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626 Consequences of Change

“This is not much to go by..” Roley voiced his opinion with a dispirited tone, following Life’s departure.

He had already tried to create a new mission through the use of his system, but any attempts to trigger a response from it had gone unanswered. This told him that Life was not the only aspect of existence the group would encounter in their goal to reunite with their friends and family.

Der was sharing his old friend’s state of mind, but he did not appear as distraught as Roley was. Instead, he was more interested in Daniel, who was standing indifferently, as if the future of the people they were trying to find was of no concern to him. “Where do we start?” He asked him.

“Where ‘can’ we start, did you mean?” Roley corrected him.

Daniel shrugged his shoulders. “We will start by looking for my planet. As I recall it, it possessed a perfect habitat. I find it unlikely that the domain of sacrifice would just let it drift away.” He said right before his innate spiritual essence took control over the surrounding space. A moment later, he took off to the sky, disappearing from the sight of the others.

Once the two were left alone, Der turned to look at Roley, who was about to follow Daniel, and asked, “Have you noticed his behavior?”

Roley stopped, and after hearing his words, showed a hint of relief. Ever their reunion, Roley had thought he was the only one to have noticed that something was wrong with Daniel. After all, mental cultivation was not his speciality, meaning that his memories of the man were hazier than he would have wanted.

Der’s question, however, had confirmed to him that Daniel was indeed acting strangely. “I have. His expression.. His reactions. They are quite, unnerving.” Roley responded, reminiscing of all the times he had expected Daniel to get angry, or laugh with them, but never had.

“What do you think happened to him during all these years?” Der asked with a grave tone. He was aware that Daniel had changed completely as a living being, and that he was now an aspect of existence. Yet, he still hoped that the boy he had met in the past was not lost, and that, in the worst case scenario, he could be recovered.

Roley did not respond. He too shared Der’s hopes, but he too was now a champion of Destiny. He could tell by spending time with the Elementalist that these inhuman consciousnesses did not possess the same traits as mortals, and he feared that, by becoming one of them, Daniel had been forced to pay an enormous price. A price his friends and family would have never allowed him to pay, even if in exchange for their safety.

Unfortunately for Der and Roley, there was nothing they could do now, and they knew it. They had a more pressing issue, and that was the recovery of their people. A goal they meant to accomplish no matter which state Daniel’s mind was in. “A problem for another day..” Roley muttered pensively before rising to the sky, and going after the aspect of Karma. Der followed right after.

—–

After their encounter with the aspect of Life, Daniel, Der and Roley had been left with only one trail to follow. One that did not give them much hope, but that was still better than nothing. And that trail led to the universe Life had lost to the domain of Sacrifice centuries ago. A universe which used to be full of life, but that now, had lost its color.

Since their goal was to investigate their companions’ disappearance, Der and Roley left the Immortal Armada and the Elemental Army within the universe Life was inhabiting. That way, they would not only be able to infiltrate the universe without attracting unwanted attention, but would also keep the two armies safe.

After all, the domain of Life was unlike the untouched universe they had recently abandoned, for its biggest threat wasn’t the full extent of a malicious domain’s armies, but only a few champions of sacrifice, who would invade Life’s universes to take special offerings for their Lord, or to instigate the one aspect of existence they knew would not smite them out of existence.

And in case a bigger threat arrived, the Immortal Armada was still in possession of their formation’s schematics, as well as the majority of the spatial treasures needed to operate them.. So they were quickly able to settle down in one of the planets closest to the interdimensional portal, establishing outposts and blockades within the Trigate.

Knowing that their people were finally safe, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of Der and Roley’s shoulders, allowing them to focus on the task at hand without worries.

After a bit of traveling through the Trigate, the three came upon a particular portal. One guarded by thousands of red-robed figures, who welcomed ten times their numbers stepping in and out of the portal. Alongside outgoing traffic, the cultivators carried enormous cages as big as large cities, each filled to the brim with humans, beasts, elementals, and other sentient beings.

These cages came out one after the other, and left in the direction of another interdimensional portal in a single line, indicating that the destination of all the convoys was the same portal.

“What are those??” Roley asked as a shiver ran down his spine. The desire to free the captives had almost forced him to step in, but he was quickly stopped by Der, who pulled him back in line.

“Those are offerings.” Daniel said as an odd smile crept onto his lips. The sight of those creatures’ mistreatment did not amuse him, of course, but realizing what made Sacrifice such a scary aspect of existence did. “So this is why..” He then muttered to himself.

“This is why what?” Der asked, confused by Daniel’s strange utterings.

Daniel did not turn around, and instead, pointed his finger in the patch of space in front of him. As his finger reached the height of his shoulders, a small golden light appeared, sealing itself in place. “This is the limit of power an absolute aspect of existence can tap into from a universe.” He explained before lowering his finger down to his belly, “..and this is the limit of an aspect like Sacrifice.”

Still pointing at the lower light, he continued, “This is the most he can obtain from a single universe, because his nature is limited to the presence of life. However, what if he forces an increase in influence?” While asking the question, Daniel raised his finger, stopping short of the higher spark of golden light by only a couple inches.

“Hold you. You are telling us that they are taking all these people to Sacrifice’s main universe to-” Roley asked.

“To sacrifice them, if need arises.” Daniel could not help but admire the aspect of Sacrifice. He had achieved something that not many within the pantheon of aspects of existence could have. He had concocted a method to increase his power beyond the limitations a single universe could provide to him.

Many others had tried to do the same, but only the nature of sacrifice was able to make it possible. After all, while Sacrifice wasn’t an omnipresent power, and its production was limited to the collective sacrifice of every living being within the multiverse, who was to say that he could not bring more people in? It was not much different than keeping batteries, so that if a black out happened, he would have extra energy at his disposal.

With this method, Daniel reckoned, Sacrifice could have achieved a higher personal power than Horror would have, and that was astonishing, considering Sacrifice was but a subject of Horror.

The only two others aspects of existence that could have used this method to increase their influence, were the aspect of Life and Death, who could have achieved the same result by bringing more people into their universe, and either force them to reproduce, and increase the influence of life, or kill them, increasing the influence of death.

Luckily, the natures of Life and Death were peaceful ones, and neither would ever meddle with the duality of life and death. They respected each other’s element, for there would be no death without life, and no life without death.

“That is monstrous!” Der barked out angrily. “Do you think Mea and the others are being trapped in the domain’s main universe as well? To be used as reserves of power for the aspect of Sacrifice?”

“That is my guess.” Daniel responded before turning towards the nearby interdimensional portal. As he started heading towards it, Der and Roley stopped him.

“Where are you going? If they are being held captive, shouldn’t we be heading to the domain’s main universe?” Der asked with suspicion. He had no other goal but to rescue his daughter, and was against anything that could stop him or delay him from doing so.

Roley was of the same mind, but remained quiet. While he was behaving oddly, Daniel had still saved them, put an end to their people’s irreconcilable conflict, and rescued the champions of Life. He still trusted his judgment, despite finding it quite foreign.

Daniel suddenly stopped, turned towards Der, and said with sheer indifference. “If my guess is correct, and they are indeed being kept captive, that means that they will be safe as long as nothing threatens Sacrifice’s hegemony. Something like a sudden invasion from the aspect of Karma, a champion of Destiny, and an emotional warrior.”

His words seemed to infuriate the middle aged man, who suddenly grabbed by his arm, and spoke into his ears, “We will go save our friends immediately, and you will come with us.”

An odd form of power seeped into Daniel’s ears, and shrouded his mind. For a few moments he stared at the portal with a blank face, seemingly unable to control his body, but then, a golden light emerged from the depths of his being, turning him into a human-shaped star.

Daniel’s arm flashed out of existence, and when it reappeared, it connected him to Der’s figure. The hand was tightly wrapped on the man’s chestplate, preventing him from moving away. “Your little trick doesn’t work with me, so stop trying. I just need you to follow along, quietly.”

Roley suddenly appeared next to the two. His hand was laying on top of Daniel’s arm. His face was marked by an aggressive seriousness. “What has gotten into you?” He asked Daniel.

“Can’t you tell? He is out of his mind!” Der growled while grabbing Daniel’s wrist, and freeing himself from its grip. He then added with sheer anger, “You two do what you want. I will go save them myself.” As he finished speaking, Der turned towards the direction the convoys led by the champions of Sacrifice were headed.

Before he could join them, however, a faint light of pure gold emerged from his body. His surroundings slowly started to enlarge by many times, turning the already immense scenery into one unspeakably larger. What he did not know, however, was that his surroundings were the same as they had always been.. It was his body that was shrinking.

The moment his size became comparable to that of an atom, he was pulled backwards, and into Daniel’s body, where his karmic prison was waiting for him.

Daniel had finally grown tired of Der’s constant opposition. He had his own plans, and his own priorities.. But he lacked patience for disobedience. The only reason he was bothering with this task was to keep a promise he had made with himself, after all, and that promise did not include following a distraught man’s suicide mission. Luckily Der possessed a positive karmic debt, so his imprisonment would feel more like a relaxing vacation, rather than the worst circle of hell.

With a now much less friendly demeanor, Daniel turned towards Roley, whose appearance was stricken by sheer horror, and said, “You will come with me, willingly or not. Understand?”