Sovereign of the Karmic System

Chapter 672 Hasty Escape

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"The Endless Battlefield is collapsing! Prepare yourselves to get thrown out!" Instinct warned just before the space around him started to collapse.

The muddy terrain cracked violently, causing the pool of blood that covered it to be sent in the air in tiny spear-shaped droplets. In the air bolts of quiet lightning breached through the essence of space, striking randomly before disappearing, leaving behind rifts that leaked the absolute nothingness of the void. High above, the sky, dark and red like the sunset after a bloody battle was now falling, locking the aspects of existence and cultivators present in place with an infinite pressure.

Only able to move his eyes, Daniel turned to his right, where Der, now emptied of the odd power he had unleashed, was currently lying unconscious on a floating patch of blood-soaked dirt. His hands and feet trembled as he willed himself to move and reach for the unconscious man, but it was all for nothing. The power of the collapsing dimension was unlike anything Daniel had experienced before, far heavier than the pressure he had felt from the primordial aspects he had encountered, and far more destructive than the collapse of the common universes.

From the corner of his eyes Daniel could see Order's figure, now intent on doing the same thing he had tried to, albeit for different reasons. While Daniel wanted to pull Der out of danger, the large man in platinum armor wanted to destroy him, along with any bit of chaotic energy his unnatural power had created. After several failed attempts, the two noticed one another. Their eyes narrowed and their lips trembled in a failed attempt to say something, but before any semblance of sound could come out, their attention was drawn elsewhere. 

Their eyes became blurry as the area that surrounded each individual shattered, revealing large colorful pathways that extended thousands of miles before curving out of sight. In the middle of these pathways was a rope formed out of their individual powers, which extended past the pathway's curvature and dove straight into their bodies, connecting to a pinprick of what each individual would consider the core of their existence. 

Before they could react the rope tugged heavily, pulling them into the pathway and through an uncomfortable journey across light years of dashing colors and blinding lights. An indescribable sense of nausea gripped at Daniel's throat as his body was dragged one turn after another for what he knew was only moments, but felt years. After which, he once again felt himself floating in the familiar emptiness of space.

He steadied himself, recovering from the nauseating feeling with a quick shake of his head, and giving a few moments to his eyes to focus on his dull and empty surroundings. Then, he saw them. Roley and Der were floating right where they had been before being thrown into the Endless Battlefield, either unconscious or letting out short-lived panicked yelps and blobs of dense vomit.

Not too far from them were the figures of the other aspects of existence, now back in their regular attires and weakened powers. What separated their kind from their three opponents, however, was the fact that most of them had not regained their composure right away, like he and Roley were close to doing, and Daniel could quickly guess why. 

The mortal husk they would usually defend with their infinite powers of existence, had been thrown into a pathway of unknown origin. Light years of travel between a place that belonged to the multiverse, and one that didn't. It was no surprise to Daniel that their minds and bodies, mortal and weak in nature, would not be able to resist such treatment.

Yet, in their confusion, the aspects did not remain still. In mere seconds after their appearance, their colorful power of existence focused around them, creating cocoons and barriers formed by every bit of power their influence within this universe allowed them to wield. Or at least, that was the case for most of them.

Sentience and Instinct had managed to regain their composure as quickly as Daniel had. The former thanks to his powers over the mind, which had allowed him to recover from any form of mental damage at will, while the latter had avoided the damage altogether by closing his eyes and curling up into a ball as he was pulled into the pathway. An instinctive reaction that, though simple and somewhat childish, had spared him the pain his other companions were experiencing.

Noticing the sorry state of the surrounding aspects of existence, the first thought that came to Daniel's mind was to go on a rampage, but he hesitated. His previous bout with the aspects of Instinct, Sentience and Order had taken the majority of the power he had accumulated, leaving him with little more than ten percent left. Far more than enough to annihilate the weakest half of the tribunal while in their incapacitated state, but not enough to face them all once they recovered. His only true option, at the moment, was to regroup and escape.

As Daniel started to consider ways to retreat, however, a new consciousness spread across the universe. Powerful and infinite, this consciousness washed over his mind, and weighed over his shoulders like the grim gaze of an adult over their children, threatening severe consequences and punishments for their actions. This consciousness caught the attention of the four aspects of the highest tier, who immediately turned towards it with eyes wide with surprise. 

Through the pained and confused frowns one could see a semblance of reassurance on Order's eyes, brought upon by the very appearance of this consciousness. A reassurance he shared with Sentience, who immediately regained the composed and dignified demeanor he had long since abandoned. The consciousness, however, failed to catch the attention of Instinct, for his mind was busy with other thoughts. And so was Daniel's.

