Kharon levitated in place, wondering what he was meant to do when he once again realised something.
'How am I still breathing? I should be suffocating without any oxygen; unless complete domains allow the wielder to write their own laws as long as another domain doesn't challenge theirs. I would have thought that the Corrupted Graveborn Monarch would also have a domain... Could it be that Corrupted Beasts only get amplified powers but aren't recognised as the next tier above?'
Suddenly, another shockwave pushed Kharon tens of kilometres away, but he was able to stop himself from going too far. As he looked around the emptiness of the void, he used True Sight to try and locate Axel.
Once he did this, he felt extremely weak as blood began flowing from several orifices. Kharon desperately clutched at his head as he tried to calm himself down.
'Why can I see that far...? Did I use True Sight on a wider range than I can handle...? At least I was able to take a glimpse of Axel and that beast. They are unimaginably fast; this is the power of a pseudo tier 2. How powerful would a wielder who is truly at that level be?! How insignificant would my existence be?!'
Looking at his surroundings, Kharon began feeling light headed again as his eyes slowly closed and his vision turned pitch black.
...
Standing before him was a being of inconceivable height. It's massive multi-coloured eye seemed to encompass the whole universe. It's piercing gaze made Kharon shiver as he looked at the beast before him.
'This is the eye in the rift. The tier 2 beast with three paths... I have been so close to it before? But why did I need to?'
As Kharon thought about this, he heard a voice addressing the eye. He was unable to fully understand everything but tried his best to piece the meaning.
"Why... locked away in this... ???... battle for... ???"
'What were those two words...? I have never heard such complex and mind warping words. It felt as if the world was listening when he uttered them... This is definitely my voice; but it's colder and a lot sharper. Why did I seek out this beast?'
When the voice had finished talking, a cacophony of bone chilling sounds were produced from the eye as Kharon felt his head splitting in half. However his past self seemed to understand this indecipherable language as he smiled.
"I guess we should begin."
Saying this, Kharon felt his hands slowly rise as the surrounding darkness of space began to vanish. Instead all he could see was mist. Everything in this domain was covered by it. A few buildings and objects seemed to glitch and reveal unknowable truths. Knowledge flowed into Kharon's head as he learnt and forgot in unison.
'Even though this technically my domain, I am still subjected to its effects of memory infusion and memory loss? So your tier truly determines how you interact with domains. If you are too weak then the mere nature of the domain will cause you to unravel.'
Once the domain was formed, something seemed to appear; a glitch. However it was different from how the objects and buildings seemed to behave. It was a multi-coloured rip in space. As it continued to pulse with power, it grew bigger and bigger. Kharon could only watch as part of his domain slowly vanished, with its absence came a new kingdom.
Celestial bodies of varying colours, shapes and sizes began to appear as they overtook the already established domain and rewrote its nature. Time began to repeat and golden strings slowly unravelled the world. Soon, both domains had been established as Kharon looked on in complete shock.
'These are the domains of tier 2 beings. Not even Axel's temporary domain can compare to this. Their sheer scope is already greater than his. So many different galaxies; I doubt their numbers are below a thousand.'
Kharon heard a chuckle as he looked straight at the multi-coloured eye. As they both stared at each other Kharon began to walk forward as he clapped.
"Truly impressive. Despite... that... am ???... you can...."
Before the eye could react, Kharon had lunged at it and had broken through it's barrier. In an instant, he had already defeated the eye. As their domains slowly vanished, he heard himself say, "I can't... or... will kill me."
Darkness slowly came over him as his eyes gently closed. Before he fully lost consciousness, he heard himself mutter a few words. They seemed to be directed at someone other than the eye.
'Is he speaking to me...?'
Kharon internally chuckled as he finally passed out.
...
As he slowly woke up, Kharon realised that he had been picked by someone. He slowly looked around his surroundings before noticing Axel's presence before him. Suddenly, his senses were overwhelmed as he smelled the scent of blood. He tried inspecting Axel for his position of his back but failed miserably.
"Don't move so much. You almost died in my domain. I am sorry I wasn't able to properly protect you. At least I got an essence core from that Graveborn Monarch. We can split the money made from it. The Arcane Association would pay a lot for a corrupted essence."
Listening to this, Kharon asked weakly, "Are you ok after that fight? Creating a complete domain, even if temporary must put a strain on your body. You can put me down. I promise I am fine-."
Axel suddenly dropped him as they jumped through the air. Kharon was unable to react as he began to fall towards the hard ground. Before he could reach the ground, Axel had already caught him on his back as he said, "You can barely even stay conscious, let alone go through the forest alone. It is already impressive that you didn't die in my domain. That brooch I gave you made sure I would keep you in mind while fighting. But I still ended up hurting you."
"You were fighting a powerful beast which was close to tier 2. It is more impressive that you didn't die. You even managed to defeat it despite being unfamiliar with its mutations. Speaking of mutations, what type of powers did it possess?"
A long silence passed as Axel suddenly answered, "It was able to distort rules and abstract concepts. The shadows in my domain attacked me, gravity seemed to become stronger and weaker sporadically. It was absolute chaos. Once I got used to its distorted powers and found the weakness in its death-related powers, I managed to defeat it."
Axel continued to jump from tree to tree as Kharon noticed the setting sun. It's golden rays seemed to cover the world in orange paint. The surroundings began to turn darker as a large shadow seemed to swallow the sun whole.
'The rift. It's strange to think that it co-exists with the sun and always put Lunaris Haven in a perpetual state of darkness. Maybe the rift will vanish and the sun will shine on Lunaris Haven; one day.'
"The rift truly is beautiful, isn't it?"
"It really is. I know a bit about it's origins-"
Kharon realising what he had said froze as his body slightly tensed.
In a slightly concerned tone, Axel asked, "Are you ok Kharon? You don't have to tell me whatever you wanted to say. The Hollow King already told me about your age so you shouldn't be worried if that is what you-"
"No, no it's not that. I mean, I remember something. I had a vision of myself and the eye in the rift. We had a domain clash and I managed to win. It spoke in an undecipherable language which I seemed to understand. And I spoke in an ancient language as well. I lost a few of my regained memories but I also gained new ones."
"The eye in the rift is a tier 2 beast?! Now that alone is worth a lot of money. Though knowing the Arcane Association, they are probably aware. It's not like a random tier 4 wielder can just waltz into their headquarters and reveal such a massive secret."
"Information can be sold for money huh. That's interesting... But anyways, I remembered that the rift is a prison of sorts and the eye is its prisoner. I heard myself say the eye's name but I couldn't begin to comprehend what type of words were spoken."
Kharon sighed as he continued, "The prison was created by the God of Chronos and the Goddess of Fate. I think the God of Order was also involved."
Axel listened silently as he thought about what he had just been told. He looked up at the sky as they got closer to the city before asking, "Do you know what the beast did to be sealed in such a prison? And just how powerful is it to the point where three Gods are needed to seal it?"
"I have no idea what it did. However I know that it has the power of three paths: Chronos, Cosmos and Fate. With such variety I doubt it can easily be defeated. There must also be a reason why it was sealed by the Gods of its paths..."