Sovereign of the Karmic System-Chapter 686: Door to Fate’s Domain

It did not take long for the group to reach their destination – Roughly thirty days. A month spent traveling the white abyss of the Trigate while discussing objectives, weighing options, and arguing over the absurdity of Daniel’s plan. Then, by the end of this time period, the group had found itself in front of one of the least trafficked inter-dimensional portals. The gate of Fate’s one-universe domain.

During that month, the human and beast contingency of Daniel’s former group had joined the Immortal Armada, which, under the safety of Der’s newfound powers, had found shelter within the world inside Sacrifice’s ring. Similarly, the elementals had joined Roley’s army, and now inhabited the shapeless and timeless planet tied to his elemental system.

The party that had personally followed in on Daniel’s journey was composed of Der, Roley, Aeron, Ian, the female paladin whose name the group had never bothered to ask, and Ligart, who would occasionally leave the dimension within Sacrifice’s ring to receive updates on their journey, or when summoned by Daniel to answer some Ian-related questions.

In this short time the aura of desperation and hopelessness which had engulfed the members of Daniel’s former group had all but disappeared. In what they previously considered a hellish landscape of war, rot and death, they recovered both physically and mentally, some resuming their cultivation, and some abandoning it altogether, choosing to pursue the human path and goals instead.

Yet, as news of their arrival to Fate’s domain spread, the sprout of cheerfulness and carelessness the survivors had barely managed to cultivate, died once again. After all, who among the newly arrived had decided to remain ignorant about the nature of the beings that had forced them into that century-long nightmare? All the information they could possibly want was carefully kept within the Armada’s library, free for anyone to access.

By the time they had arrived at Fate’s domain, most people understood how close to the beast’s bloody fangs they all were.

Naturally, this general uneasiness was not bound to the weakest of the cohort, but was shared by most of the members of Daniel’s current party as well. What worried them, however, wasn’t the fight that awaited them, but what they were currently witnessing.

The inter-dimensional portal of Fate’s universe was not guarded. An oddity when considering that the one-universe domains of the primordial aspects of existence were, usually, the most protected dimensions within the multiverse – Carefully groomed into becoming perfect production machines for their owner’s power of existence, and strictly guarded by the strongest among the strongest of the domain’s champions, who were ready to fight to the death to prevent invaders from breaking the perfect influence of their lords, and infect the delicate ecosystem within with another aspect’s influence. So why wasn’t Fate’s universe protected?

This question had appeared in the minds of Daniel’s party right away, but was soon discarded by a more pressing one – A realization, really. Not only was Fate’s universe unprotected, but the portal was sealed altogether.

While identical to all other portals within the trigate in shape and size, the one they were looking at was darker in color, as if the bluish hue of its liquid surface had been stolen from a deeper part of the ocean, rather than the surface-like aquamarine mirror they were so used to seeing.

At the same time, the runes that covered the stone-like ring that encompassed the dark blue and sluggish deep-sea were almost devoid of light, as if the power they required to turn on had been used to solidify the portal, rather than to maintain whatever form of archaic spatial formation the inter-dimensional portals used.

"How.. How sure are you that this is the right universe?" Roley asked. His doubtful gaze directed at Daniel’s amused expression.

"You tell me. It’s your system who pointed us here." Daniel responded as his lips stretched into a smug grin. As the two talked, Der and Wolfe quietly approached the dark blue mirror, studying it from up close.

Immediately the two realized that the portal had all the characteristics of a closed universe – A universe whose advancement had not yet reached the standard to open to the rest of the multiverse. Such differences presented themselves in the way the dense bluish spatial essence and the ring worked.

As many had observed within the trigate, each portal possessed a finite amount of immense power that allowed it to operate, and the way this power was used was dependent on the stage of the universe it led to. When the universe was open, the power was stored within the massive runes engraved on the stone ring, which in turn would work as a battery. Its charge needed to maintain the connection between the trigate and the universe the portal led to.

