"An Exalted Assembly.. HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!?!" The Overlord yelled out in a fit of rage, sending a shock wave of horrific power in every direction, and causing the entire Doom Palace to tremble and for the lone blood cultivator who was standing by the side, to fall on his knees in panic.
He then looked at the elders with narrowed eyes, and said with a threatening tone, "I don't want any more ideas on how to worsen our situation. Am I being clear?!" As he finished speaking, he let his body slouch over the throne and his head drop onto his hand, on which he rested for the following few minutes as he tried to think of a way to get rid of Daniel-A small problem that, like a cancerous cell, had the potential to grow disproportionately.
—–
For entities as powerful as the leading champions of the existing domains, the limitations of a universe were not much different than a wall was for a sect, or a martial arts school. A division that defined the confines of a faction's territory, and that symbolized the reach of their influence.
Unfortunately, while the scale of the multiverse was something that granted every domain more space than they would ever need in their nearly infinite lives, conflicts were still bound to happen. Most of these conflicts were between lower domains that belong to the same main branch, like the domains of Sacrifice and Competition, which were low ranking domains that were respectively subjected to the bigger, yet not equal, domains of Horror and Conflict.
More rare were the conflicts which included domains that belonged to powers known as 'primal domains'. A category of domains that served the highest ranking aspects of existence which had existed since the beginning of time. Entities like the aspects of Fate, Chaos, Conflict, Change, Cause & Effect, and more.
In case of a conflict that affected several small domains, two primal domains, or an event of similar magnitude, in an attempt to prevent an avoidable and mutually destructive war, the impartial upper domains would try to smooth things over by calling an Exalted Assembly. A council to which the members of each domain were invited.
While perfect to make the multiverse aware of Daniel's existence, the Exalted Assembly was not an event that was easy to organize, as it had severe and costly regulations. The most notorious one was the rule that dictated that, in order to avoid wasting the time of the other domains, the possession of five thousand active universes was required as a deposit.. A deposit that, in case the matter to be discussed was not worthy of an Exalted Assembly, the participants would have the right to share among themselves.
This rule had been created to ensure that only domains of a certain level could call an Exalted Assembly, and that there would be a good reason for it. This rule was also the reason why the Overlord of Horror's domain had responded so negatively to this suggestion. He knew that the primary universe of Horror's domain was slowly losing influence because of Daniel, but he also knew that elevating him to a multiversal-level threat was basically like giving away a huge portion of their domain, as he had seen domains being forced to pay for calling an Exalted Assembly, despite having a much more valid reason.
However, while the lack of contacts from the aspect of Horror had made the Overlord too impatient to consider this decision thoroughly, the calmer elders of the Monstrous Clan had already thought things through.
"Lord, I am unable to guarantee that we will capture the intruder." Said a second elder after taking a few steps towards the throne-A monstrous being that possessed a much burlier and muscular build than the first elder, as well as anybody else in the hall. He was the elder that handled security in the entire domain, the chief of the legions of the Monstrous Clan, and the one that had been put in charge of capturing Daniel.
Hoping to have successfully caught the attention of the Overlord, the second elder pointed his greasy finger at the blood cultivator that was standing quietly to the side of the hall, and added, "The only information we have gathered regarding the intruder, is that he doesn't shy away from a fight. He immediately eliminates anyone we send whenever the blood legacy reappears, leaving only the mouse of the blood sect alive as an invitation to send more people. We do not even know how he managed to infiltrate into our universe."
As he finished speaking, the second elder looked at his peers, hoping to trigger a few supporting utterances from them, but aside from a few nods, he found no support.
The only one who chose to support him was the first elder, who joined him closer to the throne, and said, "The threat of a champion of Destiny that is able to move freely between universes, has to be worth summoning the Exalted Assembly for.. Recovering that ability must have been the reason why the Murderous God left his universe, and was killed as a result. He probably tried to take over his body, and was killed while his powers were sealed."
At no point during the speech of the two elders did the Overlord look up at them.. After all, he had already thought of what the two had said many times before, unable to see what they were proposing as a valid solution. However, that changed at the mention of the Murderous God, which prompted him to look up with interest.
Mentioning Daniel did not need to be the main reason for the Exalted Assembly, as that matter was something that could be simply mentioned casually while in the presence of the leaders of the other domains. Instead, demanding to know who had killed the Murderous God under the pretext of wanting to recover the blood legacy for the blood faction, which was part of a domain allied to theirs, was a much more plausible excuse, as stealing one of the legacies of another domain was, historically, the most common casus belli.
As he looked at the blood cultivator that trembled by the side of the main hall of the doom palace, the Overlord considered whether it was worth it to throw their allies to the wolves just so that they could get rid of an annoying tick, but as he imagined the consequences of the other domains learning that Horror's domain was crumbling from within, he steeled his mind.
He slowly turned to look at the first elder, and said, "The leader of one of our branch domains.. the Murderous God has been killed, and his legacy was stolen. Horror's domain, as well as all of our affiliates, are honor-bound to get to the bottom of this. We will call an Exalted Assembly."
