Sovereign of the Karmic System-Chapter 690: The World on the Other Side

Daniel walked through a blur of warm colors, greens on top of a layer of brown with rays of yellow brightness shining through. When his surroundings came to focus, he realized that he wasn’t floating in the open void of sidereal space he was expecting to, but standing in a forest path instead.

He was surrounded by large trees with thick brown trunks, and a full crown of beautiful red and yellow leaves which swayed under the gentle breeze. Uncountable sun rays breached through the cracks, illuminating the path that led uphill, where a stone pyramid-shaped building emerged from the sea of reds, yellows and everything in between.

The heavy heat carried by the breeze indicated that the place they were in was a tropical zone.

"Ever seen something like this?" Roley asked.

The rest of the group examined their surroundings just as mesmerized as the young-looking scholar was. All but Daniel, who was currently staring at the empty space in front of him with wide eyes and a slack jaw. In his dismay he missed the entirety of the conversation that was taking place right by him.

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"The portal I opened was connected to the image you put in my mind. Where did you take us?" Roley asked the mental cultivator in a slightly accusatory tone. In his mind, a mistake had been made, and he sure as eggs wasn’t the one at fault.

Aeron ignored Roley’s tone, and calmly turned towards the shrunken metallic wolf. A quiet exchange happened between the minds of the two, lasting about half a minute, after which the mental cultivator turned to look back at the young scholar as said matter-of-factly, "This is what Wolfe saw on the other side. This is what I saw through his eyes, and this is what I implanted in your mind. There is no mistake."

"I don’t need to remind you that this cannot be possible. A wall I get. Collapsed space, as insane as it is, works theoretically. But how can a simple world occupy the space of a universe?" Roley retorted. "I can’t feel the presence of a portal beyond this atmosphere, and where the hell has the wall we’ve just crossed through gone?"

"What is wrong with you?" Der asked while gently placing a hand on top of the scholar’s shoulder. "Calm down." He added. The warrior’s fierce gaze and threatening tone caught the scholar by surprise. He turned to look at his companions, and found them staring at him with a degree of worry. One he soon started to share.

This is far from the oddest thing he had ever seen in his life, so why was he so angry all of a sudden? He took a deep calming breath, then immediately realized what had caused him to lash out. It wasn’t the possibility of danger, nor was it the threat to his friends’ lives. It was the seed of the aspect’s personality. He was far closer to the nature of an aspect of existence than he had thought. Close enough to share their ego – One of such proportion that the failure of a servant or the humiliation of falling into another entity’s trap sent his spirit into a bubbling fit of rage.

After a few more deep breaths, Roley was back to his usual calm state. The change he had felt in his spirit worried him, but seeing how easy it had been for one of his friends to bring his nature back to normal, he felt reassured. He wondered, though, whether the same was the case for Daniel, who had long crossed a line he was still on the fence on whether to cross himself.

As Roley’s gaze shifted towards his old friend, so did the rest, finding Daniel standing in place, silent.

Immediately Aeron, Der, Roley and Wolfe noticed that something was wrong, but before any of them could say or do anything, Daniel’s mental power rushed forward in every direction.

The wave of transparent dark green power pushed ahead, rushing through dirt, trees and the skies with immense speed, and soon enough, Daniel’s consciousness encompassed the entirety of the planet. In its gargantuan area, he felt the presence of uncountable small presences rushing back and forth on their two little legs. Laughing and crying, yelling and whispering, loving, and killing.

Humans were present in this world. A particular kind he had failed to recognize, but humans nonetheless. So why? Why could he not feel the slightest presence of karmic power? He could see them perform acts of positive and negative nature, so why did his existential power not form in response? His instincts told him that this must be an illusion, and that what he was seeing was a particularly detailed movie. Yet, his consciousness and spirit told him that if this really was an illusion, he was far from powerful enough to break out of it.

"Are you oka-" Roley asked, but before he could finish speaking, his voice was interrupted by the sound of laughter.

The party members immediately turned towards the source of the sound, and soon found themselves facing the bottom of the path, where they noticed the presence of two kids. A little boy and a girl with bronze skin and clothes made of reeds and leaves. On their uncovered shoulders and legs the group could see the presence of tribal tattoos, made to stop right above the ornaments of sea shells wrapped around the boy’s skinny bicep and the girl’s ankles.

"Sisò, nadapanari ora’ha!" The little girl yelled, running up the path ahead of who could only be assumed to be her twin brother.

The boy, annoyed by his sister’s exuberant attitude, mumbled in annoyance, "Rakari itsa, horona uri bi." He was carrying a bag on each shoulder. One made of scratched leather, and one made of leaves ornate with conchs and small bottles containing multicolored pieces of glass. The heavy steps and low gaze indicated that the two bags were of significant weight. At least for someone his size.

The two siblings kept heading up the path, and soon enough, they came upon the lost party.

