“Let’s have a look inside, shall we?” Daniel said while fiddling with the ring.

Roley turned to face Der, hoping to see his eyes glow with the same or an even grander form of excitement he himself was feeling, only to find out that his old friend was currently staring intently at their third companion. A threatening gaze that caused his eyes to narrow in confusion and his mouth to open slightly. He wished to say something, but before he could, Der’s deep and powerful voice echoed in his ears. “You go ahead. I have something I wish to talk to him about-In private.” He said.

Beyond confused, Roley turned to look at Daniel who, for just a moment, appeared somewhat surprised by Der’s request. Yet, as Daniel’s figure quickly relaxed, showing that he was unbothered by the prospect of a private conversation with the middle-aged warrior, Roley agreed to leave the two alone. Instead, he turned his attention towards the ring and, a moment later, his body disappeared-swallowed by an invisible force.

“Curious.” Daniel said while looking at the ring with newfound interest. “I didn’t even need to draw him in, his intention to enter was enough for him to be dragged into the shrunken space. What a strange-“

Daniel’s words were soon cut short. Not by words, but by the sudden hostility he felt coming from the remaining companion. The warrior in simple clothes who had been staring at him for the past several minutes. Glaring, would have been a more appropriate word. “What is it?” He casually asked.

“I know what happened to you.” Der said.

“Okay, a bit more specific?” Daniel asked. “You could be referring to several things.”

The hostility in Der’s expression gained several layers of depth, as his body straightened in place. “I know what you had to pay, in exchange for the power you are carrying.” Der repeated, this time offering more information.

A faint smile formed on Daniel’s lips, as his attention shifted completely from the small ring to Der’s figure. “Oh, that.” He said. “Of course you know. The existential power of war must have demanded that you too forsake your mortal connections, in exchange for obtaining its power. It was truly a shame that you chose to refuse. You would have been a far more worthy aspect of war than your puny predecessor.”

“I would have never forsaken my humanity, and so wouldn’t have the Daniel I knew.” Der said as his stern eyes turned inquisitive. “Why did you do it? Did I judge your character wrongly all this time? Did I underestimate your desire for power?”

The grin stayed on Daniel’s lips, but his eyes narrowed. “If you must know, the one you are referring to did not have much of a choice. It was either to evolve and embrace his destiny, or die.” Listening to these words seemed to soften Der’s cold demeanor. A reaction Daniel did not care to provoke, but he expected nonetheless. “But of course, he did not agree without asking for something.”

“What could a dead man need?” Der asked.

Daniel did not respond. His grin widened as his fingers reached for the ring, which he then pinched in between his fingers. After a brief shake, his voice once again came out, calmly. “This is as much time as I will allow you to interrogate me, mortal. Don’t you have more pressing matters to attend to?” 

Despite Daniel’s words, Der did not move. His hands tightened into fists as his body seemed ready to pounce. His eyes glared at him with the definition of sternness as his lips moved once again. “We lost more than you would imagine, out of that deal the two of you made-but what is done is done. Nevertheless, I won’t allow you to drag him down with you.” As he spoke the last sentence, Der’s eyes shifted briefly towards the ring Roley had just teleported into.

“Oh.” Daniel said with an amused tone. “And how were you planning on stopping me?”

Suddenly, an immense light emerged from Der’s body. Not in bright rays, like most lights would, but in the shape of a fluid power, very similar in shape and nature to immortal essence, but far more powerful than any Daniel had seen before. A power whose reach went further than that of low-tier aspects of existence, and was comparable to the existential powers of the middle-tier.

What surprised Daniel about this power was the fact that in it he could feel no form of existential concept, but the mark of Der’s power instead. A detail that confirmed to him that  this power was in fact Der’s own, and not a modified version of that which War wielded. 

As he stared at this powerful essence, an idea suddenly formed in Daniel’s mind. A ridiculous idea that left him dumbfounded as well as offended, for it challenged the very nature of the multiverse even more drastically than his own existence had. Yet, the more he looked at it, the more he realized that it was true. Der had, somehow, ascended past the godhood stage. The highest known stage of cultivation many had called the infinite, or endless stage, for it allowed one to refine their immortal essence indefinitely without offering any path for further ascension. Until now.

“I will find a way.” Der said as the power that surrounded him began to squirm around effortlessly in the surrounding white space. Completely unaffected by its corrosive properties the same way as common immortal essence could.

Despite the initial shock Daniel was quickly able to regain his composure. He had already made his speculation after seeing Der use this power against the now dead reincarnation of War, but he had discarded the possibility of an ascension the moment he had felt the power disappear from the warrior’s unconscious body. A temporary boost in power caused by the affinity of the Endless Battlefield with the innate gift of the Warlord he had gained during his ascension to the high immortality stage. That was what he had believed it to be, before seeing it reappear now, more stable than before and just as powerful.

Nevertheless, regardless of what the nature of this power was, it did not scare Daniel, for he could tell that it was far from enough to compete with the power of Karma.

“Mortal.” He said as the grin disappeared from his face. Layers of gold shed off of his healthy pink skin before disintegrating into motes of gold dust that struggled against the trigate’s corrosive nature. “I am not the aspect of War. You will need far more than that bit of power to face me.” He said as his power encroached around Der’s figure, forcing the bright light back into his body and for an uncomfortable expression to appear in his face.

The more Der struggled, the more oppressively the golden power weighed onto his skin, until finally, he relaxed. His body straightened, and anger left his visage. His lips, for what Daniel felt was the first time since he had met the man, curved into a knowing smile as he said, “For now.” Once he finished speaking, Der ignored the golden lights that surrounded him and directly dashed towards the small ring, which Daniel had left to float a few feet in the distance. 

His body shrunk, and he disappeared.

ƥαṇdαηθνε|

If Der’s ascension turned out to be something many others could achieve in the future, what would be of his dreams? Would his plans even matter a thousand years from now? He wondered in doubt. After all, the cultivators in the multiverse were infinite, could use their power within the trigate, and more importantly, their height was not limited by their nature.

It was only now that Daniel had realized. That he understood why the immensely powerful Fate appeared so distraught by their existence, too weakened to ignore additional damages to his nature and further intervene. It wasn’t because of his existence alone, or because he had recognized Roley’s nature, but because of Der. A creature whose appearance must have been the highest affront to the fabric that saw a future dominated by aspects of existence, with cultivators groveling at their feet. A fabric that was now unworthy of the thread it had been woven with.

These thoughts kept lingering in Daniel’s mind for a few minutes, after which he finally managed to suppress them, fully aware that he would eventually have to face them in the future. Then followed the others into the ring.