n

n

nElijah’s suicide came as a surprise to both Daniel and Corrosion. Both were painfully aware of the resilient nature of Destiny’s champions, and to see one so broken in spirit and mind, Corrosion could not help but be taken aback. Even Daniel, the aspect of Karma himself, was left astonished.

nIt suddenly became clear to him that the punishment of negative karma was much heavier than he had imagined.

n“And here I thought he was your guide.. Turns out he was your prisoner.” The aspect of Corrosion realized. His voice crackled in Daniel’s ears, sizzling like rendering fat which tasted of mockery. “Not that he would have been of use to you any longer, but rejoice, at least you will perish in company.”

nThe mockery of the aspect of Corrosion did not affect Daniel’s mind, but his words caught his attention. ‘He would have not been of use to him any longer..’ What did that mean? Was he the reason why Elijah, right before the attack, had failed to find a path towards his friends and family? Or was there something bigger at play? Something that would have affected a system’s ability to anticipate their future.. Or fate.

nThese thoughts came and went, for Daniel was still in mortal danger. In the corner of his eyes appeared the sorry figure of Elijah, who was now suffering through the last few seconds of his life with a content smile on his ravaged face. Daniel could not spare the power to save him, nor did he want to end up like him. So he quickly came to a conclusion.. He had to escape, and fast.

nAs Daniel’s thoughts of escaping solidified within his mind, and he began observing his surroundings in hope to find a weakness to Corruption’s power, the young man he was facing groaned, “Don’t even think about it.” He then snapped his head to the side, pulling his floating long black hair from his face, and finally opened his eyes, revealing a pair of bottomless pits of bubbling purple liquid.

nHis body straightened, and his hands, once by his sides, joined in front of his chest. As his palms came in contact with one another, the aspect of corrosion slightly opened his mouth, and began to inhale. The sound wasn’t any louder than a mortal breath, yet, the effect was biblical. The purple smoke reacted, moving towards the small whirlpool that had formed right at the edge of the aspect’s lips.

nAs the corrosive cloud entered the young man’s mouth, the surface of his purple eyes began to ripple. Droplets of liquid power emerged, as if reversing the motion of a drop falling into a mirror of water. One by one they detached, and moved away from the aspect’s body, surrounding him in dozens of stationary droplets of liquid corrosive power.

nThe condensation of these drops was instantaneous, and the entire process did not take longer than a mortal’s normal breath. In such a short time, Daniel could appreciate the irony of how simple his opponent’s actions appeared.. And how terrifying the power emanated by these small beads of purple liquid were.

nThat time, unfortunately, was not long enough for him to make a full recovery.

nWithout wasting one more word, the aspect of corrosion slowly exhaled.

nThe beads of corrosive power immediately heeded to their owner’s commands. As if propelled by the simplest of actions, they shot at a speed Daniel was hardly able to observe, flying through space like bullets and reaching his body before the latter could realize it.

nAs they came in contact with Daniel’s body, the droplets of corrosive power dug directly through. Karmic power, skin, flesh, bone.. Everything was penetrated with the same ease a sword’s point would pierce a thin layer of cloth, leaving Daniel’s body riddled in perfect holes.

n“Ghak!” Daniel cried as a mouthful of bitter blood sprayed out of his mouth. The damage he had taken was immense, and soon made him realize that, had the aspect of Corrosion used his full power against him earlier, he would have long been dead. To give him comfort from this pain was the fact that he had survived the attack, as well as the fact that, if lucky, he would be able to escape before Corrosion could mount another one.

nUnfortunately, what Daniel initially felt was far from the extent of his opponent’s attack.

nAs his body desperately tried to recover enough to withstand a dash into the distance, Daniel felt a strange feeling coming from all over his body. More notably, the rough surface his fingertips came in contact with.. A feeling which led him to look down at his hands.

nWhat he saw when he looked down, however, were not the lean and healthy hands of a young man, but the leathery and pale hands of a man on his deathbed.

nThis change was not even throughout his body, but instead, making its way out of his wounds, as if every bit of skin and flesh the droplets of corrosive power had touched, had become poisoned with an aging curse.

nSoon enough, Daniel began to feel the life essence within his body be swallowed by the power of death. Corroded by the unstoppable flow of time, leading him to a demise typical of the mortal the other aspects of existence believed him to be.

nIn an almost desperate attempt Daniel used virtually all of the karmic power in his possession to stop this aging process, but, alas, the influence of the power of corrosion in this universe was much vaster than karma’s, allowing his opponent the opportunity to tap into more power than Daniel could.

nNo longer than twenty seconds after the attack, Daniel’s hair had grown ten times the length, and turned snow white. His eyes, once limpid and pure gold, were shrouded in an opaque gray layer. Even his powerful mind, once one of the strongest elements of Daniel’s existence, was now clouded and confused.

nAs he observed what little he could of his surroundings in a borderline catatonic state, Daniel felt the creation of a new power of existence around him. Dark in color, cold, yet welcoming. This power lingered around him, penetrated into what was left of his body, and embraced the little karmic power Daniel had left.

