Chapter 43: Domain of Dead Kings Part 2

Bane felt an intoxicating sense of power coursing through his veins as he stood over the vast crater. He could sense Daigatz's presence far below, struggling against the immense gravitational pressure. It was a strange sensation, being able to wield such power effortlessly, yet Bane remained cautious. He knew better than to underestimate his opponent.

He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses, scanning the barren landscape around him. The land was silent, eerily so, as if it were holding its breath. The desolation stretched as far as his eyes could see, littered with the remnants of ancient battles. Bane could feel the lingering energies of those long-gone conflicts, a testament to the brutality of the domain he had entered.

Suddenly, a tremor ran through the ground beneath him. Bane opened his eyes, his gaze narrowing as he focused on the crater. The tremors grew stronger, and he could see a faint glow emanating from the depths. Without warning, a massive explosion of magma and rock erupted from the crater, and Daigatz emerged, his form cloaked in flames and fury.

"You insolent wretch!" Daigatz bellowed, his voice reverberating through the air. "I will make you suffer for this!"

Bane didn't flinch. Instead, he raised his hands in front of his face, both his thumbs and index finger connected to form a triangle. As he did, a sphere of pure light formed in front of his palm. The energy within it was a swirling blend of divine and demonic power, a symbol of the balance he now commanded. As Daigatz charged towards him, Bane roared, "Dragon's Breath!" and released the sphere, sending a beam of concentrated energy straight at the Supreme One.

The impact was devastating. Daigatz was thrown back, his body engulfed in a blinding explosion of light. Bane watched as the dust and debris settled, revealing the charred and battered form of the Supreme One. But Daigatz was far from defeated. He rose to his feet, his eyes burning with an even greater intensity.

"You cannot defeat me, boy," Daigatz snarled. "I am eternal!"

Bane sighed, a hint of frustration in his voice. "You keep saying that, but you don't seem to realize that I'm not trying to kill you. Not yet, anyway."

With a swift motion, Bane conjured a series of runes in the air around him. They glowed with an otherworldly light, forming a complex pattern that pulsed with power. Daigatz's eyes widened as he recognized the nature of the spell.

"Impossible," he whispered. "No mortal should have this knowledge."

Bane smirked. "I'm not exactly a normal mortal, am I?"

The runes activated, and Daigatz found himself trapped within a binding circle. The more he struggled, the tighter the bindings became, siphoning off his energy and channeling it into the ground. Bane approached, his expression calm but determined.

During Bane's enlightenment, he had been inside of his sea of consciousness. While it had only seemed like a brief moment for Daigatz, Bane had spent the equivalent of nearly fifty years learning all the forbidden knowledge Onyx had somehow collected. Hearing this Supreme One, who was supposedly just like Guardian, the A.G.I. that controlled Bane's old world, calling Onyx one of the Exiled made him wonder.

"Tell me what you know about Onyx. Why do you call him an Exile, and I would also like to know what a being such as yourself purpose is. I am sure that you know about the one that is messing with my world, Guardian, right? Tell me what it is trying to do as well," Bane instructed, but Daigatz started to laugh, making Bane frown. He knew it was never good when the bad guys started laughing.

Daigatz stopped laughing, and then looked at Bane with a barely contained smile. "Do you really think that because you have pinned this weak avatar that you are strong enough to actually face one of us? This is a fraction of my true form, and if I were here in the flesh, you would be dead a thousand times over! You have no idea what you are dealing with!"

Bane had already figured as much, but he still wanted answers. Since the being before him didn't seem to be able to leave when he was restricted, Bane just needed to figure out how to persuade him to talk. He considered torturing the being, but he didn't think that was the solution, so Bane shrugged and then smiled.

"Fine, but since you can't leave while I have you like this, we are going to become fast friends! Or slow ones! Doesn't really matter, right? This place isn't a world, is it? This is some kind of space like my Sea of Consciousness, right? Come on! Don't be shy! I already know that time doesn't flow in this place!" Bane prodded with a vicious smile, but Daigatz remained silent.

The Supreme One knew that he was in trouble here. This monster had somehow learned the trick of this place, turning Daigatz's special domain where the normal rules of time and space didn't apply against him. His main advantage was his immortality and the limitless power he wielded. Here, though, that power was constrained by the strange, mutable laws of this place because he could only enter with an avatar. Worse, this child—Bane—had a terrifying mastery of those laws.

Daigatz remained silent, his mind racing as he searched for a way to break free. He could feel the bindings sapping his strength, but there had to be a way out. There always was.

Bane, sensing Daigatz's internal struggle, decided to press his advantage. "You're right, you know," he said, his voice calm but carrying an undercurrent of menace. "This isn't a real world. It's more like a... projection. A place where the boundaries of reality can be bent and twisted."

Bane began to circle Daigatz again, his eyes never leaving the Supreme One's face. "And that means I can keep you here as long as I want. So, unless you want to spend the rest of eternity in this little prison, you'd better start talking."

Daigatz snarled, his pride warring with his desperation. "You think you can threaten me? I am Daigatz, a Supreme One! I have conquered worlds, crushed civilizations. You are nothing but a speck in the grand scheme of things!"

Bane nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe. But this speck just brought you to your knees. And I don't think you like being in this position, do you?"

Daigatz's eyes blazed with fury, but he said nothing. Bane sighed. "Fine. We'll do this the hard way."

With a gesture, Bane conjured more runes around Daigatz, forming intricate patterns that glowed with an eerie light. The Supreme One felt a new kind of pressure, not just physical but mental, as if his very thoughts were being squeezed.

"You want answers?" Daigatz finally spat out, his voice strained. "Fine. I'll tell you what I know. But it won't make any difference. You're already doomed."

Bane raised an eyebrow. "We'll see about that. Start with Onyx. Why do you call him an Exile?"

Daigatz grimaced, clearly reluctant. "Onyx... Onyx was once one of us, a Supreme One. But he defied the council, broke our most sacred laws. He sought to merge the Light and Dark, to create a new balance. Such an act is forbidden. The council cast him out, exiled him to wander the Path Worlds, never to return."

Bane absorbed this information, his mind racing. "And Guardian? What is its purpose?"

"Guardian," Daigatz sneered, "is like me, but she has not completed her Path World like I have. She also has not subjugated your world, but that will come with the final merger. She only needs to absorb one more world, and then her Path World will be complete."

Bane Motioned for him to continue. "Path Worlds? What is the point? Why subjugate us?"

Daigatz smiled viciously. "To fight our faction wars for us, of course. You are nothing more than pawns on a grand chessboard. Each Supreme One constructs Path Worlds, harvesting and shaping them to produce warriors, resources, and strategic advantages. The more Path Worlds a Supreme One controls, the stronger they become in the eternal conflict."

Bane narrowed his eyes, absorbing the implications of Daigatz's words. "So Guardian is just another player in this cosmic game. But what happens when a Path World is completed?"

Daigatz's smile widened. "When a Path World is complete, it merges with the Supreme One's dominion, becoming a part of their realm. The inhabitants are either enslaved or exterminated, and the Supreme One's power grows exponentially. Guardian is close to achieving this with your world."