"However, no one would have thought a mere mortal would be able to enter the void and exploit such a minuscule loophole in the laws governing the domain." Yama laughed out loud when he reached this point.
"So, all they could do was allow us to finish what we came here to do and simply lie in wait to obstruct the final phase of the mission." Daniel guessed whilst Yama agreed with a nod.
"I hope this works; otherwise, all our efforts would come to naught."
"Though we might be on par with most gods, the three of us combined are still insignificant in the presence of one determined elder god, not to talk of three or five."
"So that's why we had to resort to such tricks." Daniel caught onto Yama's train of thought.
"Exactly. If lady luck is on our side, then our bait would fool Kvass' eye of truth." Yama sighed as he gazed toward the palace.
"It's time." He said as he whipped out a wooden shield that had many ancient runes etched onto it.
Wham!
Daniel felt a repulsive force that was a thousand times stronger than the one he felt whilst he was climbing the stairs approach them.
"Hang on!"
"I'm hanging on!"
"Hang tighter!"
Yama bellowed as Daniel grabbed onto him with all the strength he could muster, whilst Yama placed the shield in front of himself whilst the runes on it began to glow and emit mystical auras.
Kaboom!
The repulsive force slammed into them, hurtling them across the sky like a comet that had entered into orbit.
Once they were out, the shield vanished as Yama tried his best to calm his roiling divine energy whilst Daniel's soul body dimmed significantly, causing him to sway like a leaf in the wind.
After a few minutes, Yama recovered and instantly began the ritual to summon the gate that led to the yellow springs of the netherworld.
Two otherworldly altars appeared in front of Yama, and they both had gateway pillars hovering above them; several gems and ores containing potent energies floated before Yama who nudged them toward the first altar in a bid to activate it.
The altar sucked these resources dry before it then began to hum excitedly; it then shot out a beam of light towards the gateway pillars above it, as a portal began to spin to life.
The moment the portal stabilized, Daniel saw an ocean of yellow waters flowing into the distance, and within it were countless souls who had listless eyes denoting that their memories seemed to have been wiped.
"Take this shuttle-," Yama said as he summoned a palm-sized boat.
"-it will ensure that you don't come into direct contact with the yellow springs." He added.
"What will happen if I did fall into it?" Daniel curiously asked as Yama helplessly shook his head.
Though he liked Daniel's curious nature; which was an attitude those who seek knowledge should have; but sometimes this same curiosity can lead to death, and Yama can vividly recall the several fatal situations he had found himself in due to the thirst for knowledge.
But despite that, he still chose to calmly answer Daniel.
"Then every single memory you have would be wiped away." Daniel nodded in understanding as Yama activated the shuttle which expanded in size.
"You will be able to control the shuttle with your mind now; and remember, there are innumerable amounts of portals along the path of the yellow springs; some of them are golden, whitish, and reddish in color; avoid the red ones at all costs and make sure you enter one of the golden ones."
Yama warned as the boat expanded to a size that could hold three passengers; but just as Daniel was about to depart, he and Yama suddenly felt as if a part of them had died.
"Damn, that was faster than I thought; but it has still bought us precious time." Yama muttered softly.
"What happened?" Daniel asked in a panic.
"It seems Sun's clones had died, which means our ruse had been foiled." Yama muttered whilst throwing another batch of energy-rich gems onto the second altar.
"Leave, now!" Yama bellowed as he pushed the shuttle through the clear portal.
Daniel watched as Yama scampered around in panic; then he saw the second portal open from afar as Sun and Valpak's bedraggled bodies fell through it.
He watched Yama hurriedly prop them up, and the moment the duo could stand on their own, they looked into the portal he had gone through and revealed beaming smiles.
"At last!" Sun muttered with an exhausted sigh.
"Puny mortal!"
Valpak bellowed as Daniel looked at him with teary eyes; it had been a while since Valpak had last referred to him as 'Mortal' and the memories of their adventures suddenly began to flood his mind as silent tears streamed down his cheeks.
He was now very far from their position, and could barely see their face, but Valpak's voice still reached him.
"Cultivate discreetly and live a good life; when you become strong enough, then we will meet once again." Valpak said in exhaustion.
"Take no crap from anyone and surmount every obstacle you come across, and if you can't scale them, destroy them all." Sun bellowed in laughter.
Moments later, Daniel heard several different bellows.
"You dare!"
"Hateful trickster!"
"Die!"
Next, he heard Sun's laughter, followed by Valpak's snort, and Yama's confident voice say.
"You're all too late; the prophecy has begun to come to pass. You cannot stop it now!"
"You guys hold them back; I'll go grab that pesky mortal!"
Daniel heard a feminine voice say as he blanched in horror; he knew the voice either belonged to Belen or Beira, and the fury in her tone told him that he would die a miserable death if they managed to catch him.
But it was at that moment that he saw the portal he had come through beginning to close, followed by one of the goddess' cries.
"Yama!"
Then he heard Yama yell in horror.
"No!"
Then the portal vanished.