Seeing the attack, Karna did not fight against it. He calmly accepted the pure death energy that was hurled towards him.
For a moment, he wondered whether his thinking and conclusion were wrong or not. Because if he was wrong about this gamble, not only would he die, but everybody he loved and cared for would die as well.
Jason had told him that this universe had been destroyed in the original timeline. Till now, his belief was that Acnologia had destroyed it because this world had a lot of bad luck, and in the end, Fairy Tail was not strong enough like in the canon timeline.
But later, when he learned about the system's origin, he had doubts about it, as it indirectly told him that even when the world's timeline was slightly different from the version he saw back in his old world, the core fixed points were still there, and the world would have still gone on the same trajectory of the timeline even if he was not present within it.
The discovery of Ankhseram later on and the method by which he obtained the death element had only cemented Karna's doubt about how the world had actually ended.
Just moments ago, Ankhseram had revealed that his final aim was to reach a higher realm after absorbing the death energy from killing every individual on Earthland.
He had no idea whether his plan would work or not, but he did not let that rational thought get in the way of his aims. Ankhseram would kill every life on the planet without any hesitation.
And even if he did not succeed, he would not stop. He would believe that his next ascension did not happen because the amount of death he spread around was not enough. And this would, in turn, make him turn to the adjacent dimensions like Edolas and Elentear.
But the end of his journey might not be something he imagined it to be. Even if by chance he killed every life in all those dimensions, Jason would just erase him without even exerting himself.
But what's the use of it? By then, everything would have ended. All three worlds, including everyone Karna had loved, would have perished by then.
Jason had already told him that the fate of the world depended upon the denizens themselves, and the most he could do was give a few gifts and abilities to reincarnators like Karna, who had been put in that world by him.
If by chance the world got destroyed, Jason might protect the reincarnators, but the rest of the world would be at the mercy of the disaster they would be facing on their own.
That was the reason why Karna goaded Ankhseram to attack him with the maximum concentration of death energy that he could muster.
Karna had already realised long ago that he would lose in a direct battle between himself and Ankhseram. He had expected Ankhseram to be strong because of the years of experience he had under his belt, but Karna had hoped that a devil heart run by pure life energy would allow him to bridge that gap between them in battle.
But he now saw that he had been extremely naïve in this line of thinking.
'But at least my plan worked... the first half at least. Now if I fail in the second half, it will all be a big waste.'
Karna was able to feel that his body had already died, but his soul was still alive. That was because, in the last moment when Ankhseram sent out that concentrated amount of death energy, Karna tried his best to absorb it into his soul while abandoning his body entirely.
This was because he realised why Ankhseram was slow in gaining control of the domain of death.
Ankhseram's viewpoint of death as an absolute power that takes life away is a valid way to look at death.
But that is only one aspect of the domain of death itself.
Death is not something that aims to take everything.
Death is a curse to many, but at the same time it is a gift, an ability granted to all life that ever exists.
Even the absolute being that passed on its powers to Jason had chosen death with his whole heart.
DC Death's explanation about her duties can be considered the best example of how death is supposed to be. Death is fair to all, as it takes them without considering who they are or what they have done.
Ankhseram was slow in controlling death because he ignored every other aspect of death that exists.
The death that gives release to the old who have lived their full lives and now wish to start anew in another life.
The death that frees a person from wounds and pain that are insufferable to them.
The death that embraces those who have suffered so much in life that they want the pain to end.
The death that makes sure to give an end to everything and is fated to remain as the last being in existence itself, destined to see the last spark of life die out.
And because Ankhseram ignored all of them, they denied him as well.
But Karna welcomed them all towards him. Even though Jason had made his death painless before his reincarnation, he had felt every moment of it. Even though he was completely terrified as he felt his body disappear from his control, he had felt a sort of calming peace at the end.
That was what allowed him to accept bodily death at Ankhseram's hands and try to complete this crazy plan.
"I don't know whether my idea of death is the right one or not," he spoke to the aspects that were now surrounding him, curious as they were intrigued by the way he had called them by dying.
"But I know that death is more than just a symbol of destruction. I know its peace and the blessing it provides to life when it has suffered more than it can endure.
So please help me. Do not fall into the hands of the one who does not understand you," Karna requested the aspects.
A/N - Hope you like it.