That was the general theory.

When the universe was closed, however, the power was redirected to the mirror itself, solidifying it and turning it denser and far more difficult to traverse. Hence why, when Der pressed his armored hand against the gelatinous surface of the portal, his palm was only able to sink a couple of inches before encountering too much resistance for his casual effort to push through.

Ian, who had been floating in the white void under the protection of the paladin’s power, had also approached the portal, taken by curiosity. His arm inched forward, eager to feel the springiness of its form. Yet, his hand sunk deep, encountering no resistance whatsoever. And so did Wolfe’s metallic nose.

"Woah!" Ian barked out while hurriedly retracting his arm. As he noticed that no damage had been done to it, his heartbeat relaxed, and he tried again, pushing his arm in and out of the portal’s surface in an irritating flex. "Look, I can go in no problem!" He yelled.

The boy’s boasting, while mildly annoying, was not enough to be the focus of the party’s attention, which was still centered around Daniel.

"We can’t go in." Der said.

Daniel shrugged, then approached the portal. "We can. Closed portals aren’t sealed, they are seals for outside powers." He explained, remembering the entity whose invasion could be considered the beginning of the end of Daniel’s group. The Blood Lord. The being who, attracted by one of Edmund’s failed experiments regarding his ability to shift between healthy universes without the use of the trigate, had invaded their then closed universe, causing its eventual opening and destruction.

One extremely relevant detail few other than Daniel were aware of in that story, was that in order to enter their universe of origin, the champion of Sacrifice had had to have his cultivation sealed upon entry – Likely the only reason why Daniel had succeeded in killing him.

Yet, despite being aware of the nature of these portals, Daniel did not appear worried. Instead, he appeared pleased. "This is far better than I could have ever hoped." he continued before giving a brief explanation of how closed portals worked to those who weren’t there.

Unconvinced by Daniel’s explanation, Roley turned towards the aspect of existence and asked, "Wait, blood guy aside, you said that the aspects of existence only appeared in our universe once the portal to the trigate opened. You also said that before then, you were able to meet Destiny and Conflict when the universe was still far from being opened, but they weren’t more powerful than your average cultivator. So why is this good news? Doesn’t that mean that your powers will be sealed as well?"

"We’ll see."

A faint wave of heath flushed Roley’s cheek following Daniel’s irritating response. "Care to elaborate?"

"Sure." Daniel nodded, then continued. "Whatever seal an aspect of existence might be put under, we aren’t exactly your average cultivator or aspect of existence."

Roley and the others turned towards him in confusion. What did he mean with we? They wondered.

Noticing Roley’s confusion, Daniel’s pointed his finger in his direction. "Your power comes from the primordial nature of mana, which is quite unique. And I am not an ordinary aspect of existence either. It is possible that our powers will not be recognized and marked for sealing to begin with, since we are both one-of-a-kind existences. And if my power were to get sealed, I would still have plenty stored away to tap into. So, in the worst case scenario, the shroud is there and we can steal it easily."

"What do you mean worst case scenario, isn’t that our objective to begin with? What is the best case scenario then?" Roley asked.

"Best case scenario, Fate will be in there too.. weakened by the seal." Daniel said, oddly giddy about the prospect of a final showdown. "I don’t believe the power he would be able to gather from a closed universe to be a match for the karmic power I have stored within my body. He cannot be my match." With that being said, Daniel did not linger any longer. The time for arguing and discussing strategies was long gone.

With a wisp of his spiritual essence, Daniel floated towards the portal, stopping mere inches away. Then, just like Der had done, he stretched his arm forward, palm facing its blue surface. The first contact presented little to no resistance, which increased exponentially the more he pushed forward.. until, the surface broke under the pressure.

The gelatinous spatial power ripped apart, welcoming the passage of his hand the way wet sand would a man’s foot, softly. But then, Daniel’s eyes shot open. Immediately he retracted his hand, then looked down on it in pure shock.