As the Overlord stated his intentions, the blood cultivator became as rigid as a statue. He knew that spreading the news about the death of his sect's leader was just like leaving a tiger cub in a dragon den, and it meant that Horror's domain had given up on helping them. Yet, before he could even think of how to beg for the Overlord to change his mind, a pool of grey and bubbly liquid appeared underneath his feet, and began to seep into the pores of his skin.
This liquid washed through the body of the blood cultivator in mere fractions of an instant, pushing the blood and blood essence out of every orifice of his body. When nothing but black goo was left leaking from his eyes, nostrils and mouth, the cultivator fell lifeless on the floor.
—–
As this happened, on the other side of the universe, Daniel was continuing his campaign against Horror's domain.
Like he had done for most of the past two months, he was following a plan that allowed him to find the planet that the Monstrous Clan used to farm influence for the aspect of horror. Planets devoured by catastrophes, shroud in never ending nightmares, or where the inhabitants were forced to live in a constant state of anguish and fear.
Thanks to how organized this universe was, it had become a simple feat for Daniel to simply kill off the few monstrous cultivators responsible for this torment, harvest the billions of karmic points in their possession, and move on to the next planet right away.. Leaving him to spend most of their time on the ship, either cultivating, or training in companions in martial arts, or essence comprehension.
For a member of Daniel's group, two months were enough to earn a significant advantage compared to those who weren't. An advantage that had allowed the competitive Dawn and the light-hearted Cassie to reach a level of prowess far beyond that of Rose, who had always been the most competent fighter among the group.
The most noteworthy of Daniel's current companions, however, was Ashura.
Being an experienced fighter already, Ashura's main necessity had been to find a suitable path of cultivation.. A feat made impossible by the peculiarity of his innate essence.
Historically, it was only after several millennia from the creation of mana, that the chaotic natural essence that had suddenly appeared inside every living being, had started to settle, allowing the ancient humans of that time to be able to interact with it, and to create the first paths to cultivate it.
Unfortunately, while the time in which humans possessed a chaotic essence such as his had disappeared from recorded history, Ashura was alive and breathing.. Still able to use his chaotic power to undo the intricate nets created by the essence of a modern cultivator, and make their bodies fall apart like a sand castle.. A power that many would find extremely fearsome, but that was also extremely difficult and dangerous to handle.
The first time Daniel had helped Ashura in his cultivation, he had driven a small portion of his power into his own body in an attempt to force it into submission.. He had hoped that by suppressing it, he would have been able to turn it into a softer form of essence that Ashura could have used to temper his body without killing himself.. However he soon realized how careless he had been. Ashura's power possessed a speck of Chaos's existence, which had responded to Daniel's power by exploding into a chaotic wave of power that had destroyed his physical body.. A reaction that made him conscious of the dangers, and convinced him to rely on his system to find a safer way in which Ashura could cultivate.
—–
In a relatively small training room below deck, Daniel was now standing behind the sitting figure of Ashura. His hands were resting onto the latter's shoulders, allowing his chaotic essence to enter Daniel's body from his left arm, and after being restricted in quantity by Daniel's power instead of behavior, went back into Ashura's body, making its use more manageable.
Unfortunately, even in small amounts, this power was too strong to be used by a mortal.. reason why Daniel had been left with no choice but to constantly heal Ashura in order to prevent the chaotic power from destroying his body before it could go through any degree of reinforcement..
Hours of this treatment, paired with the devastating power of Ashura��s chaotic essence dampened by Daniel's healing, had allowed the strength of his body to soar, pushing him out of the earlier stages of martial cultivation, straight into the immortal phase, after which Daniel stopped.
"This is enough for now.." he said in Ashura's language.
Ashura turned to look at him in a reassuring manner, as if meaning to tell Daniel that he could take more than that. Before he could, however, Daniel added, "I know you can go on, but you need to get used to your power first. We will continue later." He said before making his way out of the room, and towards the ship's deck. He had felt the blood legacy emerge from within his body, a sign that he was once again visible to the blood cultivators, and that another party of monstrous beings and blood cultivators was on their way there.
He slowly flew away from the ship, and floated right at the edge of the formation in preparation, ready to jump off the moment he would feel someone approaching.. Something that would usually take a couple of minutes since the surfacing of the legacy.. Yet, after more than ten minutes, Daniel started to realize that something was amiss, as no one had come for him.
Two more uneventful hours passed, and after that, a whole day.. And yet, no one came.
Left with nothing but questions in his mind and a sudden feeling of worry, Daniel closed his eyes, and asked his system for a safe way to escape the universe, as well as the most secure option.
While the first window that appeared in his mind was exactly what he had expected, the option that appeared in the second window turned his fears into reality..
____________________________
Direct approach
Difficulty: Easy
-Reach the unsecured inter-dimensional portal.
-Leave.
Time Limit: None
Reward: 50 karmic points.
____________________________
