“Earlier, it was well-hidden, like someone was trying to conceal it.” David murmured, channeling pure Blood into his eyes to see the flow of lifeforce all around him. Albeit inconspicuous and camouflaged beneath within the ever-expanding network of the Weave, threads of life stretched far and wide.

  There were thousands upon thousands of them, and all of them pointed in the very same direction; they guided them in the same direction Berghold guided them. Berghold, the Dwarf of the Everlasting Eclipse was their tour guide. He did not know everything about their enemy, but he was adamant about unleashing his wrath upon them. After decimating the foes of one particular settlement located less than 100 kilometers from the town they’d imprisoned him and the others, he felt better…yet they hadn’t found his family. Instead, they found hundreds of prisoners, and each and every single one of them was shackled by soulchains and connected to threads of lifeforce.

  These threads were something David was already familiar with. Not only could he do something similar, though he couldn’t make them permanent, but he had already seen them before. So had Maja, more or less, at least.

  “The curse of Ashville.” She gasped, her face drained of all color.

  “You noticed it?” David asked, his attention pulling toward the live updating map the Regressor gifted Maja a few months earlier.

  “If all those threads lead to the same place, we will find the perpetrator around…here.” He pointed at a small mountain displayed on the live updating map and looked in the direction they’d have to travel. Oddly enough, there was no mountain nearby. If anything, their surroundings was as leveled as an extensive savannah could be. Sure, there were tiny hills but they weren’t large enough to be displayed on the live updating map.

  “That’s where the Fallen Sanctuary is located at. Not sure what they’re doing over there but it’s a Sanctuary from the Pandemonium, a few Beast Gods, and an Old One if I’m not mistaken.” Berghold pointed out. Maja and David turned to look at him, but the Eclipse Dwarf only shrugged. “The Fallen Sanctuary was relatively close to the System Sanctuary we were at. Our relation with them wasn’t great or anything, mostly because we do not particularly like some of those Beast Gods, be it their subjects or them, but I don’t think they would hire humans to imprison us.”

  Nobody had accused anyone from the Fallen Sanctuary to have done something like that, but David considered it. The threads of lifeforce pointed toward the Fallen Sanctuary, which meant the perpetrator lived there. While that didn’t mean everyone was at fault, he sincerely doubted nobody knew about it. It was hard to imagine no one sensing the constant stream of lifeforce flowing into one – or were there multiple perpetrators? – person.

  “If that is where the Fallen Sanctuary is located at, and those are the Rifts they’re likely to use for training and the like, then all those settlements could be their ‘livestock’.” Maja pointed at the dozen settlements, small towns, located around the Fallen Sanctuary. Zachariah may not have marked them but the towns were clearly too small to protect themselves. Except if powerhouses like those Pseudo-Platinum Classers with access to the Weave protected them. But that would make no sense. Why would Platinum Classers with access to the Weave stay in a tiny town, too far away from Rifts and Aether-dense regions.

  Either there is something in the towns that’s worth staying for or they receive something from someone else to stay there and guard their ‘livestock’. Maja had this angry look in her face when she said livestock. SHe looked visibly upset and disgusted. David, on the other hand, didn’t think all too much about that word. Livestock was a proper term for someone capturing and confining creatures to siphon their lifeforce. The prisoners were well-fed and, in fact, not even killed as long as their bodies produced more lifeforce than the threads of life drained. It was probably painful, but they would live.

  And that meant Berghold’s family was probably still alive.

  “You should visit the other settlements to search for your family.” David told Berghold. The Eclipse Dwarf looked at him, desire flashing through his eyes, but he shook his head.

  “I would love to do that, but I cannot. I am not strong enough to remove the chains, and I don’t want to endanger their lives. What if they kill my family for disobeying them?”

  David suppressed a curse and retrieved the Obsidian Blade. He infused Might and Origin Essence into the soulbound blade as Words of Power left his mouth. The power of Rend mantled the Obsidian Blade and merged with it as he weaved the Law of Unbinding into the weapon.