"Of course it wasn’t going to be that easy." Roley said while inching closer to his shocked companion. "What happened?"

Under the group’s attentive gazes, the shock that had marked Daniel’s face soon turned into an amused smile. When his skin had pushed through the surface of the portal, something he had never even considered, happened.

Just like he had expected, Ki, spiritual essence and mental power were all weakened, limited to the peak of the stage of immortality. Yet, that was not the case for his karmic power, whose presence had provoked a different reaction. His power of existence wasn’t sealed, as much as it was filtered by some archaic law that simply did not allow it to pass, like pebbles through the small holes of a strainer.

Daniel’s body was a human-shaped container of karmic power. His body the material, his mind the coat of paint, and his spirit the decorations engraved on its surface. Together, yet distinctly separated, these three powers contained all the karmic power Daniel had managed to accumulate since his last fight, consisting mostly in the immense amount of negative karma generated by the aspirants of War’s, Sacrifice’s and Horror’s domains he had killed.

The sheer amount of it was immense. Far more plentiful than the influence any average aspect of existence could have accumulated in a single universe. Yet, as this power came in contact with the closed portal, it was simply rejected. Squeezed out of Daniel’s hand and forced into his wrist, then to his forearm as he pushed further. "How odd." He said after a second attempt at breaking into the barrier. This time forcing his arm to sink all the way down to his elbow.

Just like before, any part that broke through the surface was weakened to the lower stages of cultivation, and cleansed of existential power. It didn’t matter whether it was loose karmic power, or whether it was an entity shrunk to the size of an atom currently being forced to experience their personal hell, they were rejected all the same.. as if the portal itself could comprehend potential and intent of those who wished to fool its senses.

After the second failed attempt, Daniel floated away, far enough to have the full view of the immense portal in his sight. Once he did, he observed the archaic object with newfound interest.

He had always thought that the Trigate, as well as all the portals inside it, must have been the work of an aspect whose existence he had yet to uncover – But now, he had discarded that theory altogether. After all, what kind of aspect of existence would be able to affect the power of its peers? Existential powers were meant to work independently, only capable of clashing out of their wielder’s will.

"Who made you?" Daniel muttered to himself, referring to both the portal, and the immense white expanse capable of corroding any loose power of existence into nothingness.

Curious about what could have dragged their companion into such a contemplative state, Roley and the others approached the portal as well, and one by one, made a similar attempt to break through. The reactions were few in variety.

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Der, and the female paladin found, not unlike Daniel, that their innate powers were being suppressed to the peak stage of immortality, thus proving that the immortal stage was the limit of power that was allowed entry. It did not matter that Der’s immortal essence had reached some sort of divine new level capable of matching existential powers. The barrier sealed it as if already aware of its nature.

The same, Aeron assumed, would have applied to both his own mental power and to Roley’s spiritual essence, had they advanced to the respective stages of mental and spiritual cultivation comparable to high immortality. But since they hadn’t, their individual powers were left untouched.

Something odd, however, happened during Roley’s attempt.

As he tried to cross through, whatever mysterious part of mana responsible for turning a perfect essence into a primordial one simply disappeared, breaking down the primordial balance of powers within Roley’s body to simple perfection. Luckily, the change was only temporary, for the seal disappeared the moment the scholar ceased contact with the portal.

Whether that specific seal was meant to stop the balance of primordial powers, or stunt Roley’s potential ascension to becoming an aspect of existence, the scholar did not know. Both theories as shocking as one another.

Did a power unique enough to pass through unaffected exist? How did the portals know exactly how to, and what to seal? Was the power of the portal conscious, or was it being controlled even now, after who knows how many eons following their creation?

The party’s curiosity would have reached a new peak, had its members known that both the Trigate and the portals had existed far before the birth of the first primordial aspects of existence, making them a mystery even to entities like Fate and Conflict, who had lived for many billions of years.