624 The Second Side of the Coin

Daniel seemed confused by the woman’s odd behavior, but not afraid. He stepped into the house, and took a step towards her, ignoring the iron prod that was now pointed at his face. “Do we know each other?” He asked with curiosity. His eyes narrowed slightly, as the golden hue retracted, revealing the more human-like original color of his eyes.

With his immensely powerful mind, he was scouring through his memories. At this point in time, his mental power was powerful enough to allow him to relive the entirety of his life in just a few seconds, with close to no details missing. Yet, no matter how long he searched, he could not recognize her appearance, nor any form of power within her body.

She did possess an aura of holiness to her body, yet it was in no way different than that of any other inhabitant of this planet, including the other members of her family.

The suspicious woman kept looking at Daniel with her cold gaze, occasionally throwing short glances at the odd scholar that accompanied him. The three formed a short stairway of interest in her mind, with Der being of no interest, Roley being somewhat interesting, and Daniel being the main focus.

As time passed, the woman’s husband started to feel more and more confused. While keeping the prod aimed in Daniel’s direction, he turned to the side, and asked in his planet’s language, “Liv, do you know these people?” He had not understood the meaning of Daniel’s words, yet his wife’s reaction to this stranger’s appearance, as well as the young man’s interest in her, was not lost on him.

p-a-n-d-a-n-0-v-e-l、(c)om The woman, however, did not seem interested in answering either of the two. Instead, she kept staring at Daniel until, after a long awkward minute, her teeth clenched, and her expression softened. Her aggressive stare turned into an expression of worry, which she maintained as she grabbed Johan’s arm and dragged him to the safety of her arms.

“No, I have never seen him.” the woman responded with confidence. A degree of certainty that confused her husband, for her words did not match her instinctive reaction upon Daniel’s arrival. The three intruders, however, had lost interest in the couple, and instead, were looking past the woman, where a holy figure had emerged from the woman’s back.

The figure was a ghastly one. It possessed a female humanoid shape, but the details of her appearance were difficult to distinguish due to the immensely powerful and brilliant light her body was emanating. She was floating beside the woman she had just come out of, like a ghost that had been forced to part from the body they had possessed.

A single look was all it took for Daniel, Roley and Der to recognize this entity for the creature that she was. An aspect of existence.

Daniel suddenly understood why Roley’s system had failed to predict this encounter.

The kind he had just become part of might have shared the same multiverse as every other forms of sentient life, but they weren’t natural. They were consciousness born from existential powers, and their nature went beyond the predicted path of fate. And that was somewhat true for the other champions of Destiny as well, whose system allowed them to operate above the constriction of fate, making their existence one capable of free will.

As a former wielder of one of destiny’s systems, Daniel had guessed that a lack of continuation to Roley’s predicted path was likely related to the presence of another of Destiny’s champions.. Possibly a benevolent one, considering the state of the planet’s population. But he had not expected that they would meet another aspect of existence.. Not so soon, at least.

Full with curiosity, Daniel opened his mouth, but before any word could come out, the silhouette interrupted him by saying, “Not here.” Only Daniel and his two companions could hear her. In fact, they were also the only ones capable of seeing her, and Daniel could tell, it was by the aspect’s own decision.

As she finished speaking, the glowing woman walked through a wall, disappearing from sight. But not before sparing one last glance to the reunited family, whom she seemed to be looking at with affection. An action that Daniel had not failed to notice.

In a hurry, Daniel turned around and left the house, leaving to Roley and Der the task to apologize to the family for their intrusion, and if they wished to do so, to explain what had happened. As the two walked out soon after, however, he guessed that they too had chosen not to bother with an explanation, for they shared Daniel’s curiosity regarding the nature of the glowing woman.

After all, she could have easily been an enemy to them, and if that was the case, they had their armies to take care of, lest they wished for what happened with Horror to repeat itself.

Like an angel, the glowing specter floated in the distance. She was headed for the top of the mountain of ice, from the top of which, the town was on full display. Daniel, Der and Roley were able to follow right behind, for she was taking her time to look at her surroundings while on her way, seemingly worried about the state of the village’s inhabitants.

After about five minutes of flying around, the group of four finally reached the top of the mountain, were a small platform had been cut out of the top with a clean slash, leaving behind a perfectly smooth layer of ice. Only one object was present on this platform, a single wooden chair, now completely covered in snow.

At the sight of this wooden chair, Daniel felt an extreme sense of familiarity. A feeling he found odd, considering the shape of this chair was the one thing he had ever seen in his life, which he failed to match with one of his memories. This feeling had left him confused to say the least, but, luckily, this confusion was dispelled the moment the glowing figure approached the lonely piece of furniture.

As if aware of the entity’s presence, the several inches tall layer of snow that covered the woman’s seat began to evaporate, leaving the chair itself completely dry, and clean.