  “As my Champion, you should have no problem using the Obsidian Blade. Make sure to use the Law of Unbinding carefully. A trickle is all you need to sever the soulchains, or whatever they’re officially called.” David snickered, handing his blade to Maja.

  She looked at him, eyes narrowed to tiny slits. “You want me to leave?”

  The accusation rang in David’s ears and stabbed deep into his chest.

  “I want you to help me. To use your abilities to free the other prisoners alongside Berghold. The Law of Unbinding will remove the soulchains but they might as well sever the threads of life. It worked on the others, so it should work on them as well.” He explained calmly, “If you could remove the threads of life, and free the prisoners – possibly bring them to our territory where their Favor bonds can bloom to reinforce my prowess, I’d be happy.”

  “So you don’t want me to enter the Fallen Sanctuary with you?” She asked, voice sharp.

  “If you want to come, you can come, but I think you wouldn’t like it. Plus, it’d be a waste of our precious time if we move together when there are more than ten thousand life threads to sever. The same number of prisoners has to be rescued and shipped to Orhain, if they want to live there that is.”

  “That makes sense.” Maja nodded, her fingers coiling around the Obsidian Blade’s hilt. “I’ll be quick. Make sure you don’t cause too much trouble while I’m away.”

  “Trouble? When was the last time I caused trouble?” David snickered, but went silent when Maja glared at him. “You don’t have to look at me like that. I get it.”

  He was sure Maja had a lot more to say. She did not look particularly pleased with his decision to enter the Fallen Sanctuary alone, yet it was the best decision to split up for this task.

  David planted a kiss on her lips and ruffled through her hair, which earned him another glare. Next, he conjured Scalemore all over his body and materialized Serpent Fang. The massive claymore was neatly tucked onto the back of Scalemore, releasing small, dark-violet electricity currents that spread across his armaments.

  “Is that…” Berghold’s eyes narrowed to tiny slits. “You killed a Sacred Beast?”

  “You can tell?” David cocked an eyebrow at the dwarf.

  “It’s hard to miss, you know? That armor and sword of yours are made from materials you’ve harvested from a beast. Then there’s the fact that you’re still using them. They appear relatively new as well, but given how efficient you wear and wield them, it feels more like they repair themselves, which means they’re bound to you and self-repairing.” Berghold said, sounding almost like he was reciting something he’d learned a long time ago, “Furthermore, I was part of the Shadowdwellers, who’ve been hunting the Sacred Beasts that entered our domain. We’ve had our fair struggle with Beast Gods and their spawns, which is why we avoided the Fallen Sanctuary as well. Dwarves of the Everlasting Eclipse are not particularly liked among Beast Gods.”

  “I understand that.” David chuckled, “The Poisonous Beast God doesn’t like me either.”

  Berghold’s eyes wandered all over Scalemore and his eyes widened. “Don’t tell me that you killed Zephyr’s spawn? The Basilisk, the Gargantuan Centipede? No, neither can control the elements. You…Don’t tell me you killed the Mythical Electra?”

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  David glanced at Maja, whose eyes flitted from him to the dwarf.

  “You fought her?”

  “The Mythical Electra is a vicious beast. She is – was – a menace. Powerful and deadlier than any of the Sacred Beast’s we fought. As far as we can tell even the Poisonous Beast God feared the Mythical Electra, and he forced suicidal missions upon her, yet she prevailed.” Berthold shuddered, only to smile kindly at David. “I am glad you killed her.”

  “I did kill her.” David nodded, “But she is not dead dead.

  Berghold frowned, while Maja grimaced and stepped back.

  A moment later, Electra emerged from the Beast Core, scaring the living shit out of the poor dwarf.

  ***

  “Identify yourself!” A guard, a man with deep red skin, black irises, and horns jutting from his head as well as neck, thundered as David approached the gates of the Fallen Sanctuary.

  “This doesn’t look much different than the other Sanctuaries.” David mused, his gaze moving to the towering walls and the guards moving across them. Each of the guards was a Gold Ranker, which was impressive to say the least, but it looked more like they’d just advanced to the Gold Rank.