nEven in his confusion, Daniel could tell this power belonged to the aspect of Death. A power that was generated as the life essence within his body started to run out, and he lived his last few moments.

nAs Daniel approached Death, he found himself in a state of clarity. His thoughts went to the magnitude of Corrosion’s powers, who had trampled his existence over like an elephant stomping on an ant. An obvious result caused by the hundreds of thousands of years of difference in their powers’ cultivation.

nWhile most aspects of existence were born as consciousnesses in control of their fully formed powers, that was not the case for Daniel.. After all, Karma was a new power of existence. One that needed to be nurtured and produced as time went on, and which had yet to saturate the universes with its presence.

nThis difference was one Daniel had to come to terms with whenever he met one of his kind, making each of those encounters a deadly one.

nThese thoughts came and went inside Daniel’s mind. Important yet superfluous, for he saw no way out of the darkness that was swallowing him. A darkness which gently attempted to put him to sleep, and pull his consciousness away.

nHowever, that was not Daniel’s time yet.

nBehind his confused mind, beyond the waves of pain, and the veil of darkness that surrounded him, Daniel saw rays of light. Rays that brushed over his skin in a gentle and familiar power, and that healed his wounds, and damaged sense of sight.

nDaniel’s vision slowly came back to him, allowing him to notice the origin of these rays of light. A source even Corrosion could not help but stare at with brows raised in shock. These beams of light came from not too far away, from what appeared to be Elijah’s eroded remains. They liberated themselves from the fractures, cuts, and holes on the latter’s body, like a candle light trying to break through the chinks of a broken box.

nThe brilliance of these lights seemed to know no limit, as it continued to increase at a faster and faster rate.. Causing the cracks and holes from which it emerged to widen. Yet, the speed at which these openings grew was nothing in comparison to the desire of these lights to be released. A desire that Elijah’s remains were unable to contain, until finally, moments later, they exploded.

nA shock wave of pure golden light washed in every direction, repelling every form of essence that was not part of its own. The purple droplets, the power of death that engulfed Daniel.. Even Corrosion himself. Everything was hurled far in the distance.

nDaniel did not need to look twice to understand the origin of this power.. For he had seen it before, just tied to Elijah. Fuel that was originally meant to nurture his punishment, but which following the latter’s untimely death, sought release.

nThis was the first time Daniel had witnessed this use of karmic power. Under the misconception that karma was something he could only control after borrowing it, Daniel had never seen free karma. Living karma which, unwilling to perish with its creator, had broken free.

nThis power was not only of a higher quality, but also, most likely due to the magnitude of Elijah’s actions, of immense proportions.

nAfter basking in this light for a few seconds, Daniel’s wounds began to heal. His skin, leathery, wrinkly and pale, was flushed with new life, going back to its original healthy and firm state, his body quickly regenerated. Daniel could have enjoyed this feeling for the rest of time, yet, he was reminded of his situation as the shockwave of golden power that was engulfing him finally stopped growing.

nA thick layer of purple liquid had formed outside, one which had stopped its advancement, and was pushing back against it.

nDaniel, of course, had no intention of letting Corrosion have his way with him again. In just a moment he raised his right hand palm up, the next, the massive field of golden light began to restrict at an even faster rate than the purple liquid could follow. In the third moment, the karmic power condensed to a bead the size of a child’s fist.

nIts power was incalculable. Pure, indomitable, and capable of creating fear in the hearts of anyone who looked at it. Corrosion, for the first time, felt a looming sense of danger from it.

nInstead of chasing for Daniel’s body, Corrosion once again inhaled the power at his disposal. It dripped down his throat like a sip of poisonous water, condensing within its body into a purer, and more aggressive state. Once done, Corrosion pointed the tip of his thumbs at the uncovered patch of skin on his chest, and thigh, then sunk them into his flesh. Immediately after his fingertips disappeared into his body, with sudden motions, Corrosion slashed downwards, turning the small piercing wounds into deep gashes.

nFrom these gashes no blood came out, nor purple liquid. Instead, from its dark surface, emerged two crescent moon blades. Solid as steel, and as tall as corruption itself. After the two blades, two more emerged, and two more after that. These six blades floated around the aspect of Corruption, shrouding his body in a deadly barrier.

nDaniel immediately took notice of these blades, and of the impending sense of doom they left within his mind. Unwilling to once again just watch as he was brought to the brink of death, Daniel gripped tightly at the golden orb, and as he squeezed, the orb began to stretch.

nIn a moment the shape of the orb turned from a perfect sphere, to a small lightning spear. Its brilliance, even stronger than the threat Corrosion’s power generated.

nUnwilling to give his opponent a single more moment to prepare, Daniel gripped tightly at the short spear, and with a light speed motion, threw it at the champion of Corruption. Similarly, his opponent positioned the six purple blades in front of him, and with a powerful huff, sent them flying in Daniel’s direction.

nSix blades cut through the essence of space like nothing, traveling at a speed beyond understanding. Their only obstacle, the ray of pure golden light, whose brilliance they felt was their worst enemy.

nTheir journey continued, until finally, in but a fraction of a moment, the two powers clashed.

n