Chapter 657 Dangerous Gamble

The woman lurched towards Roley, hands stretched forward and down as her bare legs bent over his, straddling him on the ground. Her thumbs pressed onto his jaw, while her fingers, long and pale, wrapped around and behind his neck, preventing him from moving away. The distance between their bodies grew shallower, as the woman used the entirety of her mortal strength to pull his head towards her.

Der opened his mouth, ready to end this exchange when a vigorous shake of Daniel's head stopped him. This is what he had planned for. What needed to happen, Daniel thought. But then, just before the two could fully fall into each other's embrace, the woman stopped.

A new fit of anger had invaded her mind, forcing her to once again push Roley aside before springing up on her glorious standing form. Her eyes, colder than ever, had now met Daniel's, as her not-so-sweet voice played out, "It was you! You did this to me!" She groaned through imaginary gritted teeth, words almost muted by the infinitely powerful power of existential sound that flaked off her body.

A sudden pressure forced itself onto Daniel's shoulders. One that, instead of resting onto his body like added weights or higher gravity, or mind-numbing pain aimed at strangling his psyche, rang in his ears constantly, like the buzzing of a bee hive that endlessly grew sharper and louder with each second.

Shards of gold emerged from Daniel's ears, karmic power that he had hoped could ease the deafening attack, but it was all pointless. His defenses fell like a house of cards under the brutality of a hurricane, equally destructive no matter how big the construct, or how many cards were used. They offered no resistance whatsoever. At the end, Daniel could only retort to old habits. The old mortal practice of covering one's ears with their hands, and hoping for the best.

Of one thing he was sure. This woman's attack had the power to annihilate him, and given enough time, it would.

"Stop that!" Roley yelled with worry, his fingers wrapped tightly around the woman's wrist, tugging gently in hope for her attention to, once again, move on him. Whether he had used this method because he truly believed it to be the most suited to get the woman to stop her fit of rage, or because he wanted to resume the oddly comfortable feeling that would connect them whenever they would touch, he too, could not be sure.

Sure enough, the woman's ire were soon extinguished by a feeling of longing. One that, however, she did not allow to control her mind, Her hand was jerked back, and out of Roley's grip, while the existential power of sound dispersed in the surroundings, like the passage of a flock of birds.

The woman looked down at his body. Her skin still unhealthily pale, like dirty snow, but still she frowned. A part of her power, of her nature, had gotten loose, dangling from the rest like an almost completely severed limb. A change that within her domain only she could feel, but that Daniel had also perceived.

"Why do this? I have always been impartial. Why do this to me?" The woman said, hurt. "Why did you have to bring him to me?"

The woman's plight was, to her, of devastating nature. She was a creature of sound, born among noises that broke the mind, and that could hardly be heard. Her power was everywhere, even where the ears of humans and monsters could not hear it. Many were the jesters who, in an attempt to amuse her by asking whether a tree falling with no one to hear it fall would make any sound, she had slain mercilessly. And yet, Roley was there.

A world of nature that lacked space and time, but more importantly, sound. An existence poisonous to her own, for it argued the claim that sound was everywhere. He was a void that she did not want to exist, and yet, her nature compelled to fill. She was a missing piece of a puzzle she either wanted to see destroyed, or completed, as long as she was part of it.

In the physical world, this love and hate translated to physical attraction, obsessive and abusive, but also warm and loving.

If only she had never come in contact with him. If only Karma had never brought this young man to her, she could have lived her existence within her bubble. Fool herself that her power was omnipresent, rejecting any opposing argument. And yet, now she faced the same plight Fate was facing. Weakened by the existence of a different perspective. A counter argument to the bold claim that was her existence.

"You were brave to bring him to me expecting me not to kill you." Sound's voice echoed from every direction, cold and threatening.

Daniel smiled in response. "If you want to kill me, go ahead. You don't have much time left. That last attack was meant to kill me, was it not? Yet you couldn't. The next one will do even less damage." He chuckled as his body dropped, sitting on a large root that emerged from the dirt at a knee's height.

"I could still muster enough power to do that." Sound claimed.

Daniel's shoulders shrugged. "If you wanted to, you would have done it already." He retorted while finding himself oddly enjoying the sound of his voice, which earlier had been banished from her domain. "On the other hand, you could do what I have brought him here for, restore your power, and be rid of us once and for all."

"Why would I do that?" The woman asked. "Without my help, his existence would remain soundless, and he would never ascend. That will damage my standing within the pantheon, but so would helping him. If he were to ascend, my power would be subservient to his. Either way, I will lose my spot at the top of the pantheon. And even if I were to agree, what makes you think I would unleash that sort of monstrosity into the multiverse?"

"Stop wasting time." Daniel said with a hint of arrogance. Sound's power had now lost its primordial luster, falling at the level of peak high-tier aspects of existence. Creature whose powers far outweighed the nature of Karma, but whose disparity he could balance with the sheer amount of power he had stored within his body. "We both know that your contribution to his ascension will mean nothing unless he finds a treasure of primordial spatial essence. And if by miracle he were to succeed in finding one, without its counterpart he will never be able to merge with it." Daniel said, purposely avoiding to mention that Roley was already in possession of a treasure of primordial spatial essence, and that the only thing stopping him from ascending, other than the primordial sound treasure she could provide, was the lack of a treasure of primordial time essence.

