Carl Jung

The explosion killed almost everyone. The army of lizards was completely wiped out. Only six Hunters remained, without including Kai. Only the strong would be able to survive such a blast.

Kai had never noticed the trick. Buried under the confusion on who killed who. But one fact remained certain. Kai did not gain the power of the sword. Alexander had. But Kai was not thinking about such things. He was not trying to piece together the plan. All he was doing was basking in the hollowness left in his stomach.

Everything he had ever worked for. After so many lifetimes. He now was left with nothing.

………

He had lost all of his companions in a matter of seconds. All of the egos he had acquired seemed to have sprung forth. Each one of them clinging to him. Scratching him, pulling him under. The weight of each of their lives was heavy.

Each one of them screeching, asking him to die.

But Kai’s mind had gone blank. The shock had clearly made him unaware of his surroundings. Even as his egos fought for control.

And just as quickly, all of his egos disappeared. They slowly faded away, as Kai finally reached his breaking point. They were annoying him. Why did he have to carry the weight of the dead? Even if all of these people had meant something to him in the past. That was a long time ago. Another him, perhaps.

And so, Kai grabbed the neck of an ego right next to him and strangled it. It was a little boy, with the same color hair as Kai. Even if Kai had forgotten everyone else, he had never forgotten about the child. As he slowly choked him, the other egos seemed to dissipate.

The moment the boy died, Kai stopped being himself. He instantly lost all attachment towards this world and achieved a complete transformation of the psyche.

Ego death.

He saw the universe itself unfolding in front of him. How insignificant we are compared to its massive scale. He was also aware of the smallest of details. How each and every atom moved. Shifted. How the universe was formed by quarks. How particles interacted with one another, how string came together, folded, tore apart.

The six surviving Hunters started to surround him. He would later note their red eyes and strange appearance. But as of this moment, he was only focusing on understanding. Understanding that the space between everything is relative. It is tangible. Hunters have always been able to do it. But this is the first time he understood what that meant.

“We are finally at the end game huh?” asked one of the Hunters.

"Since when do you anything about chess?" asked another.

The conversation went on, but Kai was not paying any attention. He had been closing his eyes for a while now. But he finally opened them. A liquid seemed to be contained in them, swirling and ever-changing. The universe itself was contained inside his eyes. A pool of stars, small planets, solar systems, and galaxies swirled around inside the microcosm that had formed inside his eyes.

Kai had gained the Goddess' will through ego death. It was, ironically, what finally let him reach her. He had to lose everything to gain everything.

By killing his egos, and liberating himself from their memories, he had achieved what was thought of as impossible.

By killing so many Hunters as he had, he had gained a large portion of the power of the Goddess. And with the death of his egos, he had liberated himself of the clutches of the author. All of this was achieved because of the death of his comrades. Alexander had accomplished his goal.

And Kai has gained access to a new stage.