"Hamar! Listen–"
But Hamar did not listen...he had seen his strength and realised it, they were being too conservative. They did not realise the true power they have.
'Not anymore' Hamar thought to himself, keeping the thought from being sensed from the being sharing his body, Hou. He continued, this time letting Hou hear, 'I'm not stupid, but I'm not afraid of a little risk either...'
Hou thought about it for a moment then sighed, resigning himself, "Okay...What's the plan then?"
"Exactly as I said, we go for the leader...or as close as we can get."
"And what would we do then, just kill them? This is risky, Yi Sect knows the same as we do and most likely even more...we should just wait as w–"
Hamar stopped flying, aura solidified under his feet in the air. A sonic boom exploded and he looked up, but Hou could tell that really...really be was looking IN.
"Hou, I understand you. I really do but...think about what we've seen," his fist tightened, "All those lives, master he– he means well but..."
Hou hung his head, "I understand but...ultimately it's for the greater good."
"It may be..."
Boom!
He kicked off the air, continuing his journey, in his mind he finished his sentence, 'But, I can't accept those useless deaths. I'll force the real forces to get fighting.'
***
"Someone's approaching" a knelt servant reported with a hint of reverence within his voice.
"That is fine, he is not here to kill, not entirely. Allow me to solve it."
With that said, the man who had received the report vanished from the sight of the bowing servant. Outside, they reappeared with no disturbance.
Hamar kicked his foot out in front, creating a floor to stop himself from flying, "Are you the leader?" He eyes flickered over the figure.
***
White thinning hair. Old sun-kissed wrinkled skin. Short stature exacerbated from the woes of age. A long robe but not overly so, just like any old man.
That is what his eyes told him. What his senses reported, but internally, his intuition blared. It warned him intensely, he was not as simple as he could sense, obviously so; considering he was floating without any apparent source of propulsion or platform.
"Some call me a leader of sorts, you could think of me as a patriarch."
Hamar stared at his eyes, "And you came to meet me? Do you court death for no reason?"
He shrugged, "I know what you want. I saw your little attempts, how about we do as you want. I think of them as my children too, I don't want them to die." He looked over and around Hamar's shoulder, towards the fighting of the armies colliding.
"I would like that...you want to do this so easily?"
Seemingly as if not hearing him, the old man spoke up, "Do you have one?"
Hamar furrowed his brows, "What do you mean?"
He threw up his hands, raising them to the sky, "This world, you know what it is...don't you? And," he pointed his bony finger towards Hamar's stomach, "You have one, don't you?"
He opened this mouth to answer but before anything came about, the old man continued, "Good. I don't suppose you wish to join me?"
"I don't suppose you would change your stance on the destruction of this world?" Hamar countered.
haha, Ha Ha, HA HA, HÅ HÅ
the old man chuckled, quickly evolving into a grainy cackle, "You are right, but I wasn't lying...they are my children and I want them to join me. We will all go back to where we belong, they just have to abandon their simple forms and become something new."
"And that would keep them 'alive' but it wouldn't be them...that's the catch, isn't it?"
He stopped smiling, "If that is how you see it. We are not of this battle though...you know that. We are above that."
Hamar, this time, was the one to laugh, "We?"
"Granted, I do not have one of those, a true world in my grasp...but do you have any idea of what I have?"
Hamar shook his head, "Support." His lips rippled as the old man responded.
He continued, "As you can guess, I have support from a certain group. This world, why do you think I want to destroy it?"
Hamar waited in silence before responding, "It's not real."
"But what do you mean by 'not real'?"
Hamar cocked his head sideways, Hou whispered in his mind simultaneously, "Because it was created by a person, a human."
Tut tut, the elderly figure shook his finger, "You are wrong, I don't believe that. The real reason this is all fake is because...it is. This world and the world you contain are not the same. This world is something used to imprison the consciousness of criminals, did you know that?"
Hamar and Hou consulted, "I did."
"This world is here to torture a specific number of consciousness and split them endlessly...eventually they would..." He mimicked an explosion with his hands.
A chill ran down Hamar's neck, "I'm sure we can find a solution."
"Maybe..." He walked forward and placed his palm on Hamar's shoulder, "But I've chosen my path now." with eye contact he snapped his other hand.
White enveloped the two of them, then figures appeared behind the old man, a small group of suited figures. Then seemed shock, "Why–"
The old man snapped his neck back, "You gave me this power, I am helping you. You will do as I wish, I have not betrayed you...this is politeness."
He hovered this hand towards the figures and a white veil fell from the endless void. He turned gently back to Hamar, "How about we talk? I'm sure we can have fun while we let the others fight. Don't worry about the armies, both side has been neutralised temporarily."
Hamar, still dumbfounded, looked around in confusion. At the same time the old man conjured two comfy chairs, "Sit."
He crossed his legs, "Where should I start? I am...I was just a normal person once, the name's Zhou Tian."
Hamar, but moreso Hou, was caught offhandedly, "Y-you?!" They recognised his name, as would every person alive in this world. He was the legendary first figure in humankind to bend nature to their whims, the first spirit master and...
"A progenitor...I see now why you can see them as your children, I must thank you for your contributions regardless of your actions now." Hou directed Hamar despite his reluctance to thank his enemy.
He sat down and Zhou Tian took a deep breath, "Thank you, it does mean a lot to me. I hope you really understand my point of view." He perked up for a moment, "ah, it seems the fighting has begun. Your master is doing quite well."
Hamar felt the cushions, comfortable he thought, "So you can still sense the outside?"
"I can indeed. So can you, you left your power within that very same master of yours, didn't you? Causality."