But that was no easy feat.

Even among the mind boggling number of people that lived within the multiverse, the number of creatures that were aware of the existence of primordial treasures of mana could be counted in the low millions. Among them, only a small fraction had chosen to dedicate time to the study of the power of time. A study of the unknown whose only outcome was the birth of new questions, or the formulation of new theories.

Among the most popular theories, the one that had found the most consensus among scholars was the one formulated by one of the oldest champions of fate. An old man who had theorized that the time elementals of a certain level could never be found, for they existed outside of the reach of mortals. Such elementals were, after all, creatures of time. Their existence did not extend in width or length, but in the forward and backward motion of time, perpendicular to the linear life of the inhabitants of the multiverse.

Another popular theory claimed that, just like sound elementals, the elementals of time lived within a separate dimension. A world of their own controlled by a primordial aspect of time. Born alongside all the other primordial aspects of existence in the beginning of time, but never before seen. Bound to isolation and solitude due to his nature, which tied him to the flow of time rather than the physical present.

Unfortunately, regardless of which theory the scholars listened to, the conclusion was always the same. If they existed, the creatures of the present would most likely never come in contact with them, let alone come in possession of one of their corpses, from which, with luck, they could extract a treasure of primordial time essence.

For this reason, the prospect of finding a treasure of primordial time essence was considered as foolish a goal as going to sleep a mortal, and waking up an aspect of existence. It was impossible.

Sound's lips quivered in response to Daniel's words. 

The sudden fit of anger had subsided, and her mind had regained a modicum of composure. Her decision was made, even before arguing with Karma, and yet, she had hoped to bargain some benefits off of the deal. Promises that, if luck was on his side, and he came out in his war against the other members of the pantheon, she would be left alone.. but her bluff had been called. 

She did not really have a choice, and her worries were, to anyone with a sane mind, unfounded. Time treasures were impossible to find, so Roley would never ascend. At worst, she was strengthening one of her kind's natural enemies. A problem that was far less worrisome than the state of her power, which was slowly bleeding out of her, leaving a scar into her existence. Waiting any longer would only make it harder for her to recover. Her pride, built on countless years of hegemony could only be swallowed, silenced.

Roley, who had just now managed to stagger onto his knees, looked in silence as the aspect of Sound turned towards him. Her feet tapped onto the uneven ground graciously, as if she had been walking on a mirror, while her hands reached once again for his neck. After just two steps, she was standing parallel to his right leg, which he had planted onto the ground as she looked down on him. 

Then, her upper body lowered.

Enchanted by the woman's touch, Roley allowed for the woman to tilt his head upwards, facing her own as she dove in for a kiss.

Der, confused beyond words, felt the corner of his lips rise in confusion, and brows furrow. He looked at Daniel, ready to ask whether this was also within his expectations, but before he could speak, the young man answered with a shake of his head, showing confusion equal to his own. On his face, an expression that spelled 'Don't ask me, I have no idea.' 

As the two exchanged glances and unspoken words, Roley felt the woman's tongue dive in between his lips, making contact with his own. Then, something happened.

A wave of incomprehensible natural power began to flow into his body, bridged by their connected tongues and settling comfortably into Roley's body, like the missing ingredient of a very specific mixture. It grew steadily, merging with the other powers carved into his body, engraving them with a sort of profundity. Lightning was once again accompanied by thunder, leaving behind crackling fire, splintered wood and shattered earth, while hail and rain slammed against metal, dying in a clink that, under the oppressive roars of the winds, could barely be heard.

The entire process lasted the good part of a minute, after which, the aspect of Sound and Roley separated, leaving behind a string of saliva that kept them connected a few moments longer. However, any form of longing they had felt upon touch had now disappeared, leaving them to look at one another with expressions many would have found more proper for their status.

Roley stumbled onto his feet, backing away from the powerful entity with a degree of shock, while Sound looked at him with a form of respectful superiority. In him she felt the primordial nature of sound, condensed into a small bead hidden within the flesh of his tongue, but nothing more. His superiority would only come with his ascension, one she hoped he would never achieve.

With this last look, the aspect of Sound had lost most of her interest in Roley. Her eyes closed, while her mind focused on the sounds within her. Her once damaged power was soaring, reaching the heights she had always belonged to, repaired from the temporary wound. Her expression was comfortable and relaxed, as her mouth, for the first time, opened to speak. "Get out." She ordered.

Roley opened his mouth, hoping to be allowed to ask some questions, but before he could, he felt the metallic grip of Daniel's hand wrap around his wrist. The next moment, his body was engulfed by the familiar bluish power of the inter dimensional portal, his arm dislocated by the sudden powerful pull of Daniel's retreat.

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