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584 The Beginning of an End

As half of the aspects of existence heeded to Fate’s orders, Daniel had made his way to conflict’s territory.

With closed eyes he advanced past the vast water-like gate, until his skin was hit by a rough feeling. Distracted by it, he slowly opened his eyes, and could not help but feel surprised by what he saw. The space within Conflict’s universe was unlike any other Daniel had ever experienced.

The natural essences within Conflict’s domain, while still unowned, were imbued with the chaotic power of conflict. A power that caused them to be unable to stand still, and actively seek conflict with the closest power they could find. Dust, ice, gasses, space itself grinded against one another down to their most minuscule component, only to rejoin together to restart the cycle again and again.

By simply observing the hostility of what was supposed to be the most gentle of environments, Daniel was left in awe. He couldn’t even imagine how much more destructive natural calamities must have been in this universe, and how easily it would have been for any of them to erase civilizations from the memories of time.

However, Daniel was not there to sightsee.

Without hesitation Daniel expelled a spark of pure golden power, which floated slowly to his side before expanding to the size of an adult human. Once it stopped, the golden light created by this spark of power slowly began to dim down, uncovering the sleeping figure of Elijah, who had been stuck in his personal hell for what felt so long that he had started to get used to the suffering.

After so much time spent in hell, Elijah’s eyes had become dull. He had also taken the habit to keep his hands scrunched up in between his stomach and thighs, as he unconsciously buried his face in between his knees.. Of the jolly being that found pleasure in depraved schemes, only a shell had remained.. one he himself did not bother to ask mercy for, for he had already lost hope.

Elijah’s sorry state was a sight anyone in possession of a spark of humanity would feel compassion for, but that was not the case for Daniel. Even before he had ascended to the state of an aspect of existence, the immense amount of negative karma Elijah had to pay for, was a testament to all the beings he had tortured to a state way sorrier than his own..ᴄᴏᴍ

As a true aspect of existence, however, Daniel was devoid of affection and compassion. His only emotions were tied to his persona. He felt pride towards his existence, fear and excitement for his future, and loyalty towards his beliefs.. Yet, of love and dedication towards others there was no trace.

Had he not made a promise to himself to keep the mortals of his past safe, he as Fate would have long lost interest in continuing his journey, instead focusing on what the other aspects of existence were born to do instead. To guide the multiverse into accepting their power, reaching the highest level their nature allowed them to.

While Elijah regained his composure, Daniel once again closed his eyes, and resumed his cultivation. Throughout the multiverse he felt endless sparks of karma be born, and accumulate in the space they shared with the other aspects of existence.. Each individual spark representing a decision and a consequence, and weighting on a being’s consciousness as much as the power itself weighed on Daniel’s overall existence.

To Daniel, who had years of experience in cultivation, this feeling was the purest and most effortless state of cultivation he had ever experienced. He did not need to focus, or actively try to absorb mana to improve his physique, mind or spirit, he just needed to exist, and the power would naturally flow into him. So simple was it, that Daniel had found himself having to make an active effort in stopping his mind from drifting away, getting lost in the ecstasy of cultivation.

This was a type of cultivation only Daniel in history had been able to experience, and the other aspects of existence were not an exception, for they were consciousnesses born within already developed power, and not vice versa.

A few quiet minutes passed, and Daniel once again opened his eyes to notice a dispirited, yet aware Elijah.

The latter hadn’t forgotten how he had tried to expose his captor to the aspect of Equilibrium, causing the two to fall into a lethal encounter.. reason why he had given up all hopes of mercy. All he could hope for now, was to be of enough use to Daniel, to earn his time out of a place he would kill to avoid having to go back to, even if for just a moment longer.

“Where next?” Daniel asked. His tone was as cold as ancient ice, and in it, Elijah believed he could hear an odd cracking sound.

Prepared for this question, Elijah closed his eyes without uttering a word. Underneath his eyelids his irises began to glow of a pure golden color which shone through the thin slits, then silence. Daniel waited a moment, then several seconds.. When a minute had passed, he noticed that Elijah’s face had started contorting into unsightly expressions of worry, confusion, and horror.

“I can’t see it.. It’s not working.. I can’t see it.” Elijah muttered to himself.

Before Daniel could ask what was wrong, however, Daniel’s attention was caught by something else. A microscopic purple light, far in the distance, which appeared like any other light in sight. This light, however, was not a distant remnant of a fallen celestial body, but a wave of power. One so quick, that by the time Daniel took notice of it, it had already reached him.

Instinctively Daniel coated himself and Elijah in the power of Karma just in time for this wave of power to engulf them completely. It did not take long for Daniel to realize that this power was no common type of mana, but a power of existence that had been weaponized to harm him.

Feeble as a cloud of poisonous gas, this essence attached itself to the surface of Daniel’s karmic power, and as if formed by an infinite number of microscopic bugs, it began to erode it. Far away, behind this acidic blanket, Daniel could feel the presence of a powerful consciousness.