The aspect of existence approached it with unprecedented calm, and as her legs bent, right before she could be fully seated, the glow that had masked her appearance started to dim, revealing it to be that of a regular human woman. Not particularly beautiful, nor unsightly to look at, this woman appeared to be in her early thirties, with platinum blond hair put into a messy bun.

Der and Roley looked at the woman’s appearance, and coincidentally, they had the same thought. They could not help but think back to their mothers, for the woman that sat in front of them, regardless of her true nature and powers, gave off an incredible motherly aura.

This shared thought, however, was dispelled the moment the two heard a faint chuckle. “Of course.” Daniel then muttered to himself.

He had seen this woman before. Or at least, he thought that he had. She looked exactly like the old woman Daniel had met when visiting the underworld, from which he had recovered the sleeping consciousness of his wife. She looked exactly like the aspect of Death.

The only difference between this woman and the one he had met that day, was their age, for the old woman he had met in the psat looked exactly like the one that sat in front of him now, but was much older.

However, while Daniel initially thought this woman to be the aspect of Death, as he recalled what he had seen so far, something suddenly clocked in his mind. “You are the aspect of Life.” he said with a matter of fact tone.

Surprised, Der and Roley turned to look at the woman, who had refused to answer each of Daniel’s questions, and was staring at him quietly instead.

Daniel did not need confirmation. Now that he had made the connection to the aspect of Death, he could piece the rest of the puzzle easily. It all made sense in his mind, why the planet’s inhabitants all possessed positive karma, as well as why they did not possess a cultivation, and why they had been attacked.

It was likely to be due to their pacifist beliefs, which prohibited them from taking a life that was not necessary to take. They weren’t common mortals, Daniel thought.. They were champions of Life herself, mortals that possessed no cultivation due to their lack of need for strength. After all, the selfish path of cultivation was not one that fit their nature.

“You look just like your younger sister.” Daniel said, hoping to erase the harmless hostility the woman was showing him.

The mention of Death caught Life by surprise. After all, her sister was one of few aspects of existence the others avoided. Yet, the relationship Daniel had with her did nothing to alleviate her hostility. “Nothing you say will erase who you are, and what you do! Disruptor of fate, carrier of conflict, and harbinger of death.”

“You have no respect for life, so do not expect me to respect you.” the woman then added before turning to look past the three, and down to the town, where the armies of cultivators and elementals were slaughtering the red-robed cultivators. It did not matter if those who were dying were her people’s enemies, she disliked the sight of life being taken.

Seeing that the woman would not abandon her distrust towards Daniel, Der and Roley started to grow nervous. In their mind, only one fate awaited those who challenged the nature of an aspect of existence, and the woman was Life herself. Who knew what powers she possessed? Maybe she could take their lives without batting an eye.

In this newfound nervousness, the two turned to look at Daniel, who calmly shook his head in response, and looked at them with amusement.

Daniel understood the aspects of existence more than his companions did. He knew that it was within Life’s nature, to respect the sanctity of life.

The most important of the concepts inside which she was born, and the reason why she was as unlikely to take a life as the aspect of Death was to deny death. And while Daniel had been allowed to recover Alesia’s consciousness from the underworld, she was still dead. It was only thanks to Daniel’s actions that her life had been restored.

Not many knew that those actions had deepened the nature of the aspects of Life and Death.. For thanks to Daniel, death had been proven to not necessarily be permanent, and that life was something that could be restored.

Nevertheless, the woman did not appear appreciative for the favors Daniel had unconsciously granted her and her sister, and that had irritated him. To a point where he couldn’t help himself but look down at the village, and mutter, “You lived with them. You have experienced the colors of their lives, their love.. And yet you were willing to watch as they were slaughtered. Taken by an enemy that sought nothing but to mock you.”

The woman seemed furious at the accusation, yet she could not deny it. Everything Daniel had said was true.

She had shared the pregnant woman’s life. The life of a mother, of a wife.. The pinnacle life had to offer. And yet, she had done so without obligations. Even when the champions of Sacrifice, an aspect diametrically opposed to her in nature, started slaughtering her champions, all she could think about was how life was meant to come to an end, and that it was not her place to prevent it.

To admonish the man that stood in front of her for something she had wished she could have done herself, for the first time in her life, she felt a deep shame. A feeling that softened her cold appearance, and restored her motherlike warmth. “Thank you, for saving them.” the woman said before lightly bowing her head.

Daniel nodded in responde, but did so with indifference. He did not care for the woman’s thanks. He did not agree with the nature of her existence, for he believed some people’s lives were well worth the weight of taking another. Yet, he had achieved his purpose.. To dispel some of the woman’s hostility.

Before the woman could change her mind, Daniel intended to ask her a few questions, but before he could, the woman lifted her head, and with a newfound composure said, “Let us get to it. Tell me what you have come to my domain for.”

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