20 shadows popted a discreet corner of the Emperor Bone Sea, nearly unmoving for over a week.


    This was the amount of time Damien and Zara had been in Aquazyl, and unfortunately for their pursuers, entering the ancient realm was easier said than done.


    "It''s impossible for them to just disappear! Don''t tell me some random kid was able to sense us and escape?!" One of the men said.


    "No, that''s impossible. The leader responded. "Not to mention the power difference, I''ve heard that brat is especially arrogant. Even if he did sense us, he wouldn''t run." The leader responded with squinted eyes.


    Because Damien was a known special expert, they''d been trailing at arge distance, but this ended up working against them. In the midst of this strange whirlpool formation they surrounded, he''d disappeared.


    The problem was that there was nothing within the formation. Even after destroying the Whirlwind Seaweed, they only found empty sea.


    Damien and Zara had truly disappeared into thin air.


    "Hmph!" One of the assassins harrumphed. "How long do we have to wait? The young master doesn''t need to care so much about some insignificant kid, right?"


    "We wait as long as necessary." The leader said, leaving no room for questions, "it is not our ce to question the young master."


    "Leader, we don''t have to stay in this area and wait like turtles, though, right? I heard this Emperor Bone Sea is filled to the brim with treasure. Why don''t we go explore a little?"


    Multiple sounds of agreement rang out, but even this suggestion was rejected by the leader. By his order, they were to wait without entertaining their greed in the slightest.


    While he didn''t say it out loud, the leader did have some hope. He figured that the special circumstances surrounding Damien''s disappearance might mean he stumbled upon some type of treasure.


    And if they were able to kill him when he reappeared…


    The leader smiled to himself. What one didn''t know couldn''t hurt them, right?


    When the time came, whatever treasures that boy possessed would all be his.


    ***


    Aquazyl was in an uproar.


    The moment the sun vanished over the horizon, the Tephit n moved with precision.


    Hundreds and thousands of elders were dispatched to the various peripheral branches and subdivisions, arriving to secure them before any sort of attack could take ce.


    Naturally, each and every one of the elders was a 4th ss being.


    Still, the n for the operation didn''t change. In fact, it only became more secure.


    While the secondary teams were mainly used as a diversion before, that wasn''t their only purpose. In truth, a majority of the dirty work was being done by them.


    To copse the Tephit n took more than just killing its Patriarch. Every elder, every 4th ss figure had to be cut down first, leaving the rest defenseless in front of the other four ns.


    The main perpetrators of their ughter would be the secondary teams.


    Currently, while the secondary teams continued to move and destroy Tephit n bases, Damien arrived at one of such bases himself.


    It was arge town of a couple thousand inhabitants. Their average level didn''t seem to exceed 150, and their strength was even weaker due tock of practice.


    Among these regr folk, however, was a group of three men sitting at a bar. If one looked at them, they wouldn''t find anything to note. They werepletely average in every way.


    But to Damien, they stood out like sore thumbs.


    ''Just the three of you? I''m a little disappointed, I won''t lie.''


    His body shed into the bar, his foot crushing the three men''s table as he did so.


    "Die."


    Spatial mana wrapped around the group and separated them into another dimension. The Space-Time River nketed the separated space, forcing the three men under Damien''s control.


    Time was the essence of change. With Damien having dominion over its flow, the three men lost control over their faculties. Space was the essence of stability. With it constricting them from every angle, the men couldn''t even begin to consider escape,


    "Three elders, you might not know me, but I know you. You see, I have a need for your memories, if you don''t mind me taking them."


    The three elders had only recently been dispatched from the main n by the n Head''s most recent order. While their strengths weren''t high, their information was crucial.


    The three were only around level 230, still in the early stages of 4th ss. Against Damien''s power, it was impossible for them to resist.


    Their bodies soon turned into essence for his growth, their memories entering his mind.


    ''Mm, this is what I wanted. Even if it''s not much, I can see the Tephit n''s main headquarters. Aside from that…''


    The distribution of elders was done in batches, so the three Damien had devoured didn''t know about each and every other elder in the field. However, there was a simple fix to this problem.


    Damien…just needed to devour more!


    He took out a transmission talisman and contacted Feng Yuxiang, directing her team towards the batch he''d just discovered.


    While they were being destroyed, Damien went to find a camp unrted to the one he''d just found, on the hunt for more elders to devour.


    In his wake was a ruined city. The previous atmosphere had been shattered by a rain of hellfire that brought its annihtion. As the rules of the Prominence War stated, four Sea God ns must be entirely extincted for thest to be dered the winner.


    In Damien''s case…all 5 Sea God ns needed to meet this end.


    ''Zara won''t be happy if I kill her subordinates…I guess the Sanctuary will wee another set of residents soon.''


    By Damien''s estimation, the restriction forcing the Sea God n members to remain in Aquazyl only applied to natural exits. If Damien used the Sanctuary to save them, not only would they be shielded by the Void, but they''d also be able to leave freely as long as they remained in the Sanctuary eternally.


    Or, at least until Damien imed control over the Emperor Bone Sea.


    Nheless, Damien chose the Tephit bloodline to inherit for a reason. It wasn''t just because the Tephit n was most simr to humanity.


    With the grudge the other four ns had against the Tephit, they wouldn''t question working together to destroy them.


    And if the Tephit n was destroyed, as long as Damien remained alive, he would have sole control over the rewards for winning the Prominence War.


    In this time, while his forces were working to bring about the Tephit n''s downfall, his main job was to obtain information.


    By devouring elders until there were no elders left to devour, he would understand the Tephit n down to its root.


    He projected that it''d take a week at most to rouse the Tephit n Head''s fury to the point of no return.


    When that time finally came, he would already know the Tephit n from the inside out. There would be no fact hidden from his eyes.


    In war against an enemy with a nigh-omniscient level of information, was victory even possible?