Defiance of the Fall 9: A LitRPG Adventure

DEFIANCE OF THE FALL 9 ©2023 JF BRINK/THEFIRSTDEFIER This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the authors. Aethon Books supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. Aethon Books www.aethonbooks.com Print and eBook formatting by Steve Beaulieu. Artwork provided by Fernando Granea. Published by Aethon Books LLC. Aethon Books is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead is coincidental. All rights reserved. CONTENTS ALSO IN SERIES 1. Blood and Soul 2. Gathering at the Gates 3. Incursion Owner 4. Depths of Madness 5. The Rules of Madness 6. Sneaking Inside 7. Out of Time, Out of Options 8. Madness Made Real 9. Web of Ancient Madness 10. A Seed of Fear 11. Overwhelmed 12. Overextended 13. Ripples on the Lake 14. Greed and Chaos 15. A Little Bit of Chaos 16. Company 17. Marvelous Beyond Compare 18. Linked 19. The Trove of the Ocean 20. One Shot at Eternity 21. Collapse 22. Fertilizer for One’s Path 23. Rip and Tear 24. Stronger 25. Trapped 26. Doubts and Schemes 27. The Final Twilight 28. Leviathan 29. Orom 30. Experience 31. Freedom’s End 32. Unboxing 33. The Pursuit of Completeness 34. A Thought to Change the World 35. The First Clue 36. Depths of Death 37. Perfection 38. Singular Unity 39. Dao Manifested into Law 40. Journey 41. Waking Up 42. Ancient Dread 43. Darkness Perfected 44. Adamance 45. Cat and Mouse 46. Hubris 47. Opportunity 48. Entangled 49. Formation and Integration 50. Technique 51. Mastery 52. Vivi 53. Shadewar 54. Raising the Stakes 55. Transition 56. Bargain Hunting 57. Gunking Up 58. Celestial Clay 59. Calamity 60. Kalpataru 61. Culmination 62. Path of Oblivion 63. Harmony 64. Heart of the Empire 65. Words Spoken from the Heart 66. True and False 67. Sublimation 68. Gathering Storm 69. Mounting Threat 70. Little Chaos 71. Ripples in his Wake Epilogue Thank you for reading Defiance of the Fall Book Nine ALSO IN SERIES DEFIANCE OF THE FALL BOOK ONE BOOK TWO BOOK THREE BOOK FOUR BOOK FIVE BOOK SIX BOOK SEVEN BOOK EIGHT BOOK NINE BOOK TEN 1 BLOOD AND SOUL Zac stood in the cave at the bottom of the chasm in the Twilight Ocean, the remnant waves of Oblivion still raging outside. This was supposed to be it, where he got the Splinter of Oblivion and finished his adventure in Twilight Harbor. He should have known by now things rarely went according to plan. The splinter was gone, stolen by that vindictive vampire, who had set herself up as the gatekeeper to his quest. There was no backing down now. He’d already collected his reward when the System saved him from the terrifying snake in the depths of the Twilight Chasm. If he didn't seize the splinter and provide another Chaos Pattern, the System would confiscate one of his Daos. Certainly, Uona had well and truly pissed him off this time, and Zac didn't need much prodding to walk into the lair of the beast. With nothing else of interest in the hollowed-out mountain, Zac set out the same way he came. Uona’s invitation might be a misdirect, and it was possible that an insane bloodsucker was bearing down on his position at this very moment. If so, he would rather fight somewhere else than in this restrictive place. Zac emerged at the top of the ravine a few minutes later and crushed an escape talisman. The moment he reappeared, he turned into his wraith form and flitted away with [Abyssal Phase], not forgetting to make use of the slowed-down environment to search for threats. However, there was no blood tide crashing toward him and no other signs of a trap waiting to be sprung. It really looked like she wanted him to head to the City of Ancients. Zac was just about to return to his normal form, but an odd flickering of light far in the distance caught his attention. He changed course and rushed over to the small hill he spotted. Zac wouldn’t have normally cared about some random glimmer, since there was an endless number of herbs and materials that gave off some light after gaining spirituality. The expansive reef by the Twilight Chasm had almost looked like a rave, for example, without any of the corals being of much value. This was different—he actually recognized the energy—it wasn’t Twilight, but rather the power of stars. Zac turned back into his corporeal form and swam over until he was in front of the source of the anomaly. It could have easily been mistaken for a couple of fireflies dancing upon a random rock, but it was small stars that winked in and out of existence. He scanned it over and over, and there was no doubt. He’d been sitting in the first row when Ventus, the scion of