The two lost interest in the origin of the consciousness moments after its appearance, and had turned to look back at one another with narrowed eyes. Moments later, their gazes shifted once again to the side, where the two figures of Der and Roley were lingering either unconscious or struggling to fight the dizziness.

Instinct's healthy complexion turned a mixture of red and black as his hands grew twice their original size. The fingers of each hand stretched several inches, ending in long and sharp nails that could cut through the very essence of space, bringing it closer to its inevitable collapse. His hair had now broken their binding, and were now floating freely in the air like a crown of bloody flames. Then, he disappeared.

Daniel's pupils narrowed. A spear of karmic power appeared in his right hand, which he then shot towards his two incapacitated companions, hoping to prevent the unpredictable aspect of Instinct from approaching them. Following the throw his body tensed, and he prepared for a dash, but then, he felt a pain spread from his side. A large gash had appeared between his ribs. He turned to the side to find the aspect of Order, bearing his greatsword with renewed dignity and indifferent pride.

When Instinct reappeared he was standing a few feet from Der's unconscious body. Daniel's attack had pierced the space in front of him, where he would have stood had his instincts not commanded that he stopped just inches from his predicted position. His talon-like hand rose to his shoulder, preparing to strike down at the unconscious man as he snapped his head back, avoiding a second spear of gold.

A powerful clank created a shock wave as another attack from Order clashed against Daniel's spear, whom he had used to parry before throwing it at Instinct. While he was engaging the former in battle, however, his eyes never moved from the latter, who was ready to strike his companions dead.

Any attempt Daniel had made to leave Order behind and defend his companions had resulted in an additional injury, until finally, he had an idea.

The sparks of golden power that had surrounded him in an attempt to hinder Order's attacks headed back towards him, retreating back into his skin. Instead of disappearing, however, these lights lingered on Daniel's skin, granting it a hue of gold. Seeing the golden power Daniel had wielded against him retreat back into his body, Order saw an opportunity. He clasped his greatsword with one hand, and in it, he injected the full extent of his power, then struck.

"NO!" The naked man shouted at him from afar, but it was too late.

As the large glowing blade struck, Daniel's body exploded in a wave of golden power, sent like a wave towards Instinct at inhuman speed. This wave, however, did not remain whole for long, and instead condensed into countless spears launched through space in the form of a mesmerizing meteor shower. "It doesn't matter if he can predict every one of my attacks," Daniel thought, "his instincts can't help him dodge a large area attack."

Sure enough, Instinct was forced to retreat, just in time for his body to avoid the shower of uncountable golden spears before they could impale every inch of his body, and unfortunately, just before he could kill at least one of Daniel's odd companions. But that was not a problem anymore, for his instinct told him that Daniel had now unleashed most of his power, and would be unable to throw a similar attack.

The shower passed, and he prepared to strike at Der's unconscious body, but then, his cat-like eyes landed on empty space. He turned to look back at the countless spears that just passed him by, and that were now moving away from him and towards Roley, and saw Daniel's figure hidden within the spears, holding Der by the waist with one of his hands while the other was stretched towards his other companion, whom he caught soon after.

The moment Daniel caught Roley, he and Der were shrouded in golden light, then shrunk to the size of atoms before being absorbed into his body. But he did not stop there. The wave of golden spears continued, heading towards a human-sized blob of blood-red power that, for the last few seconds, had been lingering undisturbed in space.

In mere moments the spears struck, piercing through the red bubble and the person hidden inside it. "ARGH!" Came the pained cry of Sacrifice who lost control of his power.

He opened his eyes, still clouded by the pathway's blinding colors, and found himself within a sea of gold, spears of karmic power carved into space all around him as he moved alongside them. Sharp pain came from all over his body, where dozens of small wounds had appeared. He willed control over his power he had lost control of, but as he tried to, he felt it distant, moving further away every passing moment.

His mind reached for further power, plentiful in his core universe, but soon realized that no power he summoned could breach the golden essence that surrounded him.

Now panicked, he looked past the many spears, searching for the help of stronger creatures, but as he tried to speak, he only felt pain. The collar of the loose and comfortable robe he was wearing had now tightened around his throat, and it was being used to drag him across space by his nemesis.

With fear creeping under his skin, Sacrifice willed the bit of power within his body to help him escape Daniel's grasp, only to realize that any form of construct he created was destroyed by the surrounding spears right after, and so would be his fate were he to free himself. True fear, however, started to set in when he saw a hue of blue light shine onto his clothes. His jaw fell as his eyes, which he turned at the cost of a few layers of his neck's skin, landed on the fast approaching interdimensional portal.

Daniel made his escape hidden within his wave of power, but just as he came to a few feet of distance from the large dome of stable space that surrounded every portal, everything stopped. The infinitely powerful consciousness had tightened around his body, locking him and every bit of his power in place.