The Chaos Treasure

"But this theory of yours; isn't that what cultivation is all about? -" Yama heard Daniel and waited in anticipation.

"-shedding off all the many fetters and restrictions that our creator placed on us when we were created?"

"That's correct!" Yama replied with a proud smile.

The group was very ecstatic that they were able to witness the end of a realm's chaos cycle, which included the several violent pulsations that came from its core, even though they couldn't sense the presence of the elusive sphere.

"It seems the suppressive powers of the 'Hall of All Creations' is selective." Valpak muttered when he realized that the shockwaves that accompanied the pulsations of the chaos core didn't breach the Hall of All Beginnings.

"I think the restriction only responds to violent and intrusive forms of energy; otherwise, I won't have been able to summon the treasures we used to perform the ritual process." Yama replied.

"It's time!"

Sun suddenly blurted as the group felt the throne hall's restriction vanish, followed by a magnetic force that abruptly surged out of the altar and bolted right into the core of the chaos.

Kaboom!

A planet-shattering explosion blasted across the endless void, throwing everything in its vicinity even farther from the core of the chaos energy; but the magnetic force repelled the shockwaves and prevented it from passing through the gateway.

Then as if someone dipped their entire arm into the throat of someone who had just eaten his fill, the chaos core shuddered slightly before giving off a premature pulsation, and this time, all the energy that came out of it only created an object that the magnetic force pulled towards the altar.

The treasure approached the gateway with a level of speed that frightened Daniel and the three demigods.

Then just as they were about to scamper to safety, the restriction within the Hall of All Beginnings suddenly descended upon the area, instantly halting the treasure in its tracks as it hovered right there over the altar.

The group instantly swarmed towards the altar ad approached the floating reassure, and when they saw what it was, their faces displayed contrasting expressions.

Valpak's eyes were glistening with restricted greed, Sun was as lost as the word lost could depict, Yama seemed to be deep in thought, whilst Daniel simply observed the demigods' reactions before returning his gaze to the treasure which piqued his curiosity.

"Isn't this a pagoda?" Sun asked and Daniel couldn't help but chuckle at the silly question.

No matter what angle anyone of any knowledgeable age looked at the treasure, they would be able to tell, in a heartbeat, that it was indeed a pagoda; but here was Sun; a demigod who people think to be wise and enlightened asking like he had not the faintest clue of what it was.

"What; who would have expected that the almighty chaos would birth a palm-sized pagoda?!" Sun rebutted in defense.

"Ahem!" Yama cleared his throat, gathering everyone's attention.

"The gateway is closing; we should leave as soon as possible." He suggested.

"Right; now that we have everything he needs, it would be better if we send him away as soon as possible to avoid drawing any more attention." Valpak added.

"I agree; at least, once he has safely departed, we won't need to hold back when fighting those old coots." Sun also chipped in, as Daniel watched the three demigods discuss his fate amongst themselves like he wasn't there.

He knew that this time would come and that there was nothing he could do about it, but after encountering these three demigods and journeying with them through the different trials and rituals, the trio had subconsciously grown on him.

He had matured a lot under Valpak's disclosure of how vast all of creation was, and Sun's show of planet-shattering strength, and finally, he had learned a lot by simply observing how Yama thought during the several trials they encountered and also listening to his highly intelligent soliloquies.

Traveling with the three demigods had been so exciting and enlightening that he had grown somewhat addicted to it; it almost felt like a thrill ride to him, after all, all of this had happened within seven days.

"It's so weird that it feels like we've been traveling together for months when it's only been seven days." Daniel said with a helpless and resigned tone that jolted the three demigods out of their planning.

The demigods gazed at him in unison; they understood how he felt, after all, they had also received multiple benefits in terms of experience and enlightenment from their brief adventure.

"It's just like the wise ones say, all roads would surely lead to an end… But nobody says you can begin another adventure when you finish one." Sun consoled with a chuckle whilst Valpak and Yama nodded in concurrence.

"When you arrive at your destination, cultivate hard and grow strong as fast as possible; and who knows, if you manage to ascend into the divine realm, then we might get to see each other again." Yama added.

"What Yama said is true, so try your best and don't fret when you see insurmountable challenges; remember, the bigger the challenge, the higher you stand once you overcome it." Valpak also chipped in.

"For your safety, I would've preferred to send you into your next life right now, but the suppression powers of this realm might kill me if I dare try it." Yama added as they began to feel an invisible energy begin to repel them out of the throne hall.

Though the energy was currently weak, the rate at which it was gaining strength told the three demigods that they had less than five minutes to exit the entire realm.

"Will we be able to make it out in time?" Daniel asked.

"Don't worry, even if we can't the worst it would do is to teleport us outside the barrier in an instant. But it would be best if we are not so close to the source of the repulsive energy." Yama said as the other nodded and exited the jade-white palace in haste.

Meanwhile, outside the barrier, Kvass, and his fellow elder gods were busy meditating when the energy in their immediate surroundings began to fluctuate wildly.

Their eyes began to snap open one after the other as they looked at the source of the commotion, which was Kvass, whose eyes were currently glowing with a mysterious light.

"They're out." Kvass blurted as the rest sprung to their feet.

"Where?!" Belen blurted.

"The other side of the realm, and they seem to be… fleeing!" Kvass hurriedly added as his eyes returned to normal.

"We only have about an hour before the day runs out; if that happens, we might lose our divinity due to failing our mission." Onir complained whilst Beira nodded anxiously.

As the Goddess and God of the hunt and conquest respectively, their powers required them to complete their missions within a day, and currently, they only had an hour left to do so, and this is the reason why they were somewhat anxious.

"Beira, lead the way!" Onir didn't even need to complete his statement before Beira used her powers.

"Let's go!" She said before turning into a beam of light that surged in the direction where her powers had picked up the group's soul signature.

Belen was the next to follow, even before Onir, and currently, she seemed to be extremely pissed off; not only had she suffered an injury when trying to break through the barrier, but she also had to heal herself as well and to top it off, she had also lost some divine energy because the day had almost passed, and she had yet to torture anyone.

Though, the true spirits wouldn't mind how long it took them to accomplish their mission; these elder gods usually carried out their missions using the nature of their powers, that way, they can obtain double rewards; but now, it was already looking like they might lose one of them already.

Thus, they all furiously charged toward the fleeing group, as Kvass and Imros simply tagged along at their own pace.

The twins had already decided between themselves, that asides from directly participating in the mission, they would try to help their fellow demigods the best way they could, and that was without contradicting the nature of Kvass' divine powers.

Since they are all under the same True Spirit that governed the current plane of existence they were within, the twins knew they had to help.

"Faster, they're catching up fast!" Yama urged as their group increased their speed to its possible limit.