DefianceNovels

Chapter 1,316.

Zac leaned back into the plush armchair, looking at the ornate figurine a few more moments before putting it away. The city was silent save the rain patter against his suite’s windows, leaving him alone to his thoughts. His other half had emerged from the Dipper Mountains close to three weeks ago, and he’d finally gone through the last of the engraved figurines brought out by Ogras.

As expected, Daoist Hidden Earth advancing multiple stages and becoming a Void Cultivator wasn’t re...

Chapter 1,315.

There was no way Vilari would mistake the approaching woman for anyone but Thea Marshall, even if the shapeshifter’s appearance was slightly different from what Vilari remembered. Rather than the young woman who died decades ago, Thea carried herself with the temperament of an expert. The sharp determination in her piercing blue eyes remained, now stabilized by experience and age. It made the disguise more believable. She was also covered in wounds, no doubt meant to lower Vilari’s guard....

Chapter 1,314.

Vilari was an island of tranquility in a raging sea of roaring applause. The stands were filled to the brim with red-faced spectators who used the arena as an outlet for their pent-up urges. Their bloodlust fused into a tangible force that Vilari had only seen on the battlefield. The atmosphere even affected the Hegemons waiting for their turn to fight on the main stage.

The force seeped into the limbs of Vilari’s downed opponent, causing them to twitch erratically. However, it was in...

Chapter 1,313.

A/N: Happy PoE 2 day, everyone!

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“You’re saying the Threaded Hell’s master and his siblings allied themselves with the Limitless Emperor, and the Primo was among them,” Ogras said, a crooked smile slowly appearing on his face. “It’s interesting how different their outcomes were. I remember how battered the Realmlord’s coffin looked.”

Zac finished the thought. “Meanwhile, the Primo was left in good enough c...

Chapter 1,312.

“Hmm?” Auban muttered from the slight tremble transmitted to his fishing rod.

Curious, he moved his lure deeper, only to have it swept away by an unfamiliar undercurrent. Auban glanced at the old continent with helplessness. He’d kept his promise all these years, keeping an eye out so that the pillar didn’t get ejected early. Was this the thanks he got? His neighborhood was thrown into chaos, and a bunch of loud troublemakers showed up at his doorstep.

Most unbearable of a...

Chapter 1,311.

A/N: We're back! Thank you for the continued support, and welcome new patrons!

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The circumstances were identical to when Zac was forced to use the Yphelion’s newly installed Death-attuned escape engine. Zac's first instinct was that one of the Fifth Pillar’s myriad gates had taken them out of the ashes and into the fire by sending them to Kālasūtra—the Threaded Hell. Certain details indicated the situation was more complicated tha...

Chapter 1,310.

A/N: And that's it for November. I hope you've enjoyed the Dipper Mountains miniarc.

A heads-up regarding my Christmas Schedule. As previous years, I'm taking the holidays and New Year's off to recharge and visit family. The final chapter of 2024 will be Friday, December 20th. Releases will resume again January 6th.

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The conversation was kept short as both needed to focus on their tasks. Having Ogras back by his side was a comf...

Chapter 1,309.

“Hurry up, will you?” Ogras grunted, his nerves taut like bowstrings.

“I’m going as fast as I can without damaging it further,” a pale-faced Kalir assured as he copied the contents of an ancient jade figurine marred by small cracks to his prepared receptacle.

Keeping what little remained of the repository’s ruins aloft on a bed of shadows wasn’t too taxing. He simply needed to maintain a respectful distance from the shrinking barrier that lived on borrowed time. A st...

Chapter 1,308.

This was the first time Zac had laid his eyes on a true, still-growing C-grade Natural Treasure. Its profound spirituality was on full display in a way that the C-grade alloys and refined materials couldn’t match. The flower looked much like a daffodil, with purple Void-attuned petals growing out of a pitch-black center.

The three red Dao petals didn’t actually seem connected to the main body. Instead, they floated around the pistil, forming a conic shape. Peering into the cone left...

Chapter 1,307.

‘So we failed,’ Pervata sighed. ‘The tides of Fate…’

The desolate tone dug at Zac’s heart, and he didn’t know how to respond. The ancient Autarch had seen through some of his secrets but arrived at the wrong conclusion. Pervata believed Zac was a distant descendant who’d traveled back in time to change his clan’s Fate. While the misunderstanding worked in Zac’s favor, it brought up certain questions.

Were Autarchs strong enough to overcom...

Chapter 1,306.

The shift in history could only have come from Pervata Wendimar entering the memory domain. The unscheduled appearance of a high-grade entity added a massive expenditure. A third of the memory domain’s accumulated Faith Energy had been drained in one go. For better or worse, the following expenditure wasn’t too bad. The domain wouldn’t collapse on its own, so they still had to face its dangers.

Zac had no idea if the token allowed communication, though exposing its location was pr...

Chapter 1,305.

A different cave greeted Zac when he came to. He almost jumped out of his skin from having one of the satellites take up half of his vision, and it took a moment to realize it was dead. It was covered in cracks, lying just outside a final barrier. Zac inspected the nearby walls, finding no point of egress.

The walls were covered in hairline cracks, but the explosion also seemed to have compressed the manor’s outer shell further. The fault lines would eventually lead to a breach. Until...