Yet, while the group expected the two to react the way humans would to the presence of a group of strangers, whether that may be screaming, running, or reaching for weapons, none of that happened. The two headed towards Daniel and the others as if they were never there to begin with, not even bothering with adjusting direction when one of them was in their way.

Wizened by thousands of years of experience, the group did not dare stop the two kids. But then, as they passed by him, Ian reached for the boy’s shoulder. "Hey kid." He said with the most charming smile he could muster. Thinking that touching a kid out of the blue might startle them, he reached for the strap of the boy’s bag, hoping a couple of gentle taps would catch his attention.

As his fingertips made contact, however, the two kids simply disappeared.

Daniel felt a shiver run down his back as a bolt of pure white power descended from the clear skies and struck the teenager, killing him on the spot.

Immediately Aeron’s consciousness wrapped around Ian’s charred corpse, preserving what bit of consciousness was already reaching for the underworld. At the same time, Daniel’s spiritual power enveloped the corpse in a milky white power, a mixture of life and healing essence.

The pull of the underworld made keeping Ian’s consciousness in place an extremely arduous task for Aeron’s power, but he had no choice. After all, the mind was the spirit’s anchor as much as the body was the mind’s anchor. If either of the three were to suddenly go missing, the other two would reach for their resting places – Be that the spiritual plains, the underworld, or the patch of ground the body would rot on.

Luckily, Daniel’s intervention was as quick as Aeron’s, and in about a minute, Daniel was able to restore the young man’s body. Once that was done, Aeron eased the mind back into Ian’s brain, allowing for his spirit to once again achieve balance. Whole again, Ian sprung up on his feet, shaken awake by the horrifying memories of the near death experience. He gasped for air for what felt like an interminable minute, then asked, "What the hell happened to me?"

Daniel did not bother with Ian’s question. He instead turned towards Der and said, "Put him in the ring. This place is too dangerous for him."

The old warrior did not argue. He injected a small amount of immortal essence into the ring, but after fiddling with it for a few moments, he shook his head in disappointment. "I can’t. The seal I replaced Sacrifice’s existential power with is too powerful. Opening it with my current strength would be like attempting to open a lock with a key that is the right shape, but a thousandth of the size."

"Forget about that!" Ian yelled, upset about being ignored. "Can anyone tell me what just smited me!?"

The members of the party look at one another in astonishment. Their guesses were as good as anybody else’s, yet before any of them could voice one, the sound of laughter reached their ears. They all immediately turned towards the bottom of the path, and there, they saw them again. A pair of kids with bronze skin, one running, the other carrying bags. Their actions, expressions, feelings and movements identical to the last time they had seen them.

A sudden realization dawned on Daniel. His lips curved into a smile, then, as the kids approached them, he turned towards Aeron and Der and said apologetically, "Sorry, I have to try this myself." His hand snapped forward, and wrapped around the boy’s arm.

The nature of the strike that followed was far beyond what Daniel had expected. It wasn’t an attack, nor did it have the intent of one. It was annihilation, or erasure. He felt it across his body, spreading through his veins and bones in an attempt to eradicate any presence of life present.. only stopping upon encountering something not even Daniel was aware he had. A small seed of golden power hidden in the depths of his body. The seed of Karma.

By the time his body recovered and his mind cleared, the two kids were making their way up the path again while the rest of the party stood at the edges of the path, steering clear of them. Aeron was panting, brows and forehead covered in sweat. It was clear that keeping Daniel’s consciousness from reaching the underworld had been far harder than protecting his descendant’s.

"So? What enlightenment did that genius move grant you?" Roley asked.

"This is one of Fate’s powers." Daniel said. "Just like I have a plane in which I can force conscious beings to bear the weight of their Karma, Fate must have one to trap people as well. Something on the lines of War’s endless battlefield."

Der grunted faintly in response.

"That seems plausible." Roley pondered for a second, then added, "The bolt was not made of any form of natural mana. Do you think that’s the existential power of fate?"

Daniel nodded. "I do. I wasn’t sure at first, but when I got struck, the annihilation stopped upon encountering an element of my nature as an aspect of existence. Which means that it probably is not an intentional strike, but a passive defensive mechanism made to smite any creature that attempts to interfere with the events we are witnessing."

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Roley asked with a trembling voice. Whether that was due to fear or excitement, no one but him could tell.

The smile on Daniel’s lips deepened. "We are witnessing a fated event.. possibly in a loop of time."

"So, this was a trap after all.." said Aeron’s disembodied voice. "Any idea of how to get out of it?"

Daniel observed his surroundings for a bit, then his gaze halted the moment it met with the shrinking figures of the two kids who, uninterrupted, had now run halfway across the segment of the path that separated their position from the stone temple. "I suppose we observe the event." He said before heading up the path.

As the others started to follow, he then added, "And try not to touch anything."