condensed lightning deflated . It was similar to before he finished his core , like the Heavens had trouble locating him .
So the Kayar-Elu had made some preparations , at least . The increased severity of the tribulation was likely due to their experiments , and for once , Zac didn’t mind the hidden hand manipulating him from the shadows . Better that than dying .
Zac hesitated a moment before forgoing his plan of using the Remnant energy . More than 80% of the lightning ball’s energy had spread through the endless clouds . What remained should be possible to endure without taking such a crazy risk .
Thousand upon thousands of red bolts rained upon the ground , lashing out at everything . It looked like the end—the end of the world , the Dao , and the Era itself . A true apocalypse unfolded around him , and Zac was in the eye of the storm . A scream of agony was drowned out by the crackling roar of the lightning sea that appeared between the mountain peaks . Leandra’s array had hidden his presence , but it had done nothing to block the lightning itself .