Chapter 1,304

“I do apologize about the deception. My offer was made with sincerity; I simply couldn’t expose the whole truth before confirming we’d found the Hidden Earth Abode. Its potential value is inestimable,” Kalir explained.

“I understand, though I hope you’ll be forthright going forward. The dangers we’re facing equally exceed what I expected, both here and on the outside,” Zac said. “And I’ll want a copy of the heritage before we leave.”

“The original has to go...

Chapter 1,303.

‘Remember what you just said. The mission failed the first time around, and we still don’t know when or why. Stay within ten meters of me, especially if things get out of hand. My bloodline is the only thing having a chance at keeping us safe,’ Zac urged as Ivar Serpico led the fifty-man crew toward the point of entry. ‘’

Ventus had already scanned the rest of the Serpico Guild over the past week, and every single member was haunted by the shadow of deat...

Chapter 1,302.

Muted whispers spread through the street as Ventus led Zac toward the Serpico Guild’s headquarters. A direct descendant of a Founding Family appearing in the Dipper Mountains was quite the event, and Zac had given the locals just enough time for the rumors to spread. His arrival should already be known among Dipper Seven's elites.

Arriving at the last minute while creating such a spectacle was intentional and meant to act as insurance. The Serpico Guild’s main squad was about to lea...

Chapter 1,301.

Zac couldn’t believe it. How was it possible to encounter the Void again, within weeks of unsealing the Holy Relic?

It might have made some sense if what Zac detected through the transportation sphere matched the [Fuxi Mountain Gate]’s aura. The Earth Spirit hadn’t said it outright, but his gate was likely one of many. Roan had called it a [Fuxi Mountain Gate]. Zac couldn’t see the arrangement support the Primal Heaven and the Fifth Pil...

Chapter 1,300.

“How long’s it been?” Ogras asked.

“Just over two weeks,” Zac said and briefly recounted what happened while Ogras absorbed his prey.

While catching Ogras up to speed, the demon started a parallel conversation through telepathy. ‘No wonder that bastard suddenly acted like he’d been injected with chicken blood. It almost overwhelmed me after the Dao burst.’

‘Are you okay now?’ Zac asked.

The subtle changes to the demon’s appe...

Chapter 1,299.

"You've already cracked the seal?" Zac exclaimed while his human half asked Ventus to plot a new course.

"A few days ago. I didn't want to distract you while you had your hands full," Esmeralda said as she handed over Kator's Spatial Ring.

"Isn't it too easy? Didn't Valsa's ring take years?" Zac said.

"How's that the same? I wasn't even a Beast King back then. A few months are more than enough for that bratling's stuff," Esmeralda said. "According to our agreement, I've pick...

Chapter 1,298.

A/N: The month-to-month subs are gone, but the messages stay the same. Thank you for resubbing, and welcome new patrons!

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An urgent roar pulled Zac out of Antuka's lingering obsession. The vivid dreams of an ancient sky were replaced by blood and shadows. Unable to fully extract himself, Zac moved purely on instinct. His axe dug leftward in a sharp horizontal swing, drawing a bloody gash across the amorphous Beast King just as it was abo...

Chapter 1,297.

A/N: That's month 2 of the Ultom Arc. Hope you've enjoyed! The next month will continue without breaks as Zac draw closer to the pillars and the secrets buried in the Left Imperial Expanse. Hope to see you there!

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The groaning chorus of countless trees being torn apart was swallowed by Ogras' dense blanket of shadows. Three layers of domains did little to slow down the adolescent crocodile. The trees conjured by [Apex Jungle] couldn...

Chapter 1,296.

"I can't feel the pull of treasure," Zac whispered from their hiding spot. "Only danger."

"If you've strung me along for a lake of useless dusk water… Boy, you better prepare yourself." Ogras glared at Ventus.

It had taken them three days of carefully navigating confusing geography, deadly rain, and swarms of hostile shadow beasts to reach the depths of the shadow realm. They were currently four layers deep, peering at a modest hot spring from the cover of a circle of towering t...

Update to Patreon Billing

Hey all,

As some of you may know already, Patreon is discontinuing the billing model I currently use (patrons charged on the 1st of the month to get access for that month). Going forward, they will only be offering subscription billing (your billing cycle will depend on when you signed up. For example, those signing up on the 15th will be billed on the 15th every month).

It's Apple that are forcing these changes on Patreon and by extension me. I've copy-paste...

Chapter 1,295.

The image of the Limitless Empire rising from the ashes like a vengeful phoenix left Zac shaken. Their resurrection would have extreme ramifications on integrated space. How would the factions who took their spot at the top of the food chain react? How would the System react? There was only one possible outcome: war and chaos.

If his hunch was true, was he the first to know? Zac doubted it. The peak factions would have noticed something in the ripples of fate. Esmeralda mentioned multip...

Chapter 1,294.

Zac's first thought was he'd been dropped off inside a mirage drawing inspiration from his memories. However, Zac's heart told him that the startled duo wasn't the work of an illusion. The faded forest of Tam's memory had given way to a world shrouded in darkness. The region had an unmistakably ominous atmosphere, though Zac would take implied threat over the overt danger of the Nature-attuned storm.

It didn't match anything from Tom's scattered memories or any information he'd gathered...