  He retrieved his ID slate and flung it toward one of the guards, their spears pointing his way. “You don’t get guests in the Fallen Sanctuary, do you?”

  The guards didn’t answer. One glanced at the ID slate which he’d received from the Familia in Arc. It had been eons since Arc had been destroyed, but that shouldn’t matter.

  “You’re a human?” The guard glanced up and met my eyes, “And you are affiliated with the Ruler of Blood. Are you one of Silvana’s newest toys?”

  Silvana? David tilted his head and nodded slowly. “She never said her name, but if Fenya is in control of the settlements around her, siphoning the prisoners’ lifeforce, then yes, I am here for her.”

  That did not necessarily answer the question but it was good enough. At least, the guard was fine with what he said. They turned to each other and nodded subtly. “The Guard of the Eternal Cycle has not been added to the blacklist as far as I can tell. An affiliation with the Guard is none of our concerns.”

  The other agreed in another tongue, and they turned back to him, their spears retracted. The ID slate flung through the air and David caught it smoothly as he stepped forward. He was eyed with suspicion but nobody blocked him – not that they could.

  Initially, he wanted to raze the Fallen Sanctuary to the ground. Unleashing a thunderstorm upon the Fallen Sanctuary like Electra did when she destroyed Arc would have been interesting, but David quickly noticed that the Fallen Sanctuary was not only well-guarded but also much larger than Arc had been. If he wasn’t mistaken, which was unlikely, there had to be more than 100,000 life signals in the Fallen Sanctuary. Even better, most life signals were relatively powerful.

  Iron Classers were the minority. They were as rare as those at the Peak of the Platinum Rank, and they were even harder to locate. At least, the Platinums had vibrant life signals. As far as David could tell there were also a lot more Silver Classers than Bronze Classers. Silvers were clearly the majority, which was a good sign for their bleak future. If they kept growing, they may as well survive the perils awaiting them.

  However, there were a few who wouldn’t make it out alive, be it today or in the future.

  David’s eyes lingered on the people around him. The streets were crowded, the air filled with the pungent smell of old blood and the accumulation of weeks of sweat, overlapping and intensifying. But as bad as it smelled in most streets, they were cleaner than he had expected.

  Since he was not in a rush, he didn’t activate any abilities to carve a path through the masses. Instead, he weaseled smoothly around the most-crowded placed and studied the Fallen Sanctuary’s structure, the behavior of its residents, and as many other factors to determine whether the Fallen Sanctuary deserved to prevail or if it was too corrupted to be left untouched.

  He reached the center of the Sanctuary at some point and headed to a smaller street that looked…differnet, to say the least. It was dark and filled with something that was as nefarious as badly reeking.

  “Is that the Pandemonium’s version of the Panthea?” He murmured, his attention drifting to the massive statues, Idols of Ascendants and gods, and adjusted his vision to see the Weave. Since he had nobody to teach him about Idols and…everything in a certain sense, David had to trust the System and his gut feeling for most tasks. He successfully created Guardian Idols, Champions, and Sworn, but that didn’t mean he was efficient in his work.

  He channeled Origin Essence into his eyes and went as far as to use bits of Might to see the Weave’s connection to the temples and the Idols with clarity.

  That…is already enough to create Idols? To create and strengthen bonds? David’s eyes narrowed to tiny slits. The temples were relatively powerful and contained enough Might to ignore momentarily, but the Idols were a joke. He knew that it wasn’t easy to influence anyone from far away, and that the construction of an Idol in a restricted world was difficult for those affected by the restrictions, but he failed to grasp why the loss of a few Idols was so bad for the Pantheon’s gods. He read enough about their complaints every single time a System Sanctuary – thus also a Panthea – had been destroyed to know that they valued their Idols and temples, but to think they were so…cheap.

  David shook his head. If he was to create Idols like the Pantheon and Pandemonium did, he’d be able to create dozens with the Might at his disposal. And he was only a 2-Star Ascendant. Sure, the Weave’s restrictions did not affect him, and he would not have to pay a hefty surcharge for creating Idols from several worlds away…still.

