"You…damn…FATHER-IN-LAW!"


    Damien''s figure crashed through the wall of the Imperial Pce, barreling towards the Adire Empire with Mirage already mid-swing.


    The second his body entered the room, Damien let off a crescent moon-shaped space de.


    The Adire Emperor looked up at Damien''s falling figure and grinned. "Good! I''ve been wanting to beat your ass too!"


    He waved his hand, easily dispersing Damien''s space de. At the same time, his figure was wrapped in light green mana.


    Whoosh!


    The Emperor narrowed the distance so fast it looked like he teleported. His fist flew forward with turbulent mana coating it.


    Damien gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on Mirage, bringing it forward and using it to block the punch.


    SCREEEEECH!


    As the fist ground against the sword de in a bid for territory, a screeching howl rang out from the collision. But more surprising than the sound was the fact that Damien was able to hold out against the Emperor''s momentum.


    "If there''s one thing I can be confident in…it''s my physical stats!"


    Damien''s arms bulged as he pushed as much power as he could. Mana furiously swirled around his limbs and enhanced them.


    Vector control subtly activated in the background, exponentially multiplying the weight of Damien''s sword.


    And as the push of strength slowly whittled away at the Emperor''s resistance, Damien added a final touch of spatial mana to the equation.


    ''Void Sword Art Fourth Form: Spatial Copse''


    Mirage broke through the Emperor''s defenses, but was unable to cut its target, the Emperor narrowly dodged before it could. However, there was no way for him to dodge the following attack.


    Space shattered around Damien and the Emperor, folding in on itself and fusing into strange patterns. Damien and the Emperor were pulled into the void beyond the space crack.


    "Hahaha! Kid, you''ve improved drastically since thest time we fought!" The Adire Emperorughed rambunctiously.


    Damien rolled his eyes. "This is nothing. Watch how I beat your ass now that we''ve entered my home territory."


    ''Mirror Domain''


    The void shattered into countless ss fragments that floated through the air. The concepts of distance and position seemed to disappear entirely,


    And because Damien activated his domain in the void space that was filled with ckness that already dulled the senses, its effects were exponentially increased.


    The Emperor frowned as he looked around him. For some reason, he felt like he couldn''t move a single step even though his movements hadn''t been physically constrained.


    "What''d you do?" He asked curiously. His awareness spread through the area as he tried to understand the situation.


    But even that was a daunting task. The ss-like shards of space that floated through the domain were all small ruptures of their own. The second the Emperor''s awareness entered that rupture, it''d be disced and destroyed in an instant.


    The only way to navigate through the thousands upon thousands of mirror fragments was to take a decent amount of time and concentration to weave awareness through the space and understand it.


    But mid-battle, was that an option?


    Damien''s figure shed from ce to ce within the boundaries of the mirror realm multiple times every second. His movement waspletely unrestrained.


    And at a certain point, mirage phantoms of Damien began appearing in space.


    "This?" Damien finally responded to the Emperor''s question. "This is just a little iplete trick of mine."


    He waved his hand, the phantom Damiens following his motion. Space was thrown intoplete chaos.


    The floating mirror fragments shot forward like ice shards as they targeted the Emperor. Countless spatial des and attacks from deless followed suit.


    The Emperor waspletely surrounded before he even had the opportunity to fight. Although none of these attacks would kill him, it didn''t change the fact that he''d be the first injured.


    "Haa, fine! I lose." He dered sullenly.


    Damien grinned and waved his arm, canceling the wave of attacks. The Mirror Domain vanished soon after. And once the domain that was preventing space from repairing itself vanished, space melded back together as well, dropping Damien and the Emperor back in the room where the girls were waiting.


    "What''d you think, father-inw? Pretty good, right?" Damien bragged shamelessly.


    The Adire Emperor clicked his tongue. "It was luck this time. Plus, even if the attacknded, it wouldn''t have hurt me."


    "Tsk tsk," Damien replied scornfully. "Who knew the Adire Emperor was such a sore loser."


    "Who are you calling a sore loser? I simply went easy on you because you are my daughter''s precious husband. What, you didn''t like the gift I prepared?"


    "Tch, we aren''t even near the sea, yet you somehow still manage to be so damn salty."


    "Damn brat!"


    "Stupid old geezer!"


    The two turned their heads away at the same time, causing the women in the room to burst into a fit of giggles. Hearing them, Damien finally turned his attention away from the Emperor.


    A genuine smile formed on his face.


    "Mom." He called out. Walking over to the woman standing at the side, he gave her a warm hug."


    "I''m d you''re doing well," ire responded with an equally warm smile. A shadow of tears formed in the corner of her eye.


    She wasn''t just greeting Damien casually. She truly meant her words with all her heart.


    The dreams never stopped.


    Whenever she worried about Damien''s safety, she''d have another terrifying dream. Even though she didn''t know exactly what he went through, she knew enough.


    And she hated that her son lived a lifestyle which could kill him at any moment.


    But she didn''t have the right to stop him. Due to beingatose from Mana Sickness during the most important years of Damien''s life, she lost the right to scold him and influence his path.


    The only thing she could do for her son was stay safe. Stay safe and keep afortable home ready for him whenever he was in the need of a ce to stay.


    That was her duty as a parent.


    And it was also the reason why she was doing so poorly at trying to control her tears. They flowed freely like a river, staining Damien''s robes in the process.


    Damien smiled wryly. "What are you crying about, mom? Isn''t this a happy asion?"


    ire nodded and wiped her tears. "You''re right. Of course this is a happy asion. Don''t you know how to tell tears of joy apart from those of sadness?"


    ire flicked Damien''s forehead jokingly as she spoke, lightening up the atmosphere that was just beginning to stall.


    "Come," she proimed. "Let''s head to the main hall. The servants have prepared a great feast for us!"


    The group changed locations,ughing and chattering the entire way. Once they arrived, they were truly treated to a feast for kings. There was an unimaginable amount of food, but more unimaginable was the speed at which Damien consumed it.


    The night was spent warmly as Damien and the girls shared their stories about the Cloud ne. The exciting stories filled with impossible sights held an unspeakable allure to both ire and James.


    And by the time the festivities ended, the 3-day duration of the grand celebration came to an end as well. Dawn arrived on a new day in Apeiron, with everyone finally returning to their daily lives.


    As for Damien, he was currently in the throne room of the Imperial Pce, having a private meeting with the Adire Emperor.