Chapter 71 - Faith of the Faithful (2)

On an asteroid floating in space, a dome of pure white appeared. It isolated everything outside it from those inside. Not even the turbulent residual energies and auras of that region of space could slip through much less the gazes of the soldiers gathered in the area. The last thing they saw was their Saint of Faith kissing a man in a white cloak, the same white cloak that stretched out into a dome that covered everything. Unable to do anything, the soldiers dispersed and returned to their duties, grumbling about the man they had never seen before.

The Saint of Faith was like an untouchable goddess to them. They certainly did not appreciate the fact that there was some random man who would kiss her. Worse yet, she reciprocated, clinging to him like it was a matter of life and death. They could not understand. After all, that woman was the same being who slaughtered an entire contingent of enemies that tried to sneak into this area that was less guarded by their army. Little did the enemies know that the only reason there were less soldiers here was because the Saint of Faith herself had requested it, leaving only the bare minimum required for a garrison.

But the two inside the white dome did not care about their opinions. They never did. From the moment that their mother died, they swore to only live for each other. No one else mattered. The two laid down on the pure white ground, just feeling each other's warmth, nurturing that long forgotten thread that connected their very beings to each other.

This red thread, it represented their Fates tied together. But more than that, it represented their existence that depended on each other. Indeed, the reason why Serena had not perished despite being just a human was because Chrysos had yet to die, his lifespan had not yet reached its end. It was also the reason why they were both patient. Their Fates were tied together, inseparable even by an absolute authority. After all, it was formed from a Path, a very unique and exclusive Path.

After a few hours, they finally calmed down. Their raging emotions settled as they finally returned to the solace of their union. Right now, they were at the peak of their power, touch the threshold of something they vowed to breach together. Despite countless years of growth, despite being able to advance long ago, they could not do it. It was not only that their existence could not ascend, but rather that they did not wish to ascend without doing it together. And now that they were together...

Space trembled as the entire region quaked. The soldiers, despite being in the vacuum of space, felt the nauseating shaking of reality around them. Even in the distance, the planet covered in white frost and blizzard winds was trembling. The cosmic debris all around were either crushed to dust or were sent flying in every direction.

Even the residual auras and energies in the region dispersed completely, unable to withstand the burst of power coming from the birth of two new Ascendants and the emergence of auras. Even with the white dome isolating everything, the power behind the two still managed to leak. But even then, what leaked out was only the tiniest portion of their auras while the vast majority of their powers remained trapped within the white dome space.

Everyone was shocked and bewildered. They did not know where this burst of aura was coming from nor did they understand how truly terrifying it was. The human army began preparing for another attack, thinking it was the enemy coming after them, but even after the aura had receded and vanished, even after waiting for a few hours, no enemy appeared.

Inside the white dome, Chrysos and Serena sat up, feeling the change in their powers. They had grown a lot stronger, but that was already a given. What they were more interested in was the fact that their connection had gotten even stronger. The red string from before had grown, expanding into a tether the size of a pipe. It extended from the depths of their beings, connecting them at much deeper and more comprehensive manner than before.

Now, they did not need to be physically close together to advance, but that was just a minor improvement. The best gift they received was the fact that they share their powers with each other. Or more accurately, they could borrow powers from each other. And as one of them grows stronger, both of them benefit from it. Each of their uniqueness would only become further enhancements to the two of them. It was as though they shared an existence.

This was the fruit of their union.

This was the result of their love.

This was born of their Faith.

Indeed, their path was that of Faith, the very thing they both disdained. But their path was very different from what others interpreted Faith to be. Their Faith was not in anyone else, but in themselves and in each other. They understood well what Faith was. Faith was fickle thing. Faith in another is a surrender of oneself. But what if two people placed their Faith in each other, surrendered themselves to each other?

Now this was a different form of Faith. It was not born of selfishness and selflessness. This was born of unconditional trust and love. Neither Chrysos nor Serena carried a greater burden in their relationship. The two of them carried everything together, relying on each other to fill the gaps in each other's weaknesses, comforting each other in difficult times, becoming the pillars of each other's lives. This was the basis of their Faith. This was the foundation of their Path of Faith. The same path that remained undiscovered and elusive in Dominion.

Indeed, even after conquering the entire universe, the Divine Noblesse Empire who walked the Path of Dominion had never been able to win their Pinnacle War. And it was all because they never managed to find out who their enemies were. There was only one remaining path in Dominion, a path that they could not find much less destroy. And today, that path had given birth to two new Ascendants.

"I wonder how those fools in the Empire would react if they found out that the prince they imprisoned for so long was the Origin of Faith that they had been looking to kill for a long time. And now, they'd released you and even allowed you to ascend."

"Even if they managed to find out and killed me, it wouldn't have worked. I would only return because you were still alive. Perhaps only our path is this unique, to have two Origins connected as one."

Two Origins for a single path, this was the truth of their Path of Faith. And indeed, even if Chrysos was killed, it would not have affected them much because he would have been reborn from the authority of Faith simply because Serena was still alive. And although Serena could only live for so long because Chrysos' lifespan had not yet ended, the only thing that really kill the Origins of Faith and destroy the Path of Faith was by killing both Chrysos and Serena at the same time. Or else, they would only continue surviving through their connection to each other and the power of their path.

"So are you going to tell me about this little one?"

Serena looked around the white space inside the dome. She had never seen anything like it, and if it was any other person, she would have thought it was some strange artifact or power that created this isolated space. But she was the Origin of Faith connected to the other Origin of Faith. She could feel the connection not just between Chrysos and this white space, but also between herself and the white space. She could even feel its strange emotions, that of emptiness or rather a maddening peacefulness. It was a perversion of what peace even meant, but Serena could feel the comfort it brought to her husband. And she also understood that this white space was a living being.

"This is Pax, a friend I made in the Forbidden Gaol. It accompanied me for a long time. It was born from the authority of Faith that it absorbed from me. I guess that's why it decided to stay."

"This is amazing. I've never seen or heard of new life being born from the authority of a path. But it's also because of that that it cannot leave us. Can you feel it? It's not only staying because it's your friend. It's staying because we are its parents. The path we created had given it life."

Hearing Serena's words, the white space quivered gently. Serena smiled as she felt a new emotion coming through her connection with Pax. It was happy. Being acknowledged by its creators or parents was a joyful thing to it. And for a moment, the pure white space seemed to ripple as though something wanted to change within it but was unable to. Tiny ripples appeared everywhere as it slowly tried to change, but nothing happened. After a while, everything returned to a still calmness and the unsettling peace.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

That is until a piercing scream rang out from beside Serena. Chrysos, who was still in the middle putting his clothes back on, suddenly fell to the ground, screaming pain. His hands pressed tightly against his chest as an unknown piercing pain scorched through his body from the depths of his being. Serena wanted to help, but Pax held her back under Chrysos' command. And they watched as golden light burst out of Chrysos chest. It was just about the size of a fist, but there it was, like a blazing stake that thrust at his heart.

It was a brilliant and majestic white golden flame.