Pillar of Desolation

*Stuck and struggling. Inexorable desolation.*

## Summary

Pillar of Desolation is a supreme quality path-bound E-Grade domain skill Zac gained through manually evolving Profane Seal in the Twilight Ascent while under the manic inspiration of a supreme natural treasure and a Dawn Awakening pill that allowed one to harmonize with the Twilight Energy. Insights for the skill were many and varied and included the Tower from the vision when he obtained the first Splinter of Oblivion, such that the skill requires some Oblivion energy to be activated.

Zac can no longer teleport with the skill, but the skill still retains the restrictive cage, and restraining and draining chains, of the old skill. The skill summons a 50-meter tall profane totemic pillar with an Orb of Dissolution at the top in the center of a circle surrounded by a river of darkness and fills that interior with darkness. The Orb generates a massive gravity field in the domain and the pillar shoots out many ethereal chains to ensnare foes (limited to one chain per foe). Once caught the chains become physical and incredibly tough, draining the target of life energy and converting it to miasma for Zac, and dragging the captured person to the pillar. Once there the Orb on top will send a pulse of darkness down the pillar converting the target into another totem on the pillar.

The pillar increased in size to 70 meters at middle mastery and meshed better with his other two domain skill, Deathmark and Fields of Despair, and made the chain of Arbiter of the Abyss sturdier. At late mastery it gained a halo that crushed competing energies in the domain and also the chains destroyed any energy they could not siphon off.

Zac gained the Runic Erudition title for forming this skill.

This skill was upgraded off-screen to Eye of Desolation using his level 175 skill quest.

## Fusion

* Zac swallowed the **[Dawn Awakening]** pill, ... **Book 8, Page 491**
* ... he stuffed the unblemished dumpling into his mouth, swallowing bit by bit until he’d consumed the whole thing, stem and all. ... This was the true nature of the mysterious fruit he’d found: inspiration. **Book 8, Page 491**
* However, as Zac looked at the projection of the skill fractal, he wasn’t content. He saw it as a piece of art, as a burgeoning life holding vast amounts of untapped potential for greatness. If he followed his original plan, he would succeed, and he would create a top-tier E-grade skill. But he could do better. **Book 8, Page 492**
* Runes that had never appeared on any of his skills before were added, based only on pictures and descriptions he’d seen in information crystals. He dug deep for all kinds of sources of inspiration. Some came from obvious sources, like his other skills and his Dao Visions. Others were things he normally wouldn’t even consider, such as the river of death that swirled around Be’Zi and the ominous tower that probably held one of the Splinters of Oblivion. **Book 8, Page 492**
	+ A tower reached toward the stars, thrumming with dark powers. It was completely black and charred, as though it had been struck by an endless number of lightning bolts, and millions upon millions of bodies hung from varying weapons that had been slammed into its rough exteriors. Darkness slowly swirled around it, a testament to the owner within. **Book 3, Page 224**
* The final rune was the only component missing, and as it was added, tens of thousands of runes suddenly snapped into place. **Book 8, Page 493**

## Skill Location

**Not Stated**

* *No textual information.*

## Skill Window

[E] Pillar of Desolation – Proficiency: Early. Stuck and struggling. Inexorable desolation. Upgradeable. **Book 8, Page 497**

[E] Pillar of Desolation - Proficiency: Middle. Stuck and struggling. Inexorable Desolation. Upgradeable. **Chapter 898**

## Early Proficiency

* Even more shocking was the fact that a small amount of distilled energy of Oblivion was dragged into the skill fractal. **Book 8, Page 539** However, they were too late, and the whole area rumbled as it was rapidly swallowed by endless darkness. **Book 8, Page 539**
* ... he felt himself meld with the nothingness around him. He was one with the domain, and Zac felt he would be able to appear wherever he wished. **Book 8, Page 539**
* From that darkness, a sole pillar rose from the ground, and even Zac was shocked at the grotesque monument of suffering. **Book 8, Page 540**
* It looked a bit like a totem pole reaching fifty meters into the air, and was completely constituted of statues and reliefs of hundreds of people locked in agony. **Book 8, Page 540**
* At the top, a sphere of utmost darkness hovered, an anti-sun radiating true death. ... And in the heart of the orb—nothingness. Oblivion. **Book 8, Page 540**
* The dark domain it created was different from the darkness that spread from skills like **[Deathmark]** or Varo’s obfuscation skills. It was a sealed domain with no escape, **Book 8, Page 541**
* At the edge of the domain, a river of darkness created a towering wall as impassable as the River Styx itself. **Book 8, Page 541**
* Zac sent out a mental command, and eight of the ethereal chains on the totem pole shot out, each targeting a puppet. **Book 8, Page 541**
* ... but the moment the chain ensnared him, it was like it had transformed from an intangible manifestation of darkness into a physical object. Suddenly, it was as durable as the totem pole itself, and it barely received a scratch as it dragged the man closer to the pillar. **Book 8, Page 542**
* Just like the old skill **[Profane Seal]**, the chains started draining their captives of energy, becoming fodder for Zac to keep fighting. **Book 8, Page 542**
* The old **[Profane Seal]** had a massive fractal that doubled as a gravity array, and that effect was retained in an even more powerful form from the glowing anti-sun. **Book 8, Page 542**
* It only lasted for a fraction of a second before the enormous sphere of death on the top of the pole released a pulse, prompting a wave of darkness to cascade down along the length of the pillar. It passed the spot where the warrior was being held, continuing out through the other chains to deliver a painful surge to the captives. The darkness passed, and the puppet bound to the pillar was gone, replaced with yet another statue locked in an eternal struggle. **Book 8, Page 543**
* Activating another skill would force him out of hiding, but Zac didn’t care as he silently appeared at the edge of the cage, far away from his targets. **Book 8, Page 543**
* It was a useful experiment though, since it was a confirmation that he could only attach one chain to such a massive creature. **Book 8, Page 556**
* The ghastly totem pole of **[Pillar of Desolation]** slowly rose, though this time it didn’t appear in the middle of the cage. Instead, it commandeered the left half, ... **Book 9, Page 64**

## Middle Proficiency

* An odd sensation made Zac look inward, and he was both surprised and delighted to see lines being added to more than one of his skills. In fact, most of his skills were evolving, proving just how powerful the altar was. **Chapter 897**
* Its overall appearance was mostly the same since reaching middle mastery, but like most skills, it had received some improvements. **Chapter 925**
* The statues bound to the pillars were even more lifelike, almost like their twisted faces were moving in agony. It was a surreal experience, and Zac almost felt he could hear distant wails when he glanced in the tower’s direction. Besides being crafted with a more skilled hand, the chains draped around its length were thicker and more durable. **Chapter 925**
* The pillar had also gained 20 meters, now reaching 70 meters into the air and allowing it to tower above even the Qriz’Ul King. In addition, the pitch-black anti-sun hovering at its top had grown a bit while also emitting a more powerful aura. Finally, Zac could feel that its effect on his other skills had also grown a bit stronger. **Chapter 925**
* The absolute darkness from **[Pillar of Desolation]** meshed even better with his other two domains, and Zac could feel how the ethereal chain [*from Arbiter of the Abyss*] that connected him and the Goblin’s face grew sturdier. **Chapter 925**

## Late Proficiency

* The orb of ultimate darkness ignited. Its size hadn't increased since Zac had managed to push the skill to Late Mastery, but it had gained a halo of despair. The halo spread like millions of invisible tendrils through the cage, annihilating all clashing energies it encountered. **Chapter 1,007**
* The old chains of **[Profane Seal]** could drain victims of their energy, and the chains of **[Pillar of Desolation]** had inherited that feature. With the skill reaching Late Proficiency, it simultaneously destroyed the energy it couldn't siphon off, using the halo of Oblivion. **Chapter 1,007**

## Peak Proficiency

* Zac had pushed his Supreme Pathbound E-grade skills to their peak years ago while collecting materials for his Omnitool, knowing it would be a while before he managed to upgrade these incredibly complex fractals. **Chapter 1,070**
* *No other textual information.*

## Synergy

* Zac sensed he could activate **[Blighted Cut]** any time he wanted after having caught the first set of puppets, but he wanted to unearth the full effect of the skill now that he’d activated it for the first time. **Book 8, Page 542**

## D-Grade Upgrade

* He'd been worried the incredibly complex Skill Fractals would be damaged during the ignition [*to upgrade his cosmic core to mid*], rendering them unusable for months. **Chapter 1,185**
* **[Pillar of Desolation]** was slightly better off thanks to its placement by his solar plexus, but it would take a lot of effort to fix it himself. **Chapter 1,185**
* The class quest was the perfect shortcut. Zac had already confirmed that the System wouldn't penalize him for using the quest reward on damaged Skill Fractals, and it'd always create a skill in perfect condition. **Chapter 1,185**

## Commentary

* His best guess was that it was the kind of skill you’d get from an Arcane class, which should add another layer of raw power output. As for the skill being “path-bound,” it probably meant the skill was tailor-made for his path, having completely broken free from the ill-fitting archetype of his previous Undying Bulwark class. **Book 8, Page 497**
* He had figured a Supreme-quality skill would be pretty energy hungry, but he was shocked to find it required 60% of his energy to form, meaning it was impossible to activate solely with his hidden energy reserve. **Book 8, Page 539**
* Zac wasn’t about to be outdone, and the orb of Oblivion radiated a monstrous splendor as over twenty chains shot toward the skill [*of the Eidolons*]. **Book 8, Page 65**
* **[Pillar of Desolation]** was an exceedingly complex skill, to the point he didn’t understand the skill fractal at all after having created it during his epiphany. **Book 8, Page 67**
* The chains of **[Pillar of Desolation]**had managed to restrain this unrelenting creature [*Qriz’Ul King*] for almost a minute, but they could no longer endure under the deluge of tainted water. **Chapter 926**
* The whole mountain was covered in damned souls, their bodies completely disfigured from the cold. All of them were climbing toward the peak, a scene reminding Zac of his **[Pillar of Desolation]**. **Chapter 973**
* and the vast amounts of pure Death in the Calamity gave him a home-field advantage. Even now, he could feel large amounts of Death-attuned Energy entering the cave to join [Pillar of Desolation]'s deathly river. **Chapter 1,007**
* Truthfully he'd been lucky they'd given up when they had. A few more good hits and the rivers would have collapsed, destabilizing the whole skill. **Chapter 1,008**
* All skills but **[Pillar of Desolation]** could be used again, meaning he wasn't a sitting duck. **Chapter 1,009**
* He was one of the top five powerhouses of the Perennial Vastness, but he'd failed to kill over a dozen guests over the past year. They all had weird skills and treasures that got them out of death's grasp. Three had even managed to escape **[Pillar of Desolation]** somehow. **Chapter 1,031**