This power was not extremely powerful, in fact, Daniel found its influence quite delicate, yet unstoppable. It continued to erode the essence of Karma without stopping, leaving slight burns on the patches of skin it managed to come in contact with. While Daniel was unbothered by the pain, he had no doubt that if he didn’t free himself, sooner or later he would perish under this slow erosion. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ ꪶ

For the minutes that followed Daniel continued to increase the output of karmic power, hoping that at some point the onslaught of erosive power would die out, and he would be able to break out, but the power he fought against was no simple mana. Logic did not apply to the way it worked, for the powers of existence operated within their own laws.

It soon became clear that the only way for Daniel to escape was to break out of it. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

Still too inexperienced in controlling the immense amount of power he possessed, Daniel struggled to fight back and at the same time protect both himself and Elijah, causing him to fail to control the defensive layer of karmic power that was protecting Elijah.

“AAARGHH!! AAAAAAAAHH!!” The agonizing screams, eerie sounds of sizzling skin, and smell of burnt flesh reached Daniel all at the same time, urging him to do something, or lose his guide.

Without too much time to think, Daniel steeled his mind. He had a cultivator’s body, different from that of a normal aspect of existence. Not powerful enough to resist this erosive power, but enough to grant him a few seconds. In just a moment, he reabsorbed the power of karma, and allowed for the purplish cloud to attach itself to his body.

Just like Elijah, Daniel’s hair, skin, flesh.. Even his bones began to erode the moment they came in contact with the purple mist, and if allowed to continue undisturbed, so would the rest of his body. However, Daniel had no intentions of letting that happen.

While trying to bear the pain, Daniel focused the entirety of the karmic power contained within his body into his eyes, which began to glow brighter the more power was poured into them. When the brilliance had reached a blinding point, Daniel released the compressed power of karma in the form of a bullet as wide as an adult’s index finger, then shot it towards the purple mist.

This bullet of karmic power immediately began to erode the moment it touched the corrosive gas, but thanks to its density and speed, it was able to resist. With inconceivable power the bullet cut through, and in just a moment emerged from the other side of the cloud, leaving behind a small tunnel of cleared space..

That was all Daniel needed.

Before this small tunnel could repair itself, Daniel regained contact with the karmic power outside of the purple mist, and immediately teleported himself out of danger, reappearing thousands of miles away from their purple mist. Once safe, he used the same method to save what was left of Elijah’s body.

This entire encounter did not take longer than a few seconds, yet, it had left Daniel in one of the sorriest states he had ever been in after becoming the aspect of Karma. His body was covered in holes of burnt flesh, his blood was floated through space as chunks of dark and moist ashes. His regenerative powers struggled to heal the damage, yet, bit by bit, Daniel began to recover.

As Daniel focused on recovering, a gruff voice reached his ears, “Abomination.. You will die by my hands today.” The voice came from Daniel’s right, a patch of space in which floated a young man who appeared to be, just like Daniel, in his mid twenties. His voice did not match his appearance, yet it resounded throughout space like a rumble of thunder, moving the simple white toga the young man wore with the powerful sound waves each word created.

The power emanated by this young man’s body was one of erosion and consumption, and his identity, was that of Corrosion. A low level aspect of existence, and one of the lower followers of the chaotic faction directly under the aspect of Conflict.

“What do you want?” Daniel asked in hope to gain enough time to make a full recovery before what he believed to be an unavoidable fight.

The young man appeared to be aware of Daniel’s intentions. Or maybe he was more interested in eliminating Daniel than he was in entertaining a conversation. With a faint motion of his hand a vast amount of power of corrosion formed in the distance, and merged into an inescapable dome that immediately began to shrink.

Once again Daniel had found himself in a dire situation. His power of Karma, while as pure as any other power of existence, hadn’t had the same amount of time the other powers had to settle into the universe before forming a consciousness, and that made Daniel the weakest among its kin. To be able to escape Equilibrium had been nothing but a feat of luck-After all, even if Conflict hadn’t saved him from her, Equilibrium wouldn’t have hurt Daniel as long as his existence did not break the multiverse’s balance.. A balance he had regained by shedding the humanity which had made him an anomaly within the multiverse’s equilibrium.

The power of corrosion, however, was the power of strong winds breaking down mountains, waves eroding cliffs, death devouring life, time consuming beauty.. It was an aggressive power in nature, and respecting its nature meant perishing from it.

With few ideas in mind, and too little power to defend himself from a powerful aspect of existence, Daniel prepared himself for another escape attempt, but right as he turned towards Elijah to grab him and make a run for it, he noticed that the champion of Destiny had stopped panicking.

His flesh, skin and blood were a charred mess, yet his expression was one of peace. In his mind, Elijah had long lost the will to live. He had experienced atrocious physical pain and the torture of the mind, and right at the peak of both of them, he had come to a conclusion. Death was a better choice.

Daniel saw the intention in Elijah’s eyes, yet, before he could do anything, the owner of the system of depravity dashed towards the approaching purple wall, disappearing into it like a drop of water that fell into a lake’s surface.