The Darkness

"The correct phrase is here goes nothing." Mia corrected Kai as the door swung open.

"I make my own dialogues." He retorted as they stepped inside.

"Well, no formations, no traps. This dude is quite sure that nobody could beat his alarm system." Kai said as he glanced around the place.

It looked as though the dude was quite rich. Royal carpets were spread out on a wooden floor. Three king-size beds with velvet sheets were placed in different positions. Antiques decorated the walls and a delicious smell was coming from the kitchen.

"It looks as though he found out about us and decided to run away." Mia sighed and kicked a couch.

"Nah, he is still here." Kai said as smiled at the door.

"Where do you think you are going?" He moved at an impossible speed and caught something in the air.

Kai snapped his fingers and a man came into view. He opened his mouth as a squeal was heard. His eyes were horror-struck and he was tongue-tied. He tried to break free from Kai's grip but it was useless.

"An invisibility pill. One that was at low quality." Kai said thoughtfully before staring into the man's eyes.

"I just need your memories. And then, you will be on your way to the afterlife." He touched the man's forehead and the man's eyes started glowing.

"Ahh" He writhed in pain and tried to break free from Kai's grip but it was a futile attempt. The man's eyes started burning and that's when he let go of his body. His eyes were completely burned but he was still alive.

The man screamed and tried to bolt out of the door. But no sooner had he taken his first step, Kai snapped his fingers, thus turning the man into dust.

"Quickly give me your hand." he asked as he extended his hand towards Mia who took hold of it without hesitation.

Their eyes rolled back and both Kai and Mia fell on the floor. No sound was heard as Kai and Mia were unconscious.

***

"Where are we?" Mia asked as she glanced around her. She and Kai were standing in a place that looked boundless.

Nothing was here, except for darkness that stretched on for kilometers. Mia couldn't see the end of it so she just glanced at Kai.

"This is the darkness. Every living thing, whether they are a human, a demon, a beast, or anything that exists, comes here after they are dead." Kai explained as he touched the darkness with his hands.

"Whatever that exists, always return to the darkness. Immortality? There is no such thing as true immortality. People don't die when they are killed. They die when nobody remembers them. This is where they come after that." Kai added and stretched out his hands. The darkness moved along his body swiftly before settling down on his right shoulder. It took a blob-like shape and peacefully slept in his shoulder.

"Was that a cosmic mystery you just unraveled?" Mia asked and shuddered as she realized the true meaning of Kai's words.

"I have unraveled every single mystery in this universe, whether it's about how the world was created or why people sing bathroom songs. But I don't think I should tell you about that." He took a while before answering and started walking. If Kai told Mia about the truth of the universe, she would not be able to handle it.

Mia wordlessly followed him as the darkness continued to stretch on and on forever. She had many questions but she thought that it was better if she didn't ask them.

"Ahh, here it is." Kai said as he extended his hand into the darkness at a particular spot. The darkness that was sitting on his shoulder flowed through his arm into the real darkness and came back to his shoulder after a few minutes.

"This place is also known as the land of memories. Like I just said, people die when they are forgotten. Death and his reapers bring the souls here after their bodies are dead. Their memories and souls are trapped in eternal sleep. Some souls break free from that sleep and are reincarnated. Then there are people like you who are forcefully awakened from that sleep." Kai said as he touched the blob of darkness on his shoulder.

The world started spinning and everything turned black and white. He and Mia were hovering in the sky whereas the man he had killed was below them, his eyes were completely empty and his body was lifeless.

"We are about to see his memories." Kai said as he tapped the man's forehead. The world started spinning once again.

This time, he and Mia were standing beside the man who was darting through a crowd of people. A battalion of guards was chasing him. The crowd parted to let the guards through the man somehow managed to slip past them.

"These memories will be gone after a while. Your memories are completely soaked by this place and you won't remember anything. That is why newborns don't know anything about the world they are living in. But in the case of people who can reincarnate with memories, they use a spell to bind their memories to their soul so the second they reincarnate, they can easily get their memories back." Kai explained as the scene changed once again.

This time, they were on a ship that was battling beasts while a storm. The sea was actually the huge mass of water that separated the continents from each other.

"He was from the central continent. He was a measly merchant who sold expired things and spent most of his life with an empty stomach. But one day, he met a group of 60 men who were like him. They wanted to break into the royal treasury to steal the items in there so that they could be rich. He too joined them as he thought that if they succeeded, then they would be reached. But if they failed, they would die. Either way, his life would change, either for the better or for the worse.

Believe it or not, they managed to break in and collect many riches. While others were collecting stuff like gold, treasures, etc., this man's gaze fell on a set of containers labeled as - invisibility pills, heaven transcendence pills, underwater breathing pills, and the last container that held a soul-controlling pill. He took the containers with him and some gold too with a treasure that his face in front of other people." Kai provided commentary as they watched everything unfold from the man's point of view.

"They became the most wanted men on the continent and they decided to flee to the western continent. Once they entered the sea, the people from the central continent stopped chasing them as they believed that they will either die because of storms or will be killed by beasts.

Their prediction was correct. Their entire journey was full of beasts but they somehow managed to defeat them using the treasures they obtained from the royal treasury. But after covering about 70% of the distance, a huge storm attacked their ship and beasts kept attacking them. This man hid in a dead beast's body and used an underwater breathing pill to survive. He swam towards the shore for 15 days before he finally reached it." Kai said as they saw the man swimming through the sea.

The man had gathered everything he could before escaping from the sea and he sold the items to gain money.

"That's how he got that pills. But who created them?" Mia asked.

"There is a rumor on the holy continent that the royal family has captured an expert alchemist. Apparently, her nickname is 'the pink-haired alchemy expert.' That's Risea." Kai replied and clenched his fists.

Surprisingly, the royal family had written the instructions on how to use the pills. They saw the man sell the Soul controlling pill to the Red Flower sect who used it to control Kiana.

They also saw him selling the heaven transcendence pills to a group of people. Surprisingly, the group of people were the terrorists Kai had killed in Ryazu city.

It looked as though the man didn't tell them about the effects of the Heaven transcendence pill because otherwise, they won't have taken it. After taking that pill, your cultivation will exceed by a realm but it will only last for a day before you explode because of the excessive spiritual energy inside you.

After they finished watching his memories, Kai and Mia stumbled back to the real world. They stepped outside without speaking anything.

Kai stood silently for a minute, his fists still clenched. He then released an angry yell before punching a wall of the house.

He continued to punch the house and it tumbled down after a few minutes.

"I can't rescue her because I don't have the strength to teleport to the Central continent. Arghh! What should I do?!" He shouted at the sky and he still looked like he wanted to punch someone.

"You could try to increase your cultivation. You could also search this continent for another harem member." Mia said gently and squeezed Kai's clenched hands.

He slowly opened them and let go of Mia's hands. He took a few deep breaths before his face lit up with a smile.

"Well, I feel a lot better after that. Now I know where Risea is and I promise that I will find her. And since the rumor says that she is being held in as a prisoner, I am going to massacre the entire royal family for doing that." Kai said as he cracked his knuckles.

"But for now, let's focus on things I can do. Let's go check that space gate out." He said and took hold of Mia's hands and they vanished.