  He shook his head but stayed close to the infernal version of the Panthea. As confusing as some parts were, David learned a lot. Being self-taught with a tiny information package about Ascendants left many questions unanswered. The infernal Panthea did not answer most of them, no matter how long he studied it, yet it clarified a few things he misunderstood before.

  Ignoring the people around him, David accessed the Weave. It was a little bit more difficult to do so in the Fallen Sanctuary as the System considered the settlement and its surroundings the territory of another Ascendant…or the Pandemonium’s gods – David wasn’t quite sure about that yet – but it worked. Albeit difficult to control in someone else’s territory, his mind dove deeper into the Weave than ever. Using what he’d just learned, David reached far into the Weave, his control over its power skyrocketing. Even his sight of the Weave grew clearer.

  A presence, integrated into the Weave, interrupted him as he reached the nodes connecting the Weave with the surrounding land. He barely sensed the Weave’s flow of Might as it disappeared in the Weave, leading to other worlds…other Ascendants – presumably Infernal Gods – when someone cleared his throat beside him.

  David turned slowly, his senses spreading outward, his focus returning to the material plane, and then he saw her; a tall, slender woman with large crimson eyes, raven-black hair that looked like it was shrouded in blood pearls streaming down from her scalp. She appeared young, very young.

  “Who are you?” She asked, her voice sonorous and sharp. “What is someone like you doing here?”

  David tilted his head. Her presence was strong and firmly connected to the Weave like an Ascendants. She did feel as strong as those Goblin Ascendants he encountered before. No, she was…stronger?...yet not really.

  His senses spread outward and he failed to perceive anyone in the Sanctuary’s center. Even the surrounding streets had been cleared of people.

  “I’m David.” He introduced himself lightly, his attention drifting to the tens of thousands of crimson-red threads connecting to her, “And you must be Silvana.”

  “So you do know me.” She nodded slowly. “Your name does sound familiar, but I don’t think we met before.”

  Silvana reached out for a handshake, which David reciprocated even as he felt a familiar sensation of power welling within her. As their hands touched, a crimson thread formed between their palms. It was frail and inconspicuous; David was sure he would have missed it if he didn’t have such fine control over his own lifeforce. Or if he’d been unable to see all life. He saw what she did, and he allowed her to do it.

  He caught a faint, victorious smile on her lips before she hid it quickly as the life thread settled – or tried to. David focused on [Indomitable Will] and resisted the creation of the connection momentarily. Silvana frowned ever so slightly but relaxed when the connection settled.

  Clearly, she thought her willpower had been strong enough to overpower her foe’s. What she didn’t know was that David could have blocked it.

  “That’s unfortunate.” David shook his head, earning a curious glance from Silvana.

  “What is?”

  “You’re not an Ascendant.” He said matter-of-factly, “I didn’t think about it earlier, but if you were an Ascendant, you would have noticed my presence. Maybe you did notice my abundant lifeforce, but you cannot see the depth of my connection to the Weave. I mistook your connection to the Weave and thought you were an Ascendant with a weak Divine Seed, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. No bond is forming between us, yet you cannot see anything wrong. Thus, you are not an Ascendant but a Champion instead.”

  Maybe she was a powerful Champion, maybe not. It didn’t really matter.

  Silvana’s frown deepened, but it was not until David severed the life thread with a snap and a burst of willpower that she took the situation more seriously. He applied Cycle’s Embrace on Silvana and watched her eyes grow wide as lifeforce trickled out of her instead of inside her.

  “Will you sever all those threads of life on your own, and stop bothering other people, or do we have to fight this out?”

  A glimmer of hesitation flickered in her eyes, but it did not last long. Blood flowed into her eyes, turning the white red, almost crimson. It poured down the corner of her eyes, and dripped on the ground. But before the first droplet splashed on the stone underfoot, Silvana shot forward at blinding speed, clutching a blade of condensed blood in her hand.

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