Sovereign of the Karmic System

Chapter 640 The One Above All

"We will take our leave as well, Lady Death." Said the aspect of Labor who soon disappeared in a flash of bright light. He was the first to have caught on to Karma and Lady Death having some important matters to discuss, a conclusion the others reached soon after in gradual order, prompting them to follow suit and leave after exchanging a few words of courtesy.

Within a minute from Sacrifice's departure, Daniel and the aspect of Death had been left alone to stand on the drifting asteroid, which continued in its path undisturbed, albeit in a much less lively way.

"Is what he said true?" Death's dark voice resounded within Daniel's mind, bouncing around like a never ending echo. None of the courtesy or favor she had shown him remained, and were instead replaced by a seriousness that made his skin crawl. In Daniel's mind, ending this meetup between aspects of existence in a deadly clash with Death herself had become a very real possibility.

While both Daniel and Sacrifice had brought forth an identical degree of accusations, in Death's eyes, the connotations behind each person's misdeeds was quite different. In Sacrifice's case, he had meddled with the lives of humans. An act that while previously prohibited by Fate, was now only considered a behavior to be frowned upon. His relationship with a champion of Destiny, however, was a different story.

Destiny was the antithesis of Fate, and Sacrifice's use of one of the former's champions was akin to an employer buying the products of a competing company. Which employer would not fire such a disloyal employee? She would have.

Thankfully, while Sacrifice's relationship with a champion of Destiny was bound to cost him, that too was not too outrageous of a transgression. After all, that wouldn't have been the first time an aspect of existence would allow the use of a champion of Destiny, and fate was not an exception. Many throughout the years had been kept for study, experimenting, and forced labor.

Nevertheless, in her eyes what Daniel had done was different. Not different in which transgressions he had been guilty of, but in the purpose of such transgression.

Regardless of what Sacrifice did with the champion he had employed, Death could tell that the outcome would be wholly beneficial to him and him alone, and that once the champion's use came to an end, he would be disposed of by Sacrifice himself. However, that could not be said for Daniel. After all, Karma was once a champion of Destiny himself, one that knew the path to becoming an aspect of existence.

If he so wished, with his knowledge, Daniel could collect the wielders and Destiny's gifts, and create an army of his peers.. And while Death was not too fond of her kin, she would not want to see the multiverse be swallowed in the flames of a war of survival between the old aspects of existence, and the new ones.

For this reason, she had decided to interrogate Daniel, and depending on what he had planned, put it to an end right here and then.

Despite the palpable yet controlled sense of hostility, Daniel chose not to lie. "Partially. One of the mortals he.. I was associated with, became the target of one of Destiny's champions. He was lucky enough to survive the encounter, obtaining the champion's gift in the process. I have been using him as a compass of sorts.. Occasionally helping him deal with problems beyond his reach."

Daniel's explanation seemed to surprise the aspect of Death, and cause her hostility to slightly diminish. What his words had implied was that it was possible for mortals to gain control over one of Destiny's gifts, taking the spiteful nature of Destiny's champions out of the equation.

It was this implication that awakened a memory in her. The memory of when she had first met Daniel, all those years back. A young man who did not possess the characteristic nature of a champion of Destiny despite wielding one of his gifts. He was loyal, and cared for his friends and loved ones to a point where he would march into the depths of Death's domain to recover a single measly consciousness which, for him, was worth everything.

He too, she realized, must have taken over what would become the power of Karma from its original wielder.. And that begged the question. "You are trying to help him ascend? To make another one, just like you?" She asked.

Daniel's lips parted, showing a row of pearly white teeth. "Why not?" He inquired while raising his arms in a dramatic manner. "Your kind made it abundantly clear that you do not consider me one of you, so why not create my own side?"

"Are you insane?!" Death blurted out as the power of death compressed the essence of Karma further into Daniel's body, advancing further into binding his arms to his sides and his legs shut. On her usually kind visage was now pure anger. An anger that, however, lacked hostility, and was more in line to disappointment and outrage. "Do not make the mistake of thinking that you have seen the worse our kind can do."

"We have observed and ignored you, but let you live. Cease your foolish endeavor or you'll truly know what it means to be stuck between a rock and a hard place!"

Daniel squirmed around to no avail. His physical power was in no way strong enough to free him from the cold and indifferent essence of death, and the power of karma he had had the time to gather was insufficient. His eyes, the only part allowed to still move, started at the old lady as she handled his body like a doll.. Sleep paralysis was the event closest to what he was currently feeling, yet, he was still calm.

In the woman's eyes Daniel could still see no true hostility, only a semblance of it. She was trying to help him, hinting that becoming a welcome part of their kind would not happen forcefully.. It would take time.

While that was the message, however, the hint of sadness that had permanently marked her facial features had been a constant reminder to those who looked at her that that was as foolish a thought as what Daniel had been planning. Billions were the years she had spent trying to fit in the pantheon of aspects of existence, and yet, she had always been an outcast. The one representation of existential power which could never affect  the other aspects of existence, as death, to them, was a ridiculous and foreign concept.

Yet, despite her past, Death still hoped that Daniel would come around.. But the longer her clear gray eyes stared into his, the more she realized that that would never happen. In just a few moments, the deathly essence she commanded let go of Daniel's body, dissipating within the darkness of space.

As the bottom of his feet landed back onto the asteroid's rocky surface, Daniel approached the old woman. "I know that it is a foolish endeavor. Your power alone is proof of it." he claimed before turning to the side, and taking a step forward. His hand slowly rose to his face, allowing his fingers to pinch his chin pensively as he started to walk laps around the old lady.

"I never intended to create a faction that could oppose the more.. Regular aspects of existence." His words lingered in the air, dissipating one after the other moments after being spoken.. Yet being spoken louder as Daniel's body stepped outside of Death's field of view.

The old lady ignored Daniel's theatrics until suddenly, a small portal opened in front of her eyes. Through this portal was endless darkness, yet also blazes of fire, pierce winds, rolling thunder, and blinding lights, each mixing together and crashing onto what felt like ants to a multitude of natural cataclysms.

At the center of this terrifying spectacle, a small human. A young man with seven spheres of primordial power embedded within his back, and eyes of pure light and darkness. In his hand, he wielded a fist-sized transparent bead, source of the purest and most ancient concepts of spatial essence.

The presence of the young man horrified the aspect of Death, who saw his actions create deathly essence at a rate which very few members of his kind in history could have matched. He was just human, and yet he felt like a member of her kind, leaving her to wonder.. If this creature ascended, what heights would his powers reach?

To her, his nature seemed to reach much further than the simple actions of mortals. Further than their existence, and beyond the concepts formed by the laws of the universe. His nature was deeper than death, karma, and even primordial aspects of existence, as it encompassed everything. Everything was born from it, including the chance for Fate to exist.

Her mind began spinning, and for the first time in her long life she became nauseous. She had seen the principle of a new height, which chimed in her head like an obsessive thought.

'Who was that?' she asked herself over and over again, until finally, a crisp voice rang into her left ear. Her head snapped to the side to find Daniel's face, leaning onto her shoulder with eyes pointed at the figure shown within the port, and lips curved into a sinister smile. "But the power I plan to nurture is far beyond anything your puny kind can ever hope to compete